Our OD Young Person of the Month is Chinmayi Balusu and from northern California, USA. Chinmayi graduated from Columbia University with my BA and MPH specializing in medical humanities and neuro-epidemiology, respectively. Her professional interests lie in stroke, brain injury, global health, and cross-cultural neuroethics research as well as youth science communication.
Read her amazing story below and be inspired.
CHINMAYI BALUSU
At 19, when others her age are still figuring out what majors to pick during the undergraduate or which movie to watch during the weekend, Chinmayi Balusu has gathered several colourful feathers to decorate her cap. A researcher, community leader, youth science communicator, and social entrepreneur, Chinmayi was recently awarded the coveted Diana Award 2023 for being the visionary behind her foundation, ‘Simply Neuroscience’, a distinguished non-profit organisation. Her cause lies in the expansion of student involvement within the realms of neuroscience and psychology, accomplished through the orchestration of interdisciplinary education, outreach, and awareness initiatives.
On How She Started
Chinmayi started building upon her interest in the brain during middle school, but the next steps for pursuing further opportunities involved a lot of trial-and-error and searching the Internet. Many of the resources she came across were specific to university students and experts, so for the most part, she was on a solo journey pursuing self-learning on platforms like Coursera. Especially as her parents immigrated from India and were unfamiliar with the American academic system, she was navigating a new higher education world while also trying to find where she belonged in the neuroscience space. As Chinmayi matriculated into college, she started compiling all of the learning materials she had encountered along the way on a blog called “Simply Neuroscience” in hopes of disseminating the resources with peers. As time went on, Simply Neuroscience gathered traction on social media, and many fellow brain enthusiasts offered to contribute to the efforts.
On Her Successes
Five years later, Simply Neuroscience has grown into a worldwide non-profit organization dedicated to supporting early neuroscience education, outreach, and awareness – specifically for students. They have many youth volunteers behind the scenes of the organization, and their efforts have reached several tens of thousands of students from over 140 countries. Some of their projects and initiatives include the Action Potential Advising Program (connecting students to mentors for career guidance), the Synaptic Hacks hackathon (uniting youth for innovative neuroscience problem-solving), and The Synapse Podcast (sharing multilingual neuroscience news and showcasing undergraduate degree routes through guest interviews).
On Her Challenges and Future Plans
Chinmayi had little concrete entrepreneurship experience in the early days of Simply Neuroscience, and she has found the past five years to be a long path of constantly learning. She also faced obstacles due to her age, as many people disregarded her work, thinking that a 16-year-old who was fresh out of high school could not possibly work in neuroscience outreach and lead a team. According to her, what has kept her going is a passion for sharing the wonders of neuroscience with fellow youth and sparking a ripple effect of knowledge sharing.
In the future, Chinmayi and her team aim to continue expanding their current initiatives in their individual ways, such as hosting their hackathon on an annual basis with wider outreach to schools and universities and translating their self-learning resources into other languages for greater accessibility. To bridge the gap between global and grassroots outreach efforts, they are building out the Campus Brain Ambassador Network, empowering youth ambassadors with a toolkit and resources necessary to connect with fellow members of their local community and initiate regional neuroscience programming. In the long run, they aim to establish a seed grant program to financially support these activities. We hope that this will foster learning communities that take into account local circumstances and do not require students to be connected to a formal institution to learn about neuroscience. And, as schools and colleges return to hybrid and in-person learning, they are seeking to connect with educators and supplement their STEM teaching materials with
neuroscience resources as well (in line with Next Generation Science Standards).
Her Words Of Advice For The Youth
One of my favorite perspectives is “don’t let the pursuit of tomorrow diminish the joy of today.” In the change-making space, it often takes quite a bit of time to see the fruits of your labor — it could be months, years, or even decades down the line. It’s important to maintain hope for the future while also enjoying the day-to-day efforts that you are a part of. Be thankful for and openly embrace the opportunities for new learning, connection, and opportunity every day!
You can check out Chinmayi Balusu on her personal website here. You can also connect with her on Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn. Also check out her project website here and on Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter.
Who will be the next OD Young Person of the Month?
You can be the next Opportunity Desk Young Person of the Month! All you have to do is get a friend to recommend your work or fill out the nomination form here. We want to use the platform to recognize and celebrate the efforts of amazing young people around the world. Oh! And you must be an active Opportunity Desk member, either as a fan, reader, or subscriber! Share!
