Neuroscience

The Neurotech Justice Accelerator at MGB (NJAM), a Dana Center for Neuroscience & Society, will provide a forum and training ground to reimagine the future of neurotechnology in society. NJAM commits to expanding the community of neuroscience and society professionals so that research and advocacy in this space has greater impact and is more inclusive.
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.
The goal of the Dana Foundation Career Network in Neuroscience & Society is to expand and diversify the next generation of neuroscience and society students, practitioners, and scholars.
This innovative 4-year project will convene a national Working Group of top neuroethics, neurolaw, and neuroscience experts to conduct empirical research and generate evidence-based consensus recommendations for the ethical conduct of research using highly portable, cloud-enabled MRI with new and diverse populations in field settings. Highly-portable MRI, a transformative technology supported by the NIH BRAIN Initiative, will allow researchers to conduct population-based neuroscience research and will accelerate research on brain biomarkers. As portable MRI develops quickly, guidance is urgently needed on unresolved ethical, legal, and social issues (ELSI). This project builds on two NIH Administrative Supplements that have preliminarily identified the most pressing unresolved ELSI issues.
This Administrative Supplement for Research on Bioethical Issues, SU01EB025153-03S1, extended the integration of senior bioethics personnel into the parent grant’s (1U01EB025153-01, Garwood, parent grant PI) development of a highly portable magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) device.
This administrative supplement proposes to integrate neuroethics analysis into the development of small and highly portable MRI devices. The supplement entails the addition of three senior key personnel and will involve collaborative development of publications on the ethical issues and potential solutions.
This project analyzed highly related and convergent science to see how law has been affected. It then normatively evaluated changes and adaptations in legal doctrine and practice already under way. This project aimed to influence the future development of legal practice, doctrine, and theory on neuroscience and neurogenomics.
This award helped fund a conference, "Emerging Problems in Neurogenomics: Ethical, Legal & Policy Issues at the Intersection of Genomics & Neuroscience" involving top experts from around the country.

Related Publications

Tsalidis A, Bharadwaj L, Shen FX. Standardization and Accuracy of Race and Ethnicity Data: Equity Implications for Medical AI. PLOS Digital Health 2025;4(5):1-11. Download PDF (428.74 KB)
Hemley H, Huang SY, Jackson JD, Shen FX. Improving Bi-Directional Learning, Engagement, and Recruitment in Human Neuroimaging Research. Poster presented at International Neuroethics Society conference (Baltimore, MD) 2024.
Lang L, McFarland C, Tawe B, Jain R, Little E, Huang SY, Jackson JD, Shen FX. A Critical Reexamination of Race and Ethnicity Population Descriptors in Human Neuroscience Research. Poster presented at 10th Annual BRAIN Initiative Conference (Bethesda, MD) 2024.
Shen FX, Wolf SM, Lawrenz F, Comeau DS, Dzirasa K, Evans BJ, Fair D, Farah MJ, Han SD, Illes J, Jackson JD, Klein E, Rommelfanger KS, Rosen MS, Torres E, Tuite P, Vaughan JT, Garwood M. Ethical, Legal, and Policy Challenges in Field-Based Neuroimaging Research Using Emerging Portable MRI Technologies: Guidance for Investigators and for Oversight. Journal of Law and the Biosciences 2024;11(1):1-61.
Wolf SM, Shen FX, Lawrenz F. Introduction: Revolutionizing Neuroimaging Research with Highly Portable MRI: Confronting Ethical and Legal Challenges. Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics 2024;52(4);764-768. Download PDF (83.45 KB)
Shen FX, Wolf SM, Lawrenz F, Comeau DS, Evans BJ, Fair D, Farah M, Garwood M, Han SD, Illes J, Jackson JD, Klein E, Rosen M, 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. Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics 2024;52(4);769-785. Download PDF (1.93 MB)
Wolf SM, Illes J. Far from Home: Managing Incidental Findings in Field Research with Portable MRI. Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics 2024;52(4);805-815. Download PDF (284.18 KB)
Birly S, Teeple A, Illes J. The Realization of Portable MRI for Indigenous Communities in the USA and Canada. Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics 2024;52(4);816-823. Download PDF (139.01 KB)
Farah M. Socioeconomic Factors in Brain Research: Increasing Sample Representativeness with Portable MRI. Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics 2024;52(4);824-829. Download PDF (101.2 KB)
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. Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics 2024;52(4);830-839. Download PDF (130 KB)
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. Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics 2024;52(4);840-850. Download PDF (182.72 KB)
Evans BJ. Ethical Oversight and Social Licensing of Portable MRI Research. Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics 2024;52(4);851-867. Download PDF (183.15 KB)
White AJ, Kelly-Hedrick M, Miranda SP, Abdelbarr MM, Lázaro-Muñoz B, Pouratian N, Shen FX, Nahed BV, Williamson T. Bioethics and Neurosurgery: An Overview of Existing and Emerging Topics for the Practicing Neurosurgeon. World Neurosurgery 2024;181-186. Download PDF (1.24 MB)