Oladele (Dele) Ogunseitan holds the title of Distinguished Professor at the University of California, Irvine, where he led the establishment of the Program in Public Health and served as founding Chair of the Department of Population Health and Disease Prevention. He held the title of UC Presidential Chair from 2019 to 2024. His research focuses on the environmental and human health effects of industrial development with respect to pollution prevention and discovery of less-toxic materials through comparative life cycle assessments. As a Jefferson Science Fellow of the U.S. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, Dele was awarded a meritorious honor award by the U.S. State Department for exceptional teamwork and contributions to the successful achievement of U.S. goals at the third United Nations Environment Assembly. He is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, elected in two different sections – Medical Sciences and Societal Impacts of Science and Technology – for distinguished contributions in studies using fundamental science to inform impacts of toxic components in manufacturing on human and environmental health with significant societal impacts. He is an elected fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology, African Academy of Sciences, and Collegium Ramazzini.

State Department Profile

Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs
Office of International Health and Biodefense 

Oladele (Dele) Ogunseitan is a Jefferson Science Fellow in OES/IHB, where he shares his expertise and support to the U.S. Department of State’s international action plans to reduce risks posed by the proliferation of antimicrobial-resistant pathogens. The "Antimicrobial Lifecycle Mapping" project aims to develop tools enabling low-infrastructure community strategies to map antimicrobial sources, sinks, and consequences. Such maps are crucial for raising awareness of the threats posed by antimicrobial resistance, and developing consensus to mitigate the global threat and to reduce the burden of illness and death due to resistant pathogens. Through this work and related projects, Dele will also interact with IHB teams charged with implementing the President’s Global Health Security Agenda and the institutionalization of Pandemic Response strategies within the Department of State.