Adeleke Oni, M.D., and Keyona Oni, M.D., Magis award winners
Dec 30, 2018
Dr. Keyona and Dr. Adeleke Oni met at Xavier University during their first week of freshman year. Over the next four years, they became close friends, sharing a love of both science and service. Now 10 years after graduating together in 2008, they are sharing their lives and their commitment to serving others through medicine.
From the start of her Xavier education, Keyona was focused on her desires to improve health-care disparities among impoverished communities, especially regarding care for children. She volunteered at the University of Cincinnati Hospital in the neonatal ICU while in college, helping to care for premature infants and their families. This experience, among other opportunities at Xavier, helped prepare Keyona for a career focused on underserved care of minority and rural communities, and she went on to earn a medical degree at Boston University School of Medicine and train in Family Medicine at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.
She says Xavier prepared her well for her medical career.
"I think the sciences were excellent and really prepared me to know how to study for medical school," she says. "What I loved most about my Jesuit education is how it taught me to keep an ear and eye open for people who are different than me or have different life experiences, and how to maintain my compassion for everyone."
Adeleke devoted much of his time at Xavier toward various leadership roles, community service with Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated, and research in the Department of Chemistry.
"Xavier impacted me the most with all the opportunities it affords its students," he says. "I felt like I could tackle anything with the education and growth I achieved at Xavier."
Adeleke went on to pursue a career in medicine after earning his degree from the University of Tennessee College of Medicine and completing Emergency Medicine training through the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center.
Now married and living in Durham, N.C., Adeleke and Keyona continue to carry on their commitment to serving those in need through their work in medicine and in the community. Adeleke is a practicing emergency medicine physician with the Duke University Health System and Wake Forest Baptist Health System, providing emergency care services to patients in their most vulnerable state.
Keyona practices at the Vance Family Medicine Clinic, is Medical Director of the nursing and rehab center, and is also on faculty at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill Department of Family Medicine. She is currently providing care to all ages, ranging from delivery of newborns, adolescent health and OB/GYN care, to treatment of chronic diseases in the elderly.
Both Adeleke and Keyona enjoy spending their time volunteering via their local church, through Xavier's Alumni Association, and partnering with local professional organizations.
Both Adeleke and Keyona have dedicated their lives to serving others, which is why Xavier is proud to present them with the Magis award that recognizes young alums who have achieved high degrees of excellence, reflect the ideals of Xavier University and embody the highest of Jesuit values.