Commencement 2021 profile: Oluwafemi Popoola

Oluwafemi Popoola has a lot going on. A member of the Binghamton University School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences inaugural graduating Class of 2021, he’s representing his fellow graduates by speaking at Commencement, finishing his rotations for his degree, studying for the North American Pharmacist Licensure Examination (NAPLEX) exam and preparing for his Post-Graduate Year 1 (PGY1) pharmacy residency program at Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center.

And for those who are already exhausted just thinking about his schedule — he’s also a singer/songwriter/producer who has had releases under SONY as “Frank Pierce.” He has a Gold record in Norway for a song with more than 27 million (yes, 27 million) streams, and streams of other songs surpassing a million streams in the U.S.

A native of Nigeria, Popoola moved to the United States when he was 6, and hales from Congers, N.Y., in Rockland County, where he grew up the middle child between an older brother and a younger sister. He received his bachelor’s degree in biological sciences from the University at Buffalo before joining the inaugural pharmacy class at Binghamton.

Definitely one to take advantage of his left brain/right brain (analytical/creative) abilities, he is following in his mother’s career footsteps. “She is a pharmacist,” he said. “I’m the son of two immigrant parents and from a very young age I knew that helping others is important.

“I grew up in a house that was always more than one family. Service was important and I knew I had to be reflective of that in my career,” he said.

“I’ve been a songwriter and producer my whole life,” he said. He also can play just about any instrument he can get his hands on — piano, drums, bass, guitar, sax, ukelele.

“I’ve been writing songs and playing piano since I was 9,” he said. “I grew up in a house of drummers. It’s such a relief to be able to make music and help de-stress.

“I don’t treat art and science as two different things. I treat art like science and science like art,” he explained. “I take a scientific approach to writing songs. I use my science analytical skills, and I’m able to engage my creative side. It seems more personal.”

In his pharmacy studies, Popoola uses his creative side through choice of colors and different schema to assimilate a lot of information. “I write ditties and make flash cards,” he said.

He also took the time to serve as a committee member of the School of Pharmacy’s Student Advisory Committee, facilitating surveys for faculty pursuing tenure. “It helps to have a student voice,” he said. “It was an opportunity for me to say to my fellow students, ‘Hey, guys! These professors are getting reviewed and they need your stamp of approval to get where they are going.’ It was a kind of civic engagement that, for me, was tangible.”

Tracy Brooks, associate professor of pharmaceutical sciences and inaugural Menner Family Endowed Faculty Fellow at Binghamton, served as Popoola’s preceptor for his research capstone project. He approached her early in his time at Binghamton, explaining that, although he didn’t have plans for research, he thought the lab would be a fun place to learn and to just be.

“Femi has worked in my lab on and off since his first year, but now he’s working on a more formal projects and he’s making good progress,” Brooks said. “And more important, his confidence has grown. I think he had a fear of messing up, but mistakes are how we learn!”

Popoola is working to develop little pieces of DNA that bind to a particular protein (NF-κB) that could be given as a therapeutic to block inflammatory response. The protein plays a role in inflammation and in various cancers, Brooks said.

“Most of what Femi and I do now is plan out his experiments and talk about the bigger picture,” Brooks added. “He will have a poster from this and, hopefully, someday we’ll get a publication out of it, taking it beyond his work.”

In the lab, Popoola gives fellow students a music education as well, Brooks said. “He could have a career as a musician. He has an amazing breadth of knowledge, plus there’s also science. He has a great ability to analyze a situation, to think through things.”

“He also gives people the benefit of the doubt,” Brooks said. “He’s one of the most humble, intelligent, talented people I’ve ever met.”

Popoola wants to go into emergency medicine following his residency, Brooks said. “That’s where he will need to apply everything he’s learned. It’s like being a jack-of-all-trades in an emergency setting.”

Popoola’s plans will keep him in New York state, as did his studies. He chose Binghamton, he said, because of the welcoming he received from Rachael Perry (now assistant dean for student affairs and enrollment) and Coulter Ward (then-assistant dean), and also after figuring out what was most important to him.

“Sometimes high school can seem impersonal, and visiting Binghamton was a completely different experience,” he said. “I felt a connection and I felt I could grow here, there was space for me here. (And, SUNY tuition!)

Popoola applied to three residency programs, all in New York state, and was matched with Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center on the national Match Day held March 19, one of six Binghamton students who were matched with a residency site during the first phase of matching. (A second matching, called a scramble, was held April 14 for applicants who were not matched in the first phase.)

As a PGY1 resident, he will spend a year in a postgraduate curriculum, training in pharmacy practice.

And after his residency is completed? “My family and my life is in New York.”

Read full coverage of the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences inaugural Commencement online.