Dr. Tolu Akinade

Biography

Tolu Akinade is a Psychiatry Resident at Yale School of Medicine. He completed his undergraduate education at Columbia University, majoring in Biomedical Engineering. Driven by a formative experience at the Biomaterials Interface Tissue Engineering Lab, he is motivated to help patients as a physician-scientist. Tolu joined the MD/PhD program at Columbia's Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons and completed his thesis work in Dr. Kam Leong's lab. His research focused on dual-purpose nanomaterials for chemotherapy delivery and their impact on inflammatory damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs) to mitigate metastatic spread in breast cancer. His research was funded by the NIH F31 Ruth L. Kirschstein Predoctoral Individual National Research Service Award in April 2021. His desire to become a psychiatrist has grown, leading him to develop a novel research plan to explore the influence of DAMP-scavenging nanoparticles on chemobrain side effects, particularly anxiety. His thesis work was recognized with the Miriam Berkman Spotnitz Award at Columbia upon graduation in 2023. Tolu aims to conduct clinical research aimed at understanding and improving treatments for women's mental health and is excited about the opportunity to pursue this research at Yale.

Research Interests