From Dartmouth to Nairobi

May 14, 2026

Camilo Castelblanco-Riveros ’27 (left) and Dr. Karen Blackmon (right), presenting about structural neuroimaging and socio-environmental factors that affect brain health.

In partnership with The Center for Global Health Equity at the Geisel School of Medicine, our Global Health and Development Initiative helps foster doctoral & undergraduate research opportunities abroad.

Last summer, Camilo Castelblanco-Riveros ’27 and Patrick Bongo ’27 were part of a team of Dartmouth students and faculty that travelled to Nairobi for a four-week internship at the Brain and Mind Institute (BMI) at Aga Khan University. The visit concluded with a practical, hands-on workshop led by Dartmouth professors Thomas Thesen and Karen Blackmon, along with Dr. Bernard Alaka, a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at BMI.

Read Camilo and Patrick’s full account of their internship experience in Nairobi here.