Victoria Ayodele

Pronouns: She/Her

Current Research Project: My research focuses on the intersection of maternal nutrition, neurodevelopment, and global health equity, examining how prenatal and early-life environments shape neurological and cognitive outcomes across the life course. I am particularly interested in how maternal diet, micronutrient status, and social determinants of health influence fetal brain development and child cognitive trajectories, especially in low-resource settings. Research shows that maternal nutrition during pregnancy plays a critical role in shaping children’s cognitive, motor, and socio-emotional development and long-term health outcomes. My work integrates public health research, behavioral science, and policy analysis to identify scalable interventions that improve maternal-child health and reduce neurodevelopmental disparities. Ultimately, I aim to translate research into evidence-based policies and community programs that strengthen maternal nutrition and early childhood development globally, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa.
 

How she got involved with research:   I got involved in the Duke Research Scholars Program when I had zero wet-lab experience and had not previously worked with a faculty mentor or PI. By joining the program, similar to T-SUMR, I learned more about the structure of a research paper, gained wet-lab experience in the Mooney Lab under my mentor, Dr. Bernard Slater, and performed cryosectioning for microscopy-based neuroanatomical studies.