Spotlight

Spotlight Brody MedPals

Brody MedPals is a student-run organization at the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University, mentoring K–12 youth in science, medicine, and college readiness across eastern North Carolina. The program was founded by Eduardo Castañeda in October 2023 and operates with a medical student leadership board at Brody and an undergraduate chapter at East Carolina University.

Awards and recognition. In 2025, Brody MedPals received East Carolina University's Outstanding Educational Program of the Year award, accepted on behalf of the organization by co-presidents Trisha Rangaraju and Kendall Pixley. The Pitt County Board of Education recognized MedPals with the Creating Excellence in the East award, accepted at the November 4, 2025 board meeting by medical students Christiana Higgs and Michael Li. Trisha Rangaraju was separately honored with ECU's Truist Excellence in Student Leadership Award for her work leading MedPals.

Featured initiative — Rural Education Institute. In April 2026, MedPals was a featured initiative at the ECU GRAD Partnership End-of-Year Celebration, with a one-hour dedicated presentation slot alongside the Rural Education Institute's annual Year 2 program review. The presentation was held on the campus of East Carolina University and convened school principals, superintendents, district leadership, and research partners from across eastern North Carolina. Following the event, MedPals entered early collaborative conversations with school districts across eastern North Carolina — including counties currently outside MedPals' established footprint — about expanding the program's reach in coordination with the Rural Education Institute, led by Dr. Jerry Johnson.

In the news. ECU News Services featured MedPals in a December 11, 2025 article by Bobby Ampezzan, "Hands-on anatomy broadens horizons for eastern NC high schoolers," documenting a hands-on day at Brody for sixty students from five Pitt-area high schools — Ayden-Grifton, Farmville Central, Greene Central, J.H. Rose, and North Pitt. The Daily Reflector picked up the story for community readers across eastern North Carolina in January 2026. A short documentary on MedPals — "From Teachers to Future Doctors: ECU Medical Students Teach ENC Youth" — is available on YouTube.

Partner schools and reach. MedPals partners with public middle and high schools across Pitt County and surrounding counties, including D.H. Conley, Ayden-Grifton, Farmville Central, Greene Central, J.H. Rose, North Pitt, C.M. Eppes, Wellcome, South Central, E.B. Aycock, and Pitt Early College. The organization runs in-school clinical mentorship programming and an annual on-campus immersion event called MedVentures at Brody School of Medicine that brings approximately 125 middle and high school students to campus each year. MedPals has completed four MedVentures cycles since its founding and has reached approximately 2,000 students across all programming.

Official recognition. Brody MedPals is a sanctioned student organization of the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University. The organization's official Office of Student Affairs page is available at medicine.ecu.edu/studentaffairs/medpals.