Congratulations to Atlantic Fellow for Health Equity Global, Adekemi Adeniyan, who is to receive a $100,000 award for pioneering innovative, data-driven solutions to tackle oral health disparities in underserved communities.
Adekemi is the executive director of the Dentalcare Foundation, a rural dentist, and advocate for oral health advancement in Nigeria. She has been named the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation’s (IHME) 2025 Roux Prize winner. The prize embodies the mission of the Global Burden of Disease Study (GBD), led by IHME, an extensive scientific effort to quantify health levels and trends worldwide.
Now in its 12th year, the Roux Prize recognizes individuals worldwide who have leveraged evidence-based health data to improve population health. Established in 2013 by David and Barbara Roux, the prize showcases how visionary use of health evidence can drive meaningful change and is awarded by IHME at the University of Washington’s School of Medicine.
In Nigeria, where less than 20% of the population has access to oral health care, dental health remains one of the most neglected areas of public health. As executive director of the Dentalcare Foundation, Adekemi has led the deployment of mobile dental clinics and Nigeria’s first solar-powered tele-dental kiosk, delivering care to over 100,000 people in rural communities. Her work uses local health data, school records, and community feedback to inform, evaluate, and scale interventions that are both effective and culturally relevant.
Dr. Christopher Murray, director of IHME, said: “Dr. Adeniyan’s commitment to bridging health equity gaps, particularly in areas often left out of the public health agenda, embodies the spirit of the Roux Prize. Her work shows the power of combining evidence-based, community-led innovations with local knowledge to drive meaningful change and expand access to dental care in Nigeria.”
Dr. Adeniyan’s story began in the underserved neighborhoods of Lagos and has grown into a national movement for oral health equity. As founder of Smile Superheroes, a health edtech company, she is transforming dental health education for children by making complex concepts simple and fun.
Her initiatives include Nigeria’s first oral health storybook for kids, "The Girl Who Found Her Smile," now translated into six languages and distributed to over 60,000 children across Africa, the Philippines, and the U.S.
Adekemi received significant support for this project from the Atlantic Institute: initially, a Solidarity Grant scaffolded her work to create a storybook and run a tele-dental kiosk for underserved areas in Nigeria; then, a Collective Impact Fund grant from the Institute supported a collaboration with Alfredo Matugas Coro II, Atlantic Fellow for Health Equity in Southeast Asia, so they were able to produce the book in different languages so it could be read by children in the Philippines, too. Finally, with help from the Atlantic Institute XR (Extended Reality) Lab, Adekemi was able to realize her vision of turning the storybook into a VR film. Read her article about the development of her project, The Girl Who Found Her Smile.
Adekemi said: “Receiving the Roux Prize is an affirmation of every underserved child who has waited in line for dental care, of every rural woman who believed she couldn’t lead, and of every community health worker who continues to serve despite the odds. This recognition will help expand our reach across the Global South and bring oral health into the broader public health conversation where it belongs.”
Adekemi has trained over 2,500 teachers and community health workers to promote oral health in their localities, helping to create a network of advocates that multiplies her impact across borders. Her opinion pieces in outlets like BMJ Global Health, Punch Nigeria, and Daily Trust further advocate for integrating oral health into Nigeria’s universal health coverage plans and regional health policy.
As the Roux Prize winner, she will receive US$100,000 to help expand her evidence-based oral health initiatives across underserved communities. The funds will support the scaling of her tele-dental kiosk model, translation and distribution of her oral health VR experience, and growth of Smile Superheroes’ culturally relevant educational tools.
Adekemi will be formally recognized at an awards ceremony on Oct. 14 in London.
The Girl Who Found Her Smile VR film was produced by Adekemi Adeniyan, with Atlantic Institute support, and launched in collaboration with the Ekiti State Ministry of Innovation, Nigeria, at a special Children’s Day event in May 2025. Photo credit: Tolex Studio.
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