CLASS NOTES
INSPIRING SCIENTIST Eyo empowers Black students in research field There was a time when Dr. Ukpong Eyo ’06 wasn’t sure he would have the opportunity to earn a college degree. Today, nearly two decades after arriving at Northwest from Nigeria, he is an assistant professor of neuroscience at the University of Virginia’s School of Medicine and recently was named to Cell Mentor’s list of 1,000 Inspiring Black Scientists in America. “College is such a formative time,” Eyo said. “It shifts the trajectory of your future.” Within three years of finishing his post-doctorate work at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, and establishing his own research lab, Eyo has received scores in the top 11 percent and 12 percent for his National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant submissions. Earning one of those grant scores is a feat; earning two of them at such an early stage in one’s career is rare. The awards could provide about $5 million for his research during the next five years. His research focuses on neuroscience and its interface with the immune system – a growing field called neuroimmunology. With funding support from the American Epilepsy Society and the NIH, his research group is working to understand a single cell that is known to travel to the brain and the cell’s relation to blood vessel function, seizures and epilepsy. But Eyo is driven to make an impact beyond his research field. As a graduate student at the University of Iowa, he noticed a lack of Black faculty and was perplexed when Black students he taught weren’t as successful as he believed they should be. When he approached a white colleague about his concerns, the colleague expressed indifference. “I went through my whole graduate experience kind of hiding that aspect of my race,” Eyo said. “It’s not healthy to hide an aspect of you.” After beginning his post-doc work in 2013 at Rutgers University in New Jersey, Eyo attended a conference where, for the first time, he saw a Black researcher give a talk. Through ongoing intentional conversations with peers and Black students, Eyo realized he was not the only person grappling with the lack of Black representation in scientific fields. “I thought that I was an anomaly, looking for and wanting to see a Black professor, not knowing that all Black students want to see that,” said Eyo, who is the only Black faculty member in his area at the University of Virginia. “I’m not only carrying the weight of my own responsibilities on my shoulders but the weight of
Dr. Ukpong Eyo gives a poster presentation about his research at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Conference on Glia in Health and Disease in New York. He recently was named to a list of 1,000 Inspiring Black Scientists in America. (Photo by Constance Brukin)
representing Black students well. That’s why being on that (Cell Mentor) list is so critical and it is so important that I was recognized, and these students can also aspire to one day be there.” In the midst of the reaction to the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis last year, Eyo organized a Juneteenth seminar series celebrating the work of Black neuroscientists. Juneteenth commemorates June 19 as the date that freed slaves in Texas received the news of their emancipation. “We see Juneteenth more as a day of celebration,” Eyo said. “I took that and I said, ‘What if we start a lecture series where we celebrate Black scientists, especially neuroscientists?’ My university was very gracious and they accepted that. I gave my word to my students, the Black students, that I will invite Black scientists to empower them.” As his career advances, Eyo says he keeps the lessons he gained at Northwest close. He enrolled at the University at age 21 and completed his bachelor’s degree in three years after initially struggling to gain admission to any college. As an international student in Maryville,
he overcame early feelings of loneliness and isolation to bond with other international students with whom he could relate. “I make it a point to remember my humble beginnings,” he said. “I came to Northwest, got picked up from Kansas City, knowing absolutely nobody, and it was a scary thing.” Though Eyo arrived at Northwest with aspirations of continuing to medical school, he earned his degree in pre-professional zoology and found his niche in research. He worked in Residential Life and was a campus diversity assistant in addition to staying active with the International Student Organization. Eyo’s twin sister, Affie Eyo-Idahor ’08, also earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology and sociology, and is finishing a Ph.D. program in sociology at Portland State University. “One of the things that was really great about my experience at Northwest was that I felt that it was a very well-rounded experience,” Eyo said. “That is, I felt I was sociably stable. I had these deep friendships that were there to stabilize me as a human person.”
NORTHWEST ALUMNI MAGAZINE I SUMMER 2021
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