About Us

Originally founded at the 2016 USA National Brain Bee, the International Youth Neuroscience Association is led by a group of dedicated, passionate high school and undergraduate volunteers. Meet the individuals who are working hard to inspire and enable the next generation of neuroscientists.

Executive Team

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Khayla Black

Executive Director

Khayla is a senior at NYU majoring in physics. Through her work in the IYNA, she hopes to provide high-quality educational resources for all students interested in neuroscience. Her specific roles include developing the IYNA's Youth Neuroscience Summer Program and developing partnerships. In her free time, Khayla enjoys running, drinking coffee, and traveling.

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Brian Lee

Board Chair

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Annie Pan

Journal Editor-in-Chief

Annie is a freshman at Johns Hopkins, double majoring in Computer Science and Public Health, from St. Louis, Missouri. She currently serves as the Editor-in-Chief of the International Youth Neuroscience Association Journal where she is in charge of ensuring monthly IYNA issues are released on time and uphold the IYNA standard. In her free time, she enjoys reading and hanging out with friends.

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Shrika Vejandla

Operations Head

Shrika is a grade 12 high school student from Toronto, Canada. She hopes to promote accessibility to all the exciting, open-access initiatives that IYNA has to offer, and contribute to maintaining the organisation’s commitment to high-quality neuroscience education. Her roles include maintaining the organisation through logistical tasks and managing volunteers. In her free time, she enjoys reading philosophy, painting, making Pinterest boards, and biking. Feel free to reach out: svejandla@youthneuro.org.

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Jiya Mody

Volunteer

Jiya is a senior at the Academy for Health and Medical Sciences. Through her work in IYNA, she hopes to make access to neuroscience resources more equitable. Within the IYNA, she works on planning the Brain Bee Bootcamp and collaborating with IBB. In her free time, she enjoys hiking and volunteering as an EMT.

Nipun Gorantla

Volunteer

Nipun is a senior at Marvin Ridge High School and the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics. As the Former Chairman of the IYNA Board and Director of the 2020 Summer Course, Nipun has worked to help lead the organization and its executive mission to create accessible neuroscience education internationally. Currently, Nipun assists in managing the IYNA website and organizational partnerships. In his free time, Nipun loves to read books and binge-watch TV shows! If you have any questions or want to connect, reach out at ngorantla@youthneuro.org.

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Eve Harrison

Volunteer

Eve is a post-graduate at the University of Glasgow studying her masters degree in Brain Sciences. Through her work with IYNA, she hopes to help as many budding-neuroscientists as possible to enter the field and find the same passion that she has through her own studies. Her specific roles include developing the IYNA’s Youth Neuroscience Summer Program (2023), judging essay writing competitions, and being a Teaching Assistant in the 2022 Summer Course. In her spare time, Eve enjoys reading, diamond painting, watching movies and playing with her pet rats and hedgehog.

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Sofia Fothergill

Volunteer

Sofia is currently a junior on her city’s highschool, TISLS. She was Chile’s 2022 Brain Bee finalist and hopes to study medicine. One of her main objetives working with IYNA is to inspire young girls into pursuing STEM related careers. Her specific roles in the organization include managing our social media, and being in charge of our advertisement. In her free time she loves to practice theater and dance, and she also speaks two languages, Spanish and English.

Shree Thiru

Volunteer

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Ava Allwardt

Volunteer

Ava Allwardt is a high school student from south Florida. Since joining the IYNA team in January of 2021, Ava has served on the Executive Team as Director of Chapters and Head of Internationalizing. Currently, Ava leads the development of IYNA chapters and National Chapter Networks (NCNs) and leads global events such as the Annual IYNA Ideathon. The mission of IYNA entirely resonates with Ava, and she hopes to expand IYNA's reach to more young neuroscience interests like herself. Outside of neuroscience, Ava pursues computational biology research, trains in classical ballet, and loves to read literature, especially the classics. Contact Ava any time at aallwardt@youthneuro.org.

Nada Ibrahim

Volunteer