Neuroimaging Research & Community Engagement

Liv Mace

Liv is a veteran intern at the B-RAD lab. She is skilled in data collection and organization as well as creating well designed social media content for the team. 

For our weekly Neuroscience talk, our lab discussed the importance of gathering wide demographic samples in neuroimaging. We read an article that described why diverse samples in neuroimaging research is significant, specifically in studies that involve children and adolescents. It is essential to have individuals of various demographics to ensure a representative sample in our research and findings. Neuroimaging research offers unique insights into brain function and structure, but it often faces challenges in recruiting varying demographic groups. We addressed the importance of building connections and trust with communities not typically recruited in research as a means to accomplish this goal. During our discussion, lab members contributed strategies to improve community involvement and representation in our studies.  

The central theme that emerged from our discussion was the importance of establishing long-term relationships with the  communities we work with. Lab members emphasized the establishment of a “giving period” before the “taking period". We want to ensure that this relationship is not one way, meaning that as neuroscience researchers, we need to be a part of the community not just work within it. Jackson, one of our study coordinators, suggested asking for feedback from the community to best understand their needs and to see how we can be of service. By understanding their needs and becoming a consistent presence,  researchers in our lab can build relationships with communities.

We need to be a part of the community, not just work within it.

Another project coordinator, Ashlan, discussed the idea of establishing relationships with these communities through serving them directly where we can. This brings up a more natural and fluid recruitment pipeline that is more likely to benefit the community as well as our research. She suggested ideas such as volunteering at food banks, where people receive resources or other assistance and providing clinical services when possible. Volunteering at community events allows us to establish relationships with specific communities not typically contacted in research recruitment which allows us to expand our neuroimaging demographics for better comprehensive understanding of the brain while supporting the community and giving back.

Overall, this discussion emphasized the importance of how research labs can establish relationships instead of simply obtaining data in underrepresented communities in neuroimaging. Members in this discussion concluded that we must thoughtfully consider the tangible value of the work we do to the broader community. By implementing the strategies we have discussed, we can work towards becoming a more impactful lab that serves the diverse populations of our community. Challenges do remain, but this discussion opens a path forward for building stronger connections in the future.