Season Two; Episode Two: Truth Doesn't Have a Side

Born in Nigeria in 1968, Bennet Omalu graduated from the University of Nigeria's medical school, before continuing his training in the United States. In 2002, he discovered the presence of a degenerative disease in the brain of former pro football player Mike Webster, naming the condition chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). His efforts to raise awareness of CTE were rebuffed by the NFL, although mounting evidence eventually forced the league to make concessions. Omalu's work was dramatized in the 2015 film Concussion, with actor Will Smith portraying the Nigerian-born doctor. 

The sixth of seven children of a civil engineer and a seamstress, Omalu was a shy but gifted student with a fertile imagination. He was admitted to the Federal Government College in Enugu at age 12 and dreamed of being an airline pilot. However, at age 15 he began medical school at the University of Nigeria. 

After earning his degree in 1990, Omalu interned at Jos University Hospital, before being accepted to a visiting scholar program at the University of Washington in 1994. He then served his residency at Harlem Hospital Center, where he developed his interest in pathology. 

In 1999, Omalu moved to Pittsburgh to train under noted pathologist Cyril Wecht at the Allegheny County Coroner's Office. He continued his education at the University of Pittsburgh, completing a fellowship in neuropathology in 2002 and a master's in public health and epidemiology in 2004.