Steve Oghumu receives 2022 Early Career Distinguished Scholar Award

May 2, 2022

Steve Oghumu receives 2022 Early Career Distinguished Scholar Award

May 2, 2022

Oghumu wearing suite and blue shirt smiling into camera

Steve Oghumu, assistant professor, received the 2022 Early Career Distinguished Scholar Award. The award was announced to a surprised Oghumu by senior leadership in the Enterprise for Research, Innovation and Knowledge at a recent Department of Pathology faculty meeting in the College of Medicine.

Oghumu is a scholar in cancer, immunology and epigenetic mechanisms of disease. His research has focused on two primary disease areas: oral carcinogenesis and substance use disorder.Using innovative mouse models, Oghumu is investigating the cellular, molecular and immunological mechanisms of oral carcinogenesis and advancing the development and application of compounds for oral cancer chemoprevention and treatment. He is also developing and applying uniquely novel mouse models to determine the contribution of X-chromosome inactivation to sex differences in susceptibility to neoplastic and neurologic disorders.

Dr. Oghumu is making ground-breaking innovations in medicine and is truly transforming the health of our communities. This is among the highest annual honor Ohio State can bestow on a faculty member and is so well-deserved.”

Carol R. Bradford, MD, MS, FACS Dean of The Ohio State University College of Medicine

Oghumu has authored 71 peer reviewed original research papers, 15 papers in proceedings, 57 abstracts, and 4 book chapters.

Oghumu received a PhD and Master of Science in microbiology from Ohio State and bachelor’s degree in microbiology from Ahmadu Bello University in Nigeria.He is also thedirector of the undergraduate and doctoral education for the Department of Pathology and is part of the Molecular Carcinogenesis and Chemoprevention Program, The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute. He serves as a grant reviewer for the National Institutes of Health and the Fanconi Anemia Research Fund and is an editorial board member of Frontiers in Oncology, Annals of Medicine, Frontiers in Bioscience – Landmark and Cancers.

It is a great honor to be a recipient of this highly prestigious award. I am grateful for the support of my research team, collaborators, mentors, and leadership in the Department of Pathology, College of Medicine and the Ohio State University. This support allows me to carry out my exciting and transformational research, with the power to make an impact on the health of our community and the world. I am excited for the new discoveries that will result from the work we do, as well as the collective efforts of the Ohio State University research community.”

Steve Oghumu Early Career Distinguished Scholar Award

The Distinguished Scholar Awards are among the highest annual honors awarded at Ohio State. In spring 2022, the university launched the Early Career Distinguished Scholar Award to honor three assistant professors and early associate professors who show promise of making significant contributions to Ohio State and their field for years to come.