Dr Muideen Olaiya is an early career researcher, cardiovascular disease epidemiologist and Research Fellow at the Stroke and Ageing Research Group, Monash University. His research interests are in the surveillance, prevention and management of stroke and heart disease, and their risk factors. He holds a MSc in Public Health (specialisation in Epidemiology and Applied Statistics) and a PhD in Epidemiology. Prior to completing his PhD, he was awarded the prestigious National Institutes of Health (NIH, United States) Visiting Fellowship (2017-2020), where he gained first-class research experience in life-course epidemiological and clinical research of cardiometabolic risk factors (e.g. diabetes, obesity) in the community. He has expertise in epidemiology, biostatistics, clinical trials, and health services research, and big data analytics.

Leveraging on his PhD research work on clinical trials of interventions for improving long-term care for stroke in the community, Dr Olaiya’s research is focused on implementation research of novel community-based strategies for preventing stroke and heart diseases. He is also interested in research aimed at developing capacity for the prevention of heart diseases in low- and middle-income countries. He currently collaborates with regional leaders in Africa, including an ongoing project on preventing intergenerational risk of heart disease in Nigeria.

Dr Olaiya is an emerging leader in the use of large datasets (Big Data) to undertake surveillance of stroke and its outcomes, and traditional and emerging cardiovascular risk factors (e.g. infections, environmental factors), across all ages. This involves the use of routinely collected Australian Stroke Clinical Registry and administrative (Medicare, Pharmaceutical, hospital, general practice) data. He co-leads the analysis and reporting of the Global Stroke Statistics Commissioned by the International Journal of Stroke, and is a member of the steering committee and sectional co-lead of the World Stroke Organization-Lancet Neurology Commission on Stroke. These research works are being used to inform policies on stroke care and prevention globally.

Dr Olaiya has published >35 peer-reviewed articles in leading journals (15 as either first or senior author), including Neurology, Stroke, and Diabetologia. He is an editor and statistical reviewer for Stroke and Neuroepidemiology. He also serves as a statistician on several clinical trials. Dr Olaiya has obtained >$1.8M in competitive fellowship or research funding.

Dr Olaiya is currently accepting PhD students for several projects.