Author: Ashlan CheeverAt our recent lab meeting, we explored how social media can boost our lab’s visibility and ability to advocate for the populations we serve. Each member was tasked with sharing a social media advocacy post that resonated with them, revealing a variety of styles, content types, and hashtag strategies. This exercise highlighted key practices we could apply in our own outreach efforts.
One of the main takeaways was the consistent use of hashtags, which increases discoverability and builds communities around shared interests. We also emphasized the importance of captions, as clear and engaging text can shape how people respond to our content. Another useful strategy is cross-platform sharing, which ensures we reach our wide age-demographic audiences by posting the same content across multiple channels. Lastly, we noted that content can be tailored depending on the platform used. We recognized that certain content styles: informational, educational, humorous, or human-centered are best intended for certain platforms over others. At the B-RAD Lab, we aim to use social media to expand our reach both within the USC community and beyond. Our goals include:
Moving forward, we plan to refine our social media strategy to make our research more accessible, recruit participants, and advocate for important issues in our field. Keep an eye out as we roll out new content in the coming months! Instagram: @b_rad_lab Facebook: B-rad Lab X: @B_RADLAB
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Author: Ashlan CheeverRecruiting a diverse participant pool is essential for conducting meaningful and representative research. However, many research labs face challenges when trying to include participants from lower socioeconomic (SES) communities, underrepresented genders, and marginalized ethnic backgrounds. In our lab's recent discussion on inclusion in neuroscience, we explored strategies to address and overcome these recruitment disparities.
Understanding the Barriers To begin, we acknowledged the barriers that individuals from these populations often face in participating in lab research. These include:
Building Trust and Visibility Rebecca, one of our team members, reminded us that simply posting flyers is often insufficient for attracting participants from these populations. Flyers may lack visibility and the necessary information for potential participants to feel comfortable reaching out. Credibility and rapport are vital in recruiting from populations unfamiliar with research practices. We discussed the potential benefits of attending community events and setting up tables where people can meet lab team members, ask questions, and begin building trust. Rebecca also suggested taking outreach efforts directly into communities, such as laundromats and public housing neighborhoods. This approach emphasizes the importance of personal connections in establishing a strong recruitment pipeline. Partnering with Schools and Organizations Another strategy involves partnering with lower SES school districts. Danielle shared her experience of navigating the approval process with school superintendents and forming connections within the school system. Addressing Cultural and Linguistic Barriers Jackson highlighted the importance of leveraging our lab's diversity to communicate effectively with potential participants. To overcome language barriers, we plan to print recruitment materials in multiple languages, ensuring they are easy to understand and include clear contact information. Expanding Outreach Through Social Media Finally, Cecilia recommended engaging with specific Facebook groups and other social media platforms to raise awareness of our lab among potential participants. Social media offers a way to answer questions, understand the needs of these communities, and build a broader online presence that can enhance recruitment efforts. Conclusion Inclusive research requires intentional efforts to reach underrepresented populations. By understanding the barriers these communities face and implementing targeted strategies, research labs can create a more diverse participant pool. This not only enriches the research process but also ensures that findings are more reflective of the broader population. As we continue to refine our recruitment strategies, the goal remains clear: to make participatory research accessible and inclusive for all. Written by Ezra Wingard and Ashlan CheeverInclusion and belonging in social spaces are inherently important on an individual and population level. It is through the communities with which we are connected that determines the trajectory of our growth and evolution as people. Historically, the realm of science and the environments it resides in (workspaces, schools, research labs) have been inaccessible to the greater public. Now with the rapid expansion of internet connectivity, once separate and distant communities can now meet and collaborate.
As the scientific community becomes more interconnected with larger and more diverse populations, leaps have been made in discovery and gaps have been identified, but not always addressed. The history of unethical and exclusionary practices have left many populations (women, minority ethnic groups, and gender diverse individuals) without a place for their stories to be scientifically heard. As scientists, our primary role is to further our understanding of the world through practical and reliable measures. Without the inclusion of all, the full story can never be told. The need for inclusion in science may not be as apparent to some as others, particularly if you yourself are not a part of a scientific community. However, I encourage you to consider how you yourself can be an important contributor to scientific study so as to see why the exclusion of others can be so deleterious.
As we go through life, we each create a story, and we believe that no person’s story is more or less important than others. Including as many diverse chapters as possible is the closest we can get to understanding the full book that is the human story. By broadening our lab’s focus on inclusion, we are:
While the efforts to provide equity and justice in research may be different depending on the subject of interest and lab standards, we believe that all can make impactful contributions. Some may be able to direct their biological and chemical research to aid drug development for those with rare genetic mutations, while another lab may use their psychological findings to inform policymakers and influence new laws. With our lab’s focus on Neuroscience and Developmental research, we are in a prime field to be just writers of our many participants’ stories as they are being written. We aim to accomplish this by being stewards of lifelong learning and maintaining an open mind to the views, opinions, and possibilities we have yet to encounter. We recognize that the systemic barriers that have historically excluded certain participants will not fall so easily, but with the intention of making “small ripples of justice” through our daily commitment to inclusion, we believe change is inevitable. Author: Dr. Caitlin HudacDirector of the Brain Research Across Development Lab (A belated) first post from the University of South Carolina! In August 2022, we relocated our lab to USC from the University of Alabama. It's been quite a transition and we are excited to be "back in business" so to speak. Over the next few weeks, you will start to hear from our new batch of amazing undergraduate interns as they recount our weekly lab conversations targeting Inclusion in Neuroscience. (#NeuroInclusion). Check out our new team roster below! I also hope to add some retrospective blogposts to describe the amazing journey we have taken to get here. I will be highlighting parts of our BioGENE study research "roadtrip" that have really cemented our objective to be inclusive of our families. Our new equipment arrived in early January 2023, and we are working on getting our central lab space operational in Columbia, SC so that we can extend our research to rural families as well as families across the globe! Our goals for Spring 2023 are to restart our research projects! This will include the BBAD Study, which will be open to neurotypical and neurodiverse participants of all ages. We are in the last year of the Social Attention Study which will include data collection in both Columbia SC and Tuscaloosa AL. The BioGENE study will resume in the summer or ASAP. Check out the new research pages to send us your contact information -- we will stay in touch as we finish installing equipment and getting research approvals. Lastly, we are dabbling with social media as a way to stay more connected with families. Do you have a question you'd like us to address? Maybe it's a research question, maybe it's a "How does the brain..." type question. We want to hear from you! Comment below and follow us (newly) on Twitter @ B_RADLAB! Looking forward to all that is to come in 2023! cheers, -Caitlin  |