Shirlene Obuobi, M.D., to serve as 2025 Medical School Commencement speaker

The University of Michigan Medical School and Medical Student Council have announced that Ghanian-American cardiologist, cartoonist, and author Shirlene Obuobi, M.D., will deliver the 2025 Commencement address. The ceremony will be 3-5 p.m. on May 16 in Hill Auditorium.

Obuobi, who was chosen from a list of candidates provided by the graduating Class of 2025, is a general cardiologist and assistant professor at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University. She completed her undergraduate education at Washington University in St. Louis and completed her medical training at the University of Chicago.

Obuobi is originator of the popular @shirlywhirlmd comics on Instagram, which cover a range of topics, including identity, health care disparities, and the rigors of medical training. Her comics were influential in depicting to the public what it was like to serve on the frontlines in the early days the COVID-19 pandemic. She was a contributor for the Washington Post's Well+Being section, and her work has been featured in The Lancet, Journal of the American College of Cardiology, and Medscape, as well as in exhibits around the world. Her novels, “On Rotation” and “Between Friends & Lovers,” have been featured on multiple outlets such as Teen Vogue, the Washington Post, and Good Morning America.

For more information on 2025 Commencement, click here.