The annual seminar kicked off with Prof. Aikaterini Fotopoulou, Director of the ERB Centre, celebrating the centre’s achievements since its launch in April 2023. She highlighted the funding of 11 projects and the critical role of embedding equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) in research to benefit higher education and society. 

Dr. Natalie Marchant, Inclusive Research Sampling Lead, followed with insights on the importance of representative participant inclusion in Dementia research. Post-lunch, Dr. Leslie Gutman discussed workplace wellbeing during the pandemic, emphasising EDI practices in mental health support.

Professor Anna Cox and collaborator Alex Tcherdakoff presented on the challenges of UCL’s digital systems for students with ADHD and autism, highlighting sensory overload and complex workflows.

Patrizia Pezzoli addressed the lack of diversity in mental health research among journal editors, calling for practical actions to enhance inclusivity.

Rachel Rees shared findings on attainment inequalities faced by ethnic minority students in speech and language therapy programs, stressing the need for inclusive initiatives and clearer processes for reporting racism.

Dwaynica Greaves discussed a project on EDI in neuroimaging, aiming to make research more inclusive by identifying barriers and proposing solutions. 

Jo Cammack and Rashmi Mathew are investigating differences in the lived experience of White and global majority Early Career Researchers, and the potential impact on academic progress and wellbeing.

Audrey Zhang explored the university experience of marginalised students, with a view to informing policy to foster inclusive university environments.

Anna Volkmer and Kerry Dathan explored access barriers for diverse populations with rare forms of dementia, aiming to improve diagnosis and support through cultural understanding and awareness. 

Dr. Lisa Quadt, keynote speaker, presented novel findings on neurodivergent wellbeing, linking neurodevelopmental conditions with higher rates of musculoskeletal pain and joint hypermobility, emphasizing the need for early detection and support.

Angelika Zarkali presented work focussed on increasing Black African participation in Parkinson’s research 

The seminar concluded with heartfelt thanks to Anna Cox, Vice Dean for EDI, for her contributions as she passes the torch to Leslie Gutman. The event ended on a high note, with a look forward to more groundbreaking research and initiatives from the ERB Centre. For more information or to get involved, visit the ERB webpage.

Till next time!

The ERB Centre, also known as the Centre for Equality Research in Brain Sciences, offers funding and opportunities for research that promote equality, diversity, and inclusion.

Authors, Christina Smith and Rachel Reeves conducted a research project on exploring students’ experiences from Black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds on a pre-registration speech and language therapy training programme.

They discovered, previous research with students from BAME backgrounds on physiotherapy training programmes identified themes that included: feeling like an outsider, lack of understanding of cultural and ethnic differences and lack of power and influence. The speech and language therapy profession has even fewer members from BAME backgrounds.  Therefore, this study will aim to discover whether similar or different themes arise with speech and language therapy students.

All students on the MSc Speech and Language Sciences programme (approximately 120 students) were invited to participate in an online focus group if they identify themselves as being from a BAME background. Christina and Rachel recruited a research assistant not associated with the programme, to run the focus group with ten students, using a topic guide developed from the literature.

The Zoom platform was used to record the group conversation during the focus group. This will enable the generated high quality transcript automatically. The research assistant (supervised by the applicants) conducted an analysis on the transcript and took the lead in writing the report.

Ethical guidelines were followed. The student volunteers were asked for consent after being provided with the relevant information. Only the research assistant knew the names of the participants and, during the focus group, they instructed the participants not to use each other’s names. The recording was deleted once the anonymised transcription was completed.

Themes arising from the analysis indicate issues to be addressed on the programme and other programmes for health professionals at UCL and other higher education institutes.

To keep up with the latest news from The Centre for Equality Research in Brain Sciences (the ERB Centre), kindly visit their website. In case of any inquiries, feel free to reach out to fbs.edi@ucl.ac.uk via email.

On Wednesday 19 April 2022, the UCL Faculty of Brain Sciences launched The Centre for Equality Research in Brain Sciences (ERB Centre) at UCL Central House.

The ERB Centre Director, Katerina Fotopoulou, introduced ERB’s vision and how it aligns with the Faculty of Brain Sciences EDI Strategy 2021-2026, along with a thorough overview of the ERB Centre’s mission, key activities, and governance structure.

The centre was officially opened by Anna Cox, Vice Dean for EDI in Brain Sciences, streamed live to an online audience, complete with a digital ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Staff then presented their novel EDI research studies in Brain Sciences, funded by the EDI team in the previous academic year. These included Leslie Gutman’s study on workplace well-being during the pandemic, Patrizia Pezzoli’s presentation on inclusiveness in mental health research, and Audrey Zhang’s study on the impact of a discussion forum on the mental health of diverse groups of students.

Lasana Harris’ keynote address drove home the importance of EDI research, through his enthralling research on bias reduction.

The day ended with networking, to give academics, journalists, researchers and many others the opportunity to discuss EDI research further, over canapés and drinks.

The ERB Centre Launch was an important milestone in the Faculty’s mission to enhance its EDI objectives and establish a fresh impetus for EDI within UCL and the wider society.

If you are interested in learning more about the ERB Centre, you can find information on the ERB Centre webpage.