Adedayo Adeniyi: Making an Impact One Policy at a Time

Adedayo Adeniyi was drawn to public health advocacy because he knows how one piece of legislation can change the lives of many.  

Adedayo, who has a degree in public health and a master’s in public policy, is GO2 for Lung Cancer’s government affairs manager, where he is responsible for supporting the day-to-day work of the policy team. Adedayo has experience working for a federal lawmaker as a Congressional Black Caucus fellow focused on healthcare issues and served as a community health specialist with the Association of American Medical Colleges.   

Inspired to break down barriers to improve lung cancer health equity 

Adedayo became passionate about health equity through research he conducted on how environmental factors like air pollution impact public health – particularly in underserved communities. He was drawn to the fact that there is a heavy concentration of pollution in Black neighborhoods. This drives his work to change policy so that the guidelines for screening address the fact that African Americans tend to develop lung cancers at a younger age and after less smoking exposure than other racial groups.  

“Black men, women, and younger people are being diagnosed with lung cancer at a higher rate than we have ever seen,” Adedayo said. “Environmental health should be part of the policy landscape when we talk about lung cancer and lung cancer screening.” 

Anyone can be an advocate – JOIN US! 

Adedayo has spent countless hours preparing for the upcoming Lung Cancer Voices Summit in Washington, D.C. on March 3-5, providing his insider knowledge to make sure GO2’s advocates will be heard by elected officials. It will be his first Voices Summit since starting at GO2 in July.  

“When we share the stark statistics and figures of the impact of lung cancer with lawmakers and their staff, they can understand why these policies are so important to people impacted by the disease,” he said.  

As a result of these meetings, Adedayo hopes that lawmakers will better understand the lung cancer community’s needs. This year’s Lung Cancer Voices Summit policy priorities are: 

• Urging passage of the Women and Lung Cancer Research and Preventive Services Act of 2023, which increases research looking at lung cancer’s unique impact on women. The legislation also improves access to lung cancer screening services and elevates national awareness of the disease.  
• Securing funding for the Lung Cancer Research Program (LCRP) to conduct innovative lung cancer research to address the healthcare needs of military Service Members, Veterans, and their families. We are asking Congress to increase federal funding to $60M in FY24.  

“I have always been on the other side of these fly-ins when I worked on the Hill as the person taking the meetings,” he said. “I am looking forward to my first experience advocating alongside the GO2 community about these important policy issues. Anyone can be an advocate, and I hope you’ll join us in making our collective voices heard.”