Anjayooluwa O. “Jayo” Adegboyo
Adegboyo grew up playing soccer and started track at his father’s urging, beginning to take it seriously in high school. He was a walk-on to the UMBC track and field team, and after proving himself in competition, he received an athletic scholarship in his junior year. A sprinter, his events are the 200 and 400 meters.
“Since his arrival at UMBC, Jayo brought his dynamic approach to his athletic and academic experiences,” says head track and field coach David Bobb. “Jayo’s fun-loving personality disguises his relentless pursuit of excellence, and that combination makes him an obvious asset.”
One of Adegboyo’s track highlights is the 2023 American East outdoor championships hosted by the University of Albany. It was a milestone event as he ran a personal best time in the 400, qualifying for the final. The UMBC Retrievers won the 4x400 relay for which he ran the second leg.
Adegboyo has a cumulative GPA of 3.952 and is completing a degree in biochemistry and molecular biology with a minor in physics and an honors certificate. He has frequently been named to the UMBC president’s list and is a Meyerhoff Scholar, U-RISE Trainee and HHMI Scholar, all programs for aspiring research scientists.
“His balance between academics and athletics has set an effective example for his peers, and his ability to articulate intelligent thoughts and intuitive questions is accentuated by his attentive nature,” Bobb says. “These attitudes and abilities demonstrate maturity beyond his years.”
Training and being with his teammates is a wonderful stress reliever for Adegboyo, especially during tough practices. He admits he smiles or tells a joke to uplift others.
“We want to get better together,” he explains. “That strive to hit those goals.”
The track and field team’s academic advisor, Meg Bossey, describes Adegboyo as an extremely dedicated student who has had an end goal since stepping on the UMBC campus. That goal is to pursue a joint MD/PhD program, which he will begin this fall at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School.
“I want to study neuroscience or inflammation, mostly in the realm of pain perception,” Adegboyo says. “My medical aspiration is [shaped] by my dad and my twin brother. With my brother, sometimes it’s hard to tell what’s bothering him. I want to better understand how to ask people who are relatively non-verbal…to better communicate pain or distress. Also, my father has migraines. I want to go into neuroscience to better understand.”
To begin his journey in neuroscience, after sophomore year Adegboyo did an internship at Duke University with Dr. Kafui Dzirasa. Then, he spent two summers working with Dr. Rainbo Hultman at the University of Iowa Laboratory for Brain-Network Based Molecular Medicine, which does migraine studies. During the school year, he has worked remotely, even continuing the remote work while spending last fall studying in Växjö, Sweden at Linnaeus University. Through all his academic work, he has continued to train in track.
“Jayo is one who gets excited to broaden his knowledge and answers when opportunity knocks, seeing him explore his horizons through study abroad was a delight,” says Bossey.
From childhood, his parents instilled the pursuit of excellence, which Adegboyo applies as a core value to both academics and athletics. He also is fueled by seeing others pursue their dreams, especially the work his teammates put in at practice, feeling he has to match and elevate that energy, thus encouraging his teammates. Even opponents inspire him to strive to be the best. That translates to academics, where in addition to wanting to achieve his best, he hopes to be a role model for others, says Adegboyo. “They can bring you back up when you’re facing tons of stress and need to be resilient.”
