Improving Recruitment, Engagement, and Access for Community Health Equity for BRAIN: Next-Generation Human Neuroimaging Research and Beyond (REACH for BRAIN)

Project Description

Improving Recruitment, Engagement, and Access for Community Health Equity for BRAIN Next-Generation Human Neuroimaging Research and Beyond (REACH for BRAIN) will utilize community engagement with Black and Latinx stakeholder networks, to co-create evidence-based solutions and ethical guidance to expand the inclusiveness of participation in NIH BRAIN research and human neuroimaging studies more broadly. Utilizing a stakeholder network, Outcome Map, and Theory of Change (ToC), and initially targeting recruitment for research with the BRAIN Initiative supported Connectome 2.0 project, community members, neuroscientists, and neuroethics experts will co-develop and implement a targeted, community-led and participant-centered deliverables to increase the participation of underrepresented and minoritized groups in neuroimaging research.

Given the fraught history of scientific racism and biological essentialism in brain science, Aim 1 efforts to create appropriately diverse participation in neuroimaging will be accompanied by the Aim 2’s creation of Working Group consensus guidance and applied tools to guide neuroimaging researchers on how to measure and report on participants’ sociodemographic identifiers.

Project outcomes include:

JLME Symposium, Winter 2024

• Shen FX, Wolf SM, Lawrenz F. Introduction: Revolutionizing Neuroimaging Research with Highly Portable MRI: Confronting Ethical and Legal Challenges (In press)
• Shen FX, Wolf SM, Lawrenz F, Comeau DS, Evans BJ, Fair D, Farah MJ, Garwood M, Han SD, Illes J, Jackson JD, Klein E, Rosen MS, Torres E, Tuite P, Vaughn JT. Conducting Research with Highly Portable MRI in Community Settings: A Practical Guide to Navigating Ethical Issues and ELSI Checklist (In press)
• Madzelan M, Lawrenz F, Wolf SM, Shen FX. Expert Stakeholder Perspectives on Emerging Technology for Neuroimaging Research with Highly Portable MRI: The Need for Guidance on Ethical, Legal, and Societal Issues (In press)
• Wolf SM, Illes J. Far from Home: Managing Incidental Findings in Field Research with Portable MRI (In press)
• Birly S, Teeple A, Illes J. The Realization of Portable MRI for Indigenous Communities in the USA and Canada (In press)
• Farah M. Socioeconomic Factors in Brain Research: Increasing Sample Representativeness with Portable MRI (In press)
• Klein E, Han SD, Tuite P, Kimberly WT, Agarwal M. Portable Accessible MRI in Dementia Research: Ethical Considerations About Research Representation and Dementia-Friendly Technology (In press)
• Comeau DS, Silverman BC, Avanki MA, Wolf SM. The Need for IRB Leadership to Address the New Ethical Challenges of Research with Highly Portable Neuroimaging Technologies (In press)

• Evans B. Ethical Oversight and Social Licensing of Portable MRI Research (In press)

   

Media Coverage

• A story about REACH for BRAIN posted by the Athinoula A. Martinos Center.
• Webinar on "Emerging Portable Technology for Neuroimaging Research in New Field Settings: Legal & Ethical Challenges"