{"id":2563,"date":"2025-04-10T10:42:09","date_gmt":"2025-04-10T10:42:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.sun.ac.za\/mbhgblog\/?p=2563"},"modified":"2025-04-10T12:39:43","modified_gmt":"2025-04-10T12:39:43","slug":"odun-sugrad-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.sun.ac.za\/mbhgblog\/2025\/04\/10\/odun-sugrad-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"[:en]Stitching Dreams: The Dual Career of a Scientist and Aspiring Fashion Designer[:]"},"content":{"rendered":"

[:en]Dr Sefiyat Odunola Adebiyi (affectionately known as Odun), a recent MSc graduate within the Division of Immunology, is a multi-talented academic whose journey beautifully blends science and creativity.<\/p>\n

Having originally pursued veterinary studies at the University of Ibadan in Nigeria, Odunola made a pivotal transition to the field of human health and biomedical sciences, a decision shaped by her growing passion for research, which began budding during her community service years. Driven by her curiosity, she decided to enter the world of research in TB and through the DAAD Scholarship, was able to complete her Master\u2019s of Science in Molecular Biology, graduating in March 2025. Her research focused on investigating lesions called granulomas that form in the lungs of TB patients. Some of these lesions allow the TB bacteria to grow and spread to other parts of the body while others contain the bacteria in the lung. Her research focused on the difference between these lesions and more specifically the role of a group of cells called myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) in determining what type of granuloma forms. Despite undertaking such an impressive project, it is her creative journey alongside her academic path that sets her apart.<\/p>\n

Long before Odunola wanted to do veterinary science, let alone biomedical research, she was fascinated by architecture and technical drawings and envisioned this as her future career. However, she was encouraged to do something more \u201cpractical\u201d that would provide her with a more successful future. Fortunately, with encouragement from her mother, Odun found a creative outlet in sewing with a few local tailors after-hours during her undergraduate studies. While it wasn\u2019t originally what she wanted to do, she found that it was a great way for her to unwind and soon, fashion became her passion. It wasn\u2019t until 2023, a year after she arrived in South Africa, that Odunola returned to sewing; what started as \u201ca little thing\u201d to console herself during difficult times and boost her confidence quickly evolved into something much greater. Her tailoring skills were noticed by fellow students and staff within the division and sparked many conversations about how talented she was outside of the lab.<\/p>\n

Fast forward to 2025, and two fellow graduates requested custom-made graduation outfits<\/strong> by Odun! Aside from having to finish writing up and preparing to defend her thesis, Odun spent much of January and February preparing three graduation outfits – one for herself of course – which is incredibly impressive.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Fellow students Suzie (left) and Lesego (middle) in Odu made outfits at their graduation. Odunola (right) wearing her gorgeous smile alongside her gorgeous clothes at her graduation.<\/h6>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t expect it to become such a big deal,\u201d she recalls. \u201cBut seeing my friends walking across the stage in something I made\u2014it made me feel like I could do anything. It was so overwhelming, in the best way.\u201d Now, Odun has become more determined to ensure that her side venture is more visible and that her talents are recognised by those around her. With that, she also wants to start training others to do something similar. In her own words, \u201cthere are so many people who don\u2019t have access to formal education. But having a hand skill can go a long way. My dream is to train girls who don\u2019t have anything but still need to survive. Fashion can feed them, give them a purpose, and allow them to dream bigger.\u201d<\/p>\n

As if that wasn\u2019t impressive enough, other than sharing practical creative skills, Odunola is also doing her part to ensure that women in science are gaining the skills they need. During her studies, Odunola and a close friend founded a small company called BioinformHER, an initiative designed to empower, inspire and nurture the upcoming generations of female bioinformaticians. They aim to demystify the complexities of bioinformatics data analysis through user-friendly, step-by-step tutorials that are accessible to everyone. Although in the early stages, this initiative has already hosted several workshops and inspired many women in the field of bioinformatics.<\/p>\n

Odunola\u2019s journey has not been without its challenges. As a self-described introvert, she admits that putting herself out there hasn\u2019t always been easy. However, she\u2019s learned to embrace the discomfort. \u201cIf your mind can conceive it, it\u2019s not impossible to do,\u201d she says. \u201cYou\u2019ll cry. You\u2019ll break down. But you\u2019ll also meet amazing people who support you. You just have to put yourself out there and do the hard thing. Even if you fail, you\u2019ll still grow.\u201d<\/p>\n

Odunola is now preparing to start her PhD which will continue her master’s research, with a strong desire to continue contributing meaningfully to science. At the same time, she is steadily building her fashion brand and developing a strategy to scale it into a platform for youth empowerment. A massive congratulations to Odun for not only following her dreams and succeeding in them but also showing others that the sky is not the limit! Let this be your reminder that you can do anything you set your mind to![:]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[:en]Dr Sefiyat Odunola Adebiyi (affectionately known as Odun), a recent MSc graduate within the Division of Immunology, is a multi-talented academic whose journey beautifully blends science and creativity. Having originally pursued veterinary studies at the University of Ibadan in Nigeria, Odunola made a pivotal transition to the field of human…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10949,"featured_media":2566,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[72175],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2563","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-achievements"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sun.ac.za\/mbhgblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2563","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sun.ac.za\/mbhgblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sun.ac.za\/mbhgblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sun.ac.za\/mbhgblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10949"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sun.ac.za\/mbhgblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2563"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sun.ac.za\/mbhgblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2563\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2575,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sun.ac.za\/mbhgblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2563\/revisions\/2575"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sun.ac.za\/mbhgblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2566"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sun.ac.za\/mbhgblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2563"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sun.ac.za\/mbhgblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2563"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sun.ac.za\/mbhgblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2563"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}