Portable MR Imaging of the Brain: Practical Challenges and Ethical Solutions for Indigenous, and Rural and Remote Communities

Portable MR Imaging of the Brain graphic
Project Links
Information & Registration
Thursday, April 17, 2025
2-3:30pm CDT | Noon – 1:30pm PDT
Via Zoom (Link will be shared upon registration.)

Free and open to the public, but registration required.

Sponsored by the Consortium on Law and Values in Health, Environment & the Life Sciences; Neuroethics Canada; University of British Columbia.

Join us for an interactive conversation with experts to discuss how highly portable neuroimaging technology can enable research and understandings of the human brain.

The advent of highly portable MRI (pMRI) offers new possibilities for field-based neuroscience research that has largely been limited to urban medical centers. In this community conversation, experts and community members will discuss the promise of improving representation in and leadership of neuroscience research by Indigenous People, as well as communities for which such capabilities have historically been absent or difficult to access. This event will also address ethical, societal, and legal challenges of pMRI research, including pathways for bringing holistic worldviews to the research and health care conversation.

This event is supported in part by the NIH BRAIN Initiative Grant Highly Portable and Cloud-Enabled Neuroimaging Research: Confronting Ethics Challenges in Field Research with New Populations (RF1MH123698).

Presenters:

Donnella S. Comeau, MD, PhD

Donnella S. Comeau, MD, PhD
Donnella S. Comeau, MD, PhD
Attending Neuroradiologist, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center; Vice Chair, Mass General Brigham Institutional Review Board; Instructor, Harvard Medical School

Expand all

Bio

Dr. Donnella S. Comeau is a neuroscientist specializing in translational medicine and the development of oversight and governance for innovative technologies, including clinical artificial intelligence (AI) and portable MRI (pMRI), with a focus on ethics and justice. With degrees in neurobiology and medicine from Harvard Medical School, she is actively engaged in both research and clinical practice in neuroradiology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. Dr. Comeau’s expertise spans AI applications in medical imaging, particularly in stroke and glymphatic system imaging, where she has contributed to the development of several medical machine learning models. In addition to her clinical and research work, Dr. Comeau is deeply committed to health equity education, teaching Harvard Medical School students, BIDMC radiology residents, and neuroradiology fellows. She also leads a monthly International Neuroradiology conference in collaboration with the University of Toronto and the University of São Paulo. As Vice Chair of the Mass General Brigham Institutional Review Board and Co-chair of the MGB IRB Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Advisory Committee, she plays a key role in shaping equitable and ethical research guidelines. Dr. Comeau regularly presents at national ethics conferences and has shared her expertise internationally, in Mexico and Brazil, on topics related to medical ethics and AI. With a commitment to innovation, education, and ethical considerations, she is at the forefront of advancing neuroradiology and the responsible integration of AI in medicine.

Francis X. Shen, JD, PhD

Francis X. Shen, JD, PhD
Francis X. Shen, JD, PhD
Co-Chair, Consortium on Law and Values; Professor, University of Minnesota

Expand all

Bio

Dr. Francis X. Shen is a Professor of Law and Faculty Member of the Graduate Program in Neuroscience at the University of Minnesota, where he directs the Shen Neurolaw Lab, whose motto is, “Every story is a brain story”. Dr. Shen is also Co-Chair of the Consortium on Law on Values in Health, Environment & the Life Sciences; Chief Innovation Officer for the MGH Center for Law, Brain & Behavior (CLBB) in MGH Department of Psychiatry; founding director of the Dana Foundation Career Network in Neuroscience & Society; co-director of the Neurotech Justice Accelerator at Mass General Brigham, a Dana Center Initiative. He also co-leads NIH BRAIN Initiative funded projects on portable MRI, and community engagement in neuroimaging research. Dr. Shen has co-authored 4 books, including the first Law and Neuroscience casebook and Brain Science for Lawyers, Judges, and Policymakers. He has published articles on a range of neurolaw and neuroethics topics, including extensive research on the ethical and legal challenges associated with portable neuroimaging research. In 2021, he was awarded the Early Career Scholars Medal by the American Law Institute, one of two medals awarded every other year by the ALI, for being “a pioneer in establishing the interdisciplinary field of law and neuroscience.” He received his B.A. from the University of Chicago, his JD from Harvard Law School, and his PhD from the Harvard University.

Jonathan Jackson, PhD

Jonathan Jackson, PhD
Jonathan Jackson, PhD
Founder and Research Principal, CRESCENT Advising, LLC; Assistant Professor, Harvard Medical School

Expand all

Bio

Dr. Jonathan Jackson is a Founder and the Research Principal of CRESCENT Advising, LLC, and an Assistant Professor in Neurology at Harvard Medical School. CRESCENT focuses exclusively on improving marginalized empowerment, representation, and recruitment to clinical research and partners with a number of disease advocacy organizations, industry partners, and academic medical centers to achieve its aims. From 2017-2024, Dr. Jackson founded and directed the CARE Research Center within Massachusetts General Hospital’s Research Institute to better address representation, diversity, and inclusion in clinical research studies. Dr. Jackson’s work focuses on barriers to accessing clinical trials for historically marginalized and minoritized populations. Dr. Jackson also works as a cognitive neuroscientist, investigating the early detection of Alzheimer’s disease, particularly in the absence of overt memory problems. He has become a well-known representative to underserved communities and dozens of affiliated organizations, particularly regarding participation in clinical research. Dr. Jackson serves on the leadership team of several organizations focused on community health, and has written guidance for local, statewide, and national groups on research access, engagement, and recruitment.

Angela Teeple, MLS

Angela Teeple, MLS
Angela Teeple, MLS
Doctoral Student, University of Minnesota

Expand all

Bio

Angela Teeple is Anishinaabe from Bay Mills Indian Community in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and has expertise in several areas. Angela obtained her BS in Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering from Kansas State University, Master of Legal Studies in Indigenous People’s Law and Policy from University of Oklahoma, and is currently working on her PhD in Medical Physics at University of Minnesota Medical School where she is doing Magnetic Resonance physics research with Dr. Michael Garwood for a novel portable MRI system. In addition to this, she is the Founder and CEO of Nibi-Clear, a water testing service that utilizes neutron activation analysis and serves tribal governments and communities.

Shannon Kolind, PhD

Shannon Kolind, PhD
Shannon Kolind, PhD
MRI Physicist; Associate Professor, University of British Columbia

Expand all

Bio

Dr. Shannon Kolind completed her PhD in Physics at UBC and a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Oxford and King’s College London, developing ways to measure myelin, the insulating layer that surrounds nerves in the brain and spinal cord, using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). As an Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine (Division of Neurology) with associate appointments in the Departments of Radiology and Physics at UBC, Dr. Kolind’s lab is focused on developing a toolbox of tissue-specific imaging techniques and making them available to everyone, everywhere. Her multi-disciplinary team employs these multi-modal tools to achieving greater sensitivity and specificity in clinical research; particularly for clinical trials of new therapies. She was recently appointed as the Associate Head (Research) for the Division of Neurology, with the goal of promoting and fostering translational medicine.

Judy Illes, CM, PhD, FCAHS, FRSC

Judy Illes, CM, PhD, FCAHS, FRSC
Moderator: Judy Illes, CM, PhD, FCAHS, FRSC
Professor and Director, Neuroethics Canada, University of British Columbia

Expand all

Bio

Dr. Judy Illes, trailblazing neuroethicist, is Professor of Neurology at the University of British Columbia (UBC), Distinguished University Scholar, UBC Distinguished Scholar in Neuroethics, and Director of Neuroethics Canada. She holds appointments in UBC’s School of Population and Public Health, and in Journalism, and in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Washington, in Seattle. She is a pioneer of the field of neuroethics through which she has made groundbreaking contributions to cross-cultural ethical, legal, social and policy challenges at the intersection of the brain sciences and biomedical ethics. With her expertise in both neurosciences and ethics, Dr. Illes has served in major international leadership positions, including the inaugural Forum on Neurological Sciences at the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine in the USA where the term connectome was coined. She was the academic lead of the working group convened by Health Canada on neurotechnology ethics, in response to OECD’s principles established in 2018 which she helped to draft, is Canada’s delegate to UNESCO today on this subject, and she has served as an expert advisor for the World Health Organization and Amnesty International.