Victor Ekuta

Victor Ekuta is a Penn Alzheimer's Disease Research Center Clark Scholar and Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) Health Equity Scholar, and Boston University Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center REC Scholar. He is also an Instructor for the MIT Introduction to Technology, Engineering, and Science program, where he combines his passion for advancing brain health equity with his love of mentorship and diversifying STEM.

Previously, Victor investigated Alzheimer's Disease as a 2017 Doris Duke Clinical Research Fellow at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center/Harvard Medical School, researched transcranial magnetic stimulation as a 2018 Penn Memory Center Minority Scholar in Aging Research, 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 his B.A. in Biology and Philosophy-Neuroscience-Psychology (PNP) with a full scholarship from Washington University in St. Louis in 2011. There, he cultivated a passion for education outreach as a mentor for St. Paul Saturdays, a non-profit manhood, leadership, and development organization dedicated specifically to empowering young African American males. Following graduation, Victor conducted neuroimaging research as a Post-baccalaureate Research Fellow at the National Institutes of Health before beginning medical school.

For his work, Victor has received numerous accolades and awards, including the 2023 Boston Congress of Public Health 40 under 40 Public Health Catalyst Award, Gap Summit 2022 ""Leader of Tomorrow,"" AMSA 2022 Racial Justice in Medicine Award, 2022 Society of Biological Psychiatry Predoctoral Scholars award, 2022 Annual Molecular Psychiatry Meeting Young Investigator Award, 2022 North American Neuromodulation Society Travel Award, 2021 AAIC Neuroscience Next ‘One to Watch’ Award, 2021 30th Anniversary Rainwater Tau Leadership Fellows Award, 2020 American Academy of Neurology Future in Neurological Research Scholarship, 2019 Alzheimer’s Disease Drug Discovery Foundation Young Investigator Award, 2017 Doris Duke Clinical Research Fellow and 2011 Gates Cambridge Scholarship Finalist, among many others.

In the future, Victor 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.