Mary Akinwola

Mary Akinwola is a physiotherapist and health innovator from Nigeria, currently pursuing an MSc in Health Service Improvement and Evaluation at the Nuffield Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Oxford. She is a Mastercard Foundation Scholar at the University of Oxford and a member of St Peter’s College. Mary is committed to advancing person-centred care and strengthening functional health systems across Africa.

She graduated with First Class Honours in Physiotherapy from the University of Ibadan, where she was recognised as the Best Graduating Female Student. Her academic achievements include the Best Dissertation Award and the Provost’s Award for Community Involvement. Mary’s professional journey spans clinical care, public health and digital health innovation. She has served as Global Programme and Partnerships Officer at the Slum and Rural Health Initiative, supporting community-based health interventions across Africa. She is also the co-founder of Rehabify, an early-stage startup building a collaborative digital ecosystem for improved recovery outcomes. Mary leads the PhysioAccess Initiative, which promotes access to medical rehabilitation and functional recovery services in Nigeria. She has co-authored several peer-reviewed publications and has been recognised as a 2024 McKinsey Next Generation Women Leader, BMGA Fellow and Carrington Youth Fellow.

At Oxford, Mary aims to deepen her understanding of designing and evaluating scalable health programmes. After her studies, she plans to work at the intersection of public health and development, using data-driven strategy and innovation to improve healthcare access and infrastructure across low-income and lower-middle-income countries.