Minnesota woman who founded Black in Neuro named to Forbes' "30 Under 30" list
MINNEAPOLIS — There is a new crop of 20-somethings with an impressive new title: Forbes' 30 Under 30. One of those impressive young people happens to work at the University of Minnesota.
Dr. Angeline Dukes is a first-generation college graduate and has been academically inclined since birth.
"My mom is from Trinidad, my dad is from Haiti and so they came to this country with a goal to have a better life with them and for their kids," Dukes said.
Dukes turned into a thriving college student at Fisk, a historically Black university in Nashville.
"I realized I really loved teaching and mentoring, so that's how I ended up on this path of wanting to become a professor," she said.
That's when she found her way into neuroscience, as she headed to California to get her doctorate.
"Whether it's someone who has a grandparent who has Alzheimer's disease, or a child with ADHD or autism, or someone with a sleep disorder or a learning development disorder or anything like that — everyone has a connection to some extent to neuroscience," Dukes said.
She thrived academically, studying the effects of vaping on teens. But, personally, things were complicated.
"Trying to still get through graduate school while dealing with the pandemic, while dealing with this isolation, while fearing for my safety as a Black person in this country," Dukes said. "And so I turned to the internet to try and find community and really that's how Black in Neuro got started."
She sent out a Tweet — a shout-out to other Black neuroscientists and she got quite the response.
"It actually happened very fast. I sent that tweet out on a Friday. Within three weeks, we had planned this phenomenal week where we had eight live events, we had 13,000 new Twitter followers," Dukes said.
Four years later, Black in Neuro is an international organization of intellect.
"We have people who are in academics, folks that are in medicine, folks that are in government, folks that are in science policy — just a wide range of areas," Dukes said.
She's working to help young Black kids know they can go into the field and to show everyone that neuroscientists can look like her.
"I never even considered it as a career path because I didn't know anyone who looked like me that was doing it. When I was growing up, all scientists were old white men with crazy hair and glasses. Bill Nye, Albert Einstein, those were all the ideas of what a scientist looked like — never a Black woman with curly hair and she's a little short, she has a really high-pitched voice — nobody who looks like me was doing this type of work that I was able to see on a regular basis," Dukes said. "Really a lot of the work we do in Black in Neuro is to provide that representation so little kids can see themselves doing this and know that it's an option and viable career path for them."
It's work that's getting big praise. Dukes is a newly named Forbes 30 Under 30 winner for social impact, leveraging business smarts to save the world.
"At first I didn't believe it, honestly," Dukes said. "It feels really great to be recognized and celebrated for this work in particular. I do hope that having this recognition allows for more people to become aware and to get more involved. I think regardless of whatever is happening in the world or politically, at the end of the day, we are talking about people and people deserve to be seen and represented and supported in all of their efforts."
She's an award-winning neuroscientist who is showing the world the scope of brain power.
"I hope everyone is able to see the value of this work and continue to do what they do at their own institution and their own communities to help provide that support to others too," Dukes said.
Dukes works now at the University of Minnesota. She also recruits more people to the field of neuroscience through the university. She says people of all backgrounds are invited to follow Black in Neuro and that the more support and visibility the better.