Runcie C.W. Chidebe, Oncology Researcher at Miami University, shared on LinkedIn:
“In 2017, a grant reviewer wrote that I didn’t have ‘sufficient higher educational qualification’ to lead my own cancer research.
A few weeks ago, I defended my PhD dissertation at Miami University. I passed.
Here’s the part that still makes me emotional: when my chair said, ‘Congratulations, Runcie, you did excellent work, and you passed,’ I was both crying and laughing.
First Attempt to Research
That year, as the founder of Project PINK BLUE, I worked alongside two brilliant U.S.-based medical oncologists whom I had invited to Nigeria through my other grants from Fulbright, U.S. Mission Nigeria, and the U.S. Department of State.
Three Nigerian professors, including two of my board members and two cancer survivors, joined the proposal as well. Together, we made it through the LOI stage. We made it to the full proposal. We made it to final review.
Then we were rejected.
I was angry enough to ask for reviewer feedback. What came back stunned me: they rated our idea highly. They liked the science. But a major comment was that ‘the principal investigator, (that is me), does not have sufficient higher educational qualification to conduct the research.’
This singular feedback was devastating. I was frustrated, angry, and pained. But you know what? I became determined to translate my frustration to fulfillment, my anger into acceptance, and my pain into gains.
- 2018: I got a fully funded MSc in Health Psychology, Liverpool John Moores University, but couldn’t proceed after my accreditation application was rejected.
- 2019: Two more fully funded MSc scholarships: Coventry and Birmingham City University (BCU). I chose BCU and finished in 2021, through a pandemic.
- 2022: Admitted to the PhD program in Social Gerontology at Miami University.
- 2026: I defended. Dr. Chidebe.
Nine years. One rejection letter as the spark.
I wasn’t competing with anyone else in that time. I was competing with the version of myself that got that email in 2017.
Throughout my academic experience, I was not competing with anyone; rather, I was collaborating with everyone and competing with myself to develop mastery in my field. I’ve learned that when you choose to see a setback as fuel instead of a verdict, you get to decide what happens next.
Message of Gratitude
I’m deeply grateful to my dissertation chair, Saruna Ghimire, for her guidance throughout this entire journey, and to my committee: Robert Applebaum, Ryan Steel, Candidus Nwakasi, and Sherill Sellers, for believing in me and trusting this work from the start.
Now, with a PhD behind my name, I’m going back to what started all this: applying for the grants and conducting research that give cancer patients a second chance at life. If you work in oncology, global health, or grantmaking, let’s connect. I’d love to collaborate.”
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