Turning Passion into Purpose: A Neuroscience Student’s Mission to Support Youth Impacted by Gun Violence

By Stephanie Godward, Communications and Marketing Director, College of Arts & Sciences  

Norah Hill’s passion for neuroscience is intertwined with her drive to support children in the community who have been impacted by gun violence, as she pursues both on-campus and global leadership roles to help people on every step of their healing journeys. 

A junior from Louisville, Hill is majoring in both neuroscience and biology and has a minor in philosophy. Her involvement with Mission:BRAIN Foundation and Future Healers has now led to the funding and distribution of a Neurosurgery Coloring Book Hill designed to support patients through their process of treatment and healing. 

“I am really interested in trauma – it was a big reason why we made this book and we tried to frame parts of it towards gun violence advocacy. There are personal stories of a few different kids at the beginning that sets the precedent for the book – these are all kids who are in the Future Healers program, and have been impacted by gun violence,” she states. 

The Mission:BRAIN Foundation has 109 chapters across 27 countries, uniting medical professionals, researchers, and students to advance equitable neurosurgical care worldwide. In light of gun violence happening in Louisville, the UofL School of Medicine SNMA chapter led by Karen Udoh teamed up with UofL Health – Trauma Institute, Surgery Department and Christopher 2X Game Changers to create Future Healers. This program was designed to help address the public health crisis affecting youth in the Louisville community. 

“We wanted to share their stories and show how they are healing and progressing despite these awful things that happened,” Hill said. “It also sets the precedent for why this specialty – neurosurgery - exists. The patients are the most important part.” 

Hill started the UofL chapter of Mission:BRAIN to make a difference during her freshman year. She also leads the Collegiate Neuroscience Society. As she continued to pursue research opportunities and mentorship from professors and physicians across UofL, her idea of herself as a leader continued to grow. She is now the assistant director of global communications for Mission:BRAIN Foundation and assists in handling their social media content.  

The research she has participated in at UofL has empowered her to grow into roles she once never imagined herself doing. 

“Coming into college, I didn’t think I was very good at science,” Hill said. “In high school, I never pictured myself in a science career. Now that I look back on that, the coursework and extracurriculars have made me realize that I can do a lot more than I thought I could.” 

Hill was inspired to create the Neurosurgery Coloring Book because she had seen other examples that were anatomy focused, and even though that seemed fun, she wanted this to be more reflective of her experience.  

"A lot of the content in here shows the most common surgeries, but I also wanted to include images of the staff, case review meetings, clinic, research, and the other aspects of healthcare that allows these procedures to happen,” Hill said. “Some are anatomy based, and some images are third person perspective of what surgery looks like while shadowing or assisting.” 

Hill worked with a group of UofL physicians to create the book, with mentorship and medical editing from Dr. Emily Sieg, Director of Neurotrauma for UofL Health – Brain & Spine Institute. She also partnered with Future Healers, as they were interested in her creating a pediatric piece for a neurosurgery session that was also facilitated by Dr. Sieg. Medical student, Mustafa Almosawi, and undergraduate, Ahmad Albakri, aided her in the production and editing of the book. 

“We worked with Dr. Sieg to make the lesson plans, and 100+ copies of the Pediatric Neurosurgery Coloring Book were given out in that session,” Hill said. “The pediatric book was specifically made for those kids, but now I have had multiple hospitals, clinics, and physicians reach out about wanting it in clinical spaces for patients to feel better about undergoing a surgical procedure, what their stay may look like, or helping them to have more context about the specialty.” 

The book’s impact and potential reach is now growing globally. Mission:BRAIN Foundation is interested in getting the book translated so that it can be used in Mexico, Pakistan, Nepal and other areas of the world. 

“It’s bigger than what I initially expected it to be. The goal now is to cater to students and kids who are learning about medicine, and patients who are going through these procedures,” Hill said. “It gives them a visual depiction of their procedure and also details the training and education of their doctors, hopefully giving them more peace of mind.” 

Hills' hands-on experiences in research labs across UofL have empowered her to dream big, and to achieve leadership roles as an undergraduate. 

“I wouldn’t have taken the steps to do it if I didn’t have such a good foundation of examples here at UofL with clubs, and the mentors who push you to explore different facets of your career,” she states. 

Hill plans to defend her senior thesis in Spinal Cord Injury under Dr. David Stirling and will graduate in May of 2027. Her hope is to continue work in Dr. Redi Rahmani’s cerebrovascular lab, and to earn an MBA with a healthcare focus to continue her leadership growth. After that, she plans to go to medical school. She continues to be drawn to research and a future in neurosurgery. 

Hill’s advice for other students: never talk yourself out of applying for an opportunity, even if it seems out of reach. 

"If I had told myself, ‘No,’ I would not have progressed in the way that I have,” she said. “Always show up – if you are respectful and hardworking, the opportunities fit for you, will come to you.”