Victoria Ayodele, founder of NeuroPioneers Pathway, with Carrboro High School teacher Angel Santos.

When Victoria Ayodele was a young girl growing up in Atlanta, she wanted to participate in neuroscience and healthcare summer programs, but her family couldn’t afford them. Now, through her program, NeuroPioneers Pathway, Ayodele, a Duke University pre-med student studying neuroscience and nutrition, is helping others have opportunities she didn’t.

“I wanted to be a part of these neuroscience or healthcare summer programs, but there was often a price tag where these programs were $6,000 to $7,000, and, at the time, my family just did not have the means to afford such programs. So, I was introduced late to these topics when I was very interested and could have decided early on that I wanted to pursue neuroscience and healthcare before college,” Ayodele said.

Founded in 2023, NeuroPioneers Pathway is an international neuroscience education and mentorship program that introduces middle and high school students in grades seven through 12 to brain health and related careers. The student-led, university-funded program connects Duke undergraduate medical students with students to make neuroscience more accessible and relevant to their everyday lives and provide support as they develop their identities and decide which career they’d like to go into.

NeuroPioneers Pathway holds a free virtual summer camp that reaches students throughout the United States, including Durham and Atlanta, and as far as Nigeria. In addition to being online, this year’s camp will also include a hybrid structure in which students who are part of Durham YouthWorks will attend classes at Stanford L. Warren Public Library. Durham YouthWorks, the city of Durham’s flagship summer youth employment initiative, serves over 600 participants, ages 14 to 21, annually by providing virtual workforce readiness training and paid summer work placements throughout the city.

At the June 8 camp, students will be offered incentives for participation and attendance, such as creating projects to compete for scholarships, as well as receive certificates, sponsorship, and awards to attend other summer neuroscience camps or healthcare programs. They will also receive one-on-one mentorship with Duke undergraduates and college application assistance. To apply for the summer program, visit neuropioneers.org

Ayodele said the goal is to reach first-generation college students, minority students, and low-income students who have not been exposed to STEM programs and neuroscience early on to help them build their careers and learn how to take care of their health.

“I think it’s very important to create equity and accessibility when it comes to building careers in neuroscience and health care. …If we’re serving more patients who are of minority backgrounds, it will help outcomes if the physicians who are being introduced to these pathways can relate to these patients,” she said.

Durham YouthWorks Supervisor Jasmine Jones said NeuroPioneers Pathway offers YouthWorks participants an opportunity to explore fields they may not otherwise encounter at their age.

“We support this partnership because it aligns directly with our mission to connect young people with meaningful, career-building experiences that broaden their sense of what’s possible. For many of our participants, it’s their first time engaging with a university-led program in an academic capacity, and that kind of exposure has a lasting impact on how they see themselves and their futures,” she said.

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