Adekemi Adeniyan, BDS

Bio

Adekemi Adeniyan is a visionary rural dentist on a mission to break down barriers and ensure equitable access to oral health for underserved communities in Nigeria. As the founder of the Dentalcare Foundation, she leads efforts to promote oral health equity through free dental education and services in communities that have long been overlooked.

Her passion for empowering others and advancing oral health equality has earned her global recognition. She is the 2025 Roux Prize Laureate, honored for her leadership in using data and community-driven strategies to drive health equity. Adekemi is also an alumna of the prestigious Young African Leaders Initiative RLC, West Africa, an Associate Fellow of the Royal Commonwealth Society, and a Global Atlantic Fellow for Health Equity at the Atlantic Institute. She is a Senior Fellow of the Aspen New Voices Fellowship, where she continues to amplify voices from underserved communities in global health conversations.

Expanding her innovative approach to health education, Adekemi founded and serves as CEO of Smile Superheroes, a health edtech company that simplifies health information for children in fun and engaging ways. Her creativity reached new heights with The Girl Who Found Her Smile VR, the first oral health virtual reality experience featuring an African girl. Available in English, Spanish, and French, it offers an immersive, memorable introduction to oral health for young learners.

A passionate storyteller, Adekemi authored Nigeria’s first oral health storybook, The Girl Who Found Her Smile, translated into Yoruba, Igbo, Hausa, French, and two Filipino languages. She also produced the Anita Says Oral Health Animation Series, which uses art and storytelling to shift oral health narratives for children across Africa. Through her stories, community programs, and public speaking, she makes oral health conversations engaging, relatable, and culturally rooted.

A prolific writer, she has published over 18 opinion pieces in outlets including BMJ Global Health, IPS, AllAfrica, Nigerian Tribune, Daily Post, Punch Nigeria, and Daily Trust, highlighting the intersection of health leadership, women’s empowerment, and oral health equity.

Her transformative work has earned numerous accolades, including the Healthcare Advocacy Award from the West African Leadership and Entrepreneurship Centre, the Social Action Award at the Study UK Alumni Awards for Nigeria, Her Network’s Woman of the Year (Healthcare), and Leading Ladies Africa’s 100 Most Inspiring Women in Nigeria, among others.

Her leadership journey includes being named a Trinity Leadership Fellow, a Global South Arts and Health Envoy, and a One Million Leaders Africa Best Fellow. Adekemi earned her Bachelor of Dental Surgery from Ternopil National Medical University in Ukraine and holds an MSc in Medical Leadership from Lancaster University, United Kingdom, where she studied as a Commonwealth Scholar.

Adekemi’s dedication to transforming lives and promoting health equity reflects her unwavering belief that every child regardless of background, deserves the dignity of a healthy smile. Her work continues to inspire a new generation of healthcare professionals to lead with compassion, courage, and innovation.