This week's spotlight features one of our student ambassadors, Carolyn Chen. Chen is a junior majoring in Neuroscience on a pre-med track. Her interests include studying neurodegenerative diseases and finding ways to connect with elderly adults.
Chen credits the Cognitive Neuroscience & Law FOCUS program at Duke, taken in her freshman year, for her initial interests in Neuroscience. She was able to engage in discussions with faculty and like-minded peers about the interdisciplinary applications of neuroscience. A particular discussion on dolphin cognition and communication, which took place in the waters of Miami while live dolphins swam around her, left a lasting impression. Chen’s interests only deepen with the additional neuroscience courses she has taken. She appreciates the phenomenal faculty in the Neuroscience department who have provided her with invaluable guidance and support throughout her undergraduate journey. To give back and share her passion with others, Chen is now leading a house course titled “Disciplinary Approaches to the Cognitive Neurosciences”. She was also recently elected as one of three Neuroscience Ambassadors.
As a Neuroscience Ambassador, Chen hopes to guide and support both prospective and current students navigating their paths in the Duke Neuroscience Program. Drawing from her own journey, she aims to share the invaluable resources and community within the Neuroscience department, ensuring that new students feel welcomed and informed. Her previous roles as an orientation leader and student speaker for the FOCUS program reflect her dedication to helping others succeed—a commitment she continues to uphold by encouraging her peers to explore the depth of the neuroscience field, particularly by engaging in research.
Currently, Chen is a member of the Language, Music, and Dementia Bass Connections Team, where she has initiated a project exploring the resting-state EEG networks of Mandarin-English heritage speakers. This research aims to understand how their unique sociocultural backgrounds affect their language proficiency when raised in non-English speaking households.
Outside of her academic pursuits, Carolyn is actively involved in various organization and volunteer positions to give back to the community. As a Co-President of Duke Adopt a Grandparent, she works to foster connections with residents at Croasdaile Village and Pettigrew Rehabilitation Center. She also volunteers her musical talents at Duke University Hospital and recently served as the Co-Project Director for Project Research within the Experiential Orientation program.
Looking ahead, Chen is working toward her goal to getting into medical school and to specialize in either neurology focusing on neurodegenerative diseases or neurosurgery.
Department of Psychology & Neuroscience
