Folasade (Fola) P. May, MD, PhD

Dr. May graduated cum laude from Yale University with a degree in molecular, cellular, and developmental biology. After college, she attended the University of Cambridge to study epidemiology and international health, earning a master’s of philosophy in epidemiology before returning to the U.S. to attend Harvard Medical School. She completed her internship and residency in internal medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and remained at MGH for one year as a hospitalist and clinical educator in the Department of Medicine Academic Medicine Quality Program and as manager of Trainee Affairs for the MGH Multicultural Affairs Office.

 Dr. May came to UCLA in 2011 to begin her gastroenterology fellowship and was part of the UCLA Specialty Training and Advanced Research (STAR) program. During her fellowship, she earned a PhD in health policy and management from the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health. Her doctoral dissertation addressed Black-White disparities in colorectal cancer incidence, screening and outcomes.

 Upon completing her GI fellowship, Dr. May joined the digestive diseases faculty at UCLA with a dual appointment in the Veterans Affairs. She is the director of the May Laboratory, which engages in health services research and quality improvement related to population health, preventive health, and health disparities at UCLA Health, in Federally Qualified Health Centers (community health centers), and in the Veterans Affairs. Research spans several areas from the epidemiology of disease and disease risk factors to implementation science to improve disease outcomes. As director of the Melvin and Bren Simon Gastroenterology Quality Improvement Program, Dr. May also oversees a portfolio of quality improvement projects at UCLA Health to improve the quality of care for UCLA Health patients with gastrointestinal and liver conditions. Dr. May is passionate about improving awareness about preventive health and health equity and is involved in advocacy at the state and national level to develop and encourage policy to improve healthcare delivery. She has received numerous local and national awards for her research, community engagement and advocacy, including recognition from the American Cancer Society, National Colorectal Cancer Roundtable, American College of Gastroenterology, and American Gastroenterological Association, and the Biden Cancer Moonshot. Her research is funded by the National Institutes of Health/National Cancer Institute, Tobacco Related Disease Research Program, Broad Stem Cell Research Center, and Stand Up to Cancer.  

Dr. May is a member of the UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center (JCCC) and an associate director of the UCLA Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Equity. She is also an assistant director for the UCLA STAR Program and the director of grants for the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine Global Health Program. In 2024-2025, she was elected and inducted into the American Society for Clinical Investigation. 

May FP, Yano EM, Provenzale D, Neil Steers W, Washington DL. The Association Between Primary Source of Healthcare Coverage and Colorectal Cancer Screening Among US Veterans. Dig Dis Sci. 2017 Aug;62(8):1923-1932. doi: 10.1007/s10620-017-4607-x. Epub 2017 May 20.

May FP, Glenn BA, Crespi CM, Ponce N, Spiegel BMR, Bastani R. Decreasing Black-White Disparities in Colorectal Cancer Incidence and Stage at Presentation in the United States. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2017 May;26(5):762-768. doi: 10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-16-0834. Epub 2016 Dec 29.

May FP, Whitman CB, Varlyguina K, Bromley EG, Spiegel BM. Addressing Low Colorectal Cancer Screening in African Americans: Using Focus Groups to Inform the Development of Effective Interventions. J Cancer Educ. 2015 May 13. [Epub ahead of print]

May FP, Almario CV, Ponce N, Spiegel BM. Racial minorities are more likely than whites to report lack of provider recommendation for colon cancer screening. Am J Gastroenterol. 2015 Oct;110(10):1388-94. doi: 10.1038/ajg.2015.138. Epub 2015 May 12.

May FP, Bromley EG, Baek M, Yoon J, Cohen E, Lee A, Reid MW, van Oijen MG, Spiegel BM. Low uptake of colorectal cancer screening among African Americans in an integrated Veterans Affairs health care network. Gastrointest Endosc. 2014 Aug;80(2):291-8. doi: 10.1016/j.gie.2014.01.045. Epub 2014 Mar 25.