Victor Ekuta is a Penn Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center Clark Scholar and Black Men’s Brain Scholar. He is also an Instructor for the MIT Introduction to Technology, Engineering, and Science programs, where he combines his passion for advancing brain health equity with his love of mentorship and diversifying STEM.

Previously, Victor interrogated the effectiveness of pulse oximeters for minority patients as a 2021 MIT linQ Catalyst Healthcare Innovation Fellow, researched transcranial magnetic stimulation as a 2018 Penn Memory Center Minority Scholar in Aging Research, investigated potential Alzheimer’s disease biomarkers as a 2017 Doris Duke Clinical Research Fellow at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center/Harvard Medical School, and joined more than 100 global experts to contribute to a report on the future of healthcare and medicine, Trust or Consequences 2040: Will innovations in health and medicine deliver? as a 2019 Trust Colab Participant.

Victor earned a BA in Biology and Philosophy-Neuroscience-Psychology (PNP) from Washington University in 2011. Following graduation, he completed a post-baccalaureate Intramural Research Fellowship at the National Institute of Mental Health before beginning medical school.

For his work, Victor has received numerous accolades and awards, including the 2023 Boston Congress of Public Health Emerging Voice in Public Health award, Gap Summit 2022 “Leader of Tomorrow,” AMSA 2022 Racial Justice in Medicine Award, 2022 Annual Molecular Psychiatry Meeting Young Investigator Award, Students Who Rocked Public Health in 2021 (Honorable Mention), 2021 Alzheimer’s Association International Conference (AAIC) Neuroscience Next ‘One to Watch’ Award, 2021 30th Anniversary Rainwater Charitable Foundation Tau Leadership Fellows Award, 2019 Alzheimer’s Disease Drug Discovery Foundation Young Investigator Award, and 2011 Gates Cambridge Scholarship Finalist, among many others.

In the future, Ekuta plans to specialize in academic neurology as a physician-scientist-advocate, employing novel approaches to treat human brain disease, combat health disparities, and boost diversity in STEM.