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

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA · 2024 · $433,098

## Abstract

Project Summary / Abstract
 Although BRAIN 2.0 called for the BRAIN Initiative to “prioritize diversity and inclusion as a fundamental
pillar,” research with the human neuroimaging technologies being developed by BRAIN Initiative continues to
rely on non-representative convenience samples. This raises neuroethics concerns related to access and justice,
and scientific concerns because non-representative samples undermine most key assumptions supporting
causal inference in research. Our proposal for Improving Recruitment, Engagement, and Access for Community
Health Equity for BRAIN Next-Generation Human Neuroimaging Research and Beyond (REACH for BRAIN) will
directly address these ethical and scientific challenges. 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.
 Aim 1: Utilizing a stakeholder network, Outcome Map, and Theory of Change (ToC) already established in
pilot work, 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 (URM) groups in neuroimaging research. Using Community Engagement Studios, REACH for
BRAIN will facilitate bi-directional learning between community members and the research teams, providing local
value for the community and creating a foundation for neuroimaging researchers to implement the framework,
and engage and recruit motivated participants from URM communities. Initial implementation of the framework
will be by Connectome 2.0 researchers at the Martinos Center, to be followed by evaluation and then expansion
to additional neuroimaging research projects at MGH and Harvard.
 Aim 2: Given the fraught history of scientific racism and biological essentialism in brain science, Aim 1 efforts
to create appropriately diverse participation in neuroimaging must be accompanied by guidance on how to
reliably measure and report on “race,” “ethnicity,” “ancestry,” and related sociodemographic categories. In Aim
2 we will convene an interdisciplinary expert Working Group (WG) to create consensus ethical guidance and
proposed data elements for measuring and reporting demographics in more representative neuroscience
research, and we will create applied tools: a) a decision-aid for researchers for working with race, ethnicity, and
ancestry data in neuroimaging research; (b) an educational tool for community members; and c) a template for
neuroscience journal editors on publication guidelines for reporting race in neuroimaging studies. Impact and
Deliverables: We will widely disseminate the project’s tools and guidance via: a dedicated website, co-creat...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 11062314
- **Project number:** 7R01MH134144-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA
- **Principal Investigator:** Susie Yi Huang
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $433,098
- **Award type:** 7
- **Project period:** 2023-09-01 → 2027-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/11062314

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 11062314, Improving Recruitment, Engagement, and Access for Community Health Equity for BRAIN Next-Generation Human Neuroimaging Research and Beyond (REACH for BRAIN) (7R01MH134144-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-27 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/11062314. Licensed CC0.

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