Tosin Ariyo is a community health scientist and women’s health advocate dedicated to addressing health disparities in underserved communities. Her work is focused on facilitating health improvements that prioritize women’s health independent of their maternal status. As a Research Director at East Tennessee State University, Tosin leads the process evaluation of a statewide contraceptive access initiative working with diverse stakeholders, including state and national capacity-building organizations, to assess the fidelity and sustainability of the initiative. Her body of research is centered on identifying the sociocultural factors that negatively impact women’s health and leveraging the interaction of the socioecological system to improve health disparities.

Tosin was born and raised in Lagos, Nigeria, where she completed her early education. She moved to the U.S. to enroll as a major in Biological sciences at Lee University, where she earned her bachelor’s degree. Since then, she has earned a master’s degree in Public Health (Community Health Practice) from the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston and a Doctorate in Public Health (Community and Behavioral Health) from East Tennessee State University.
With her education, experience, and passion in public health, Tosin seeks to develop an independent body of research that uses the framework of reproductive justice and the socioecological model to center Black women’s experiences with different contraceptive methods, and examine the relationship between racial discrimination, patient-provider communication and relationship, and medical mistrust.