COVID19 Worldwide Community Education
Leveraging her 2 year-long participation as a volunteer in clinical trials for the COVID 19 vaccine development, Dr. Kemi Babagbemi became a vaccine educator and ambassador. As a preceptor for the COVID 19 Community Education and Empowerment Internship Program, she helped trained over 800 premedical STEM students from underrepresented and disadvantaged groups in basic virology and
vaccinology. In addition, as part of the COVID 19 Speaker Bureau at Weill Cornell Medicine, she led several town halls about COVID 19 vaccines across local, regional, national, and international communities.
African Students Displaced by War in Ukraine
In response to the precarious position of African students in Ukraine, Dr. Kemi Babagbemi joined forces with community organizations, medical professionals, and advocacy groups to support the varied needs of the 16,000 African students affected by the war. Unlike their Ukrainian counterparts, African students were rejected and stuck at border crossings for days in brutal conditions. Furthermore, they were displaced without refuge, and many were unable to continue their studies. To increase access to information, Dr. Babagbemi organized multiple virtual meetings in which experts offered psychological, medical, and legal guidance and support to victims and their families. To garner global awareness, she has engaged the United Nations (UN). In fact, as part of her efforts, one African medical student was invited to be a part of the UN international stage and speak about their experience in the Russia-Ukraine War. Being aware of her labors, she was invited by the Weill Cornell Center for Human Rights to speak about her work. Lastly, her advocacy efforts helped to support the resettlement of 200 of these medical students in Portugal. For this, Dr Babagbemi was awarded the Nigerian Community Portugal Humanitarian Award.
Operation Backpack, Volunteers of America ─ Greater New York
Our department came together for the 8th year in a row in support of Operation Backpack and raised $5,000 annually to ensure that children living in New York City homeless or domestic violence shelters have a backpack full of school supplies in time for the first day of school.
American College of Radiology (ACR) Bulletin and the HCWVSHUNGER Campaign Dr. Kemi Babagbemi was featured in the ACR Bulletin “Building on Population Health Management” Issue. In the interview, she discussed her involvement as the team captain for radiologists in the Healthcare Workers Versus Hunger annual online campaign which raised over 400k for food banks in less than 2 weeks.
RAD-AID International
The WCM RAD-AID chapter offers the opportunity to volunteer and provide essential radiology training to international medical partners. While the COVID19 pandemic hindered travel, faculty members continue to provide remote lectures to residents at Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre and add cases to the RadGlobal section of the C.R.E.A.T.E Program website.