Invited Panel

Saturday, November 20 | 1:30 PM – 3:00 PM ET | Virtual

Toward an Intersectional Model of Translational Neuroscience: Engaging Marginalized Community Partners to Adopt Neuroscience in Psychology Clinics

Sponsored by: ABCT’s Neurocognitive Methods for the Clinic Think Tank and the Neurocognitive Therapies/Translational Research Special Interest Group

Chair: Angela Fang, Ph.D., University of Washington
Moderator: Judy Illes, Ph.D., University of British Columbia

Presenters:

Riana Anderson, Ph.D., University of Michigan

Sierra Carter, Ph.D., Georgia State University

Kristen Eckstrand, M.D., Ph.D., University of Pittsburgh

Kean Hsu, Ph.D., Georgetown University

Ryan Jacoby, Ph.D., Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School

Shawn Jones, Ph.D., MHS, Virginia Commonwealth University

Maria Kryza-Lacombe, Ph.D., San Diego State University

Andrew Peckham, Ph.D., McLean Hospital, Harvard Medical School

Greg Siegle, Ph.D., University of Pittsburgh

Lucina Uddin, Ph.D., University of Miami

Mariann Weierich, Ph.D., University of Nevada, Reno

Mary Woody, Ph.D., University of Pittsburgh

Categories: Neuroscience, Translational

Keywords: Neurocognitive therapies; Neuroscience; Translational research; Dissemination

Participants earn 1.5 continuing education credits.

The COVID-19 pandemic and Black Lives Matter movement together have brought our collective attention to widespread disparities in the access, provision, and outcomes of healthcare services, as well as the lack of research participant and workforce representation and inclusivity of minoritized populations within clinical psychological science. Clinical translational neuroscience is an emerging field that is at even greater risk of excluding the voices of minoritized researchers, clinicians, and patients, given that it requires the integration of two disciplines (clinical psychology and neuroscience) that each often lack appropriate representation and inclusivity of Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC), and additionally marginalized voices. At the same time, this interdisciplinary field is also well-positioned to question basic assumptions about emotions, cognitions, behavior, and brain development due to strong cross-fertilization between different scientific disciplines. In line with this year’s conference theme, in this invited panel, we aim to assess the basic assumptions and practices of relevant stakeholders in choosing to adopt or not adopt neuroscientific principles into clinical practice, through an intersectional framework.

Outline:

• Ethical considerations related to bringing neuroscience to psychology clinics
  • Integrate the scholarship and lived experience of marginalized scholars and clinicians to identify additional nuances in understanding how, why, for whom and for whom not to translate neuroscience to psychology clinics
  • Provide updated data on racial disparities in the biomedical and academic workforce and patient populations not represented in existing studies, as well as the impact of racism on driving those disparities.

• Barriers to adoption of neuroscience in psychology clinics from a critical lens
  • Define neuroscience and provide example neuroscientific research that can be integrated into psychology clinics
  • Identify barriers to building trust between relevant stakeholders in the adoption of neuroscientific principles into psychology clinics, including knowledge gaps about (1) the effects of interlocking systems of oppression on different intersectionalities and consequences for seeking treatment, and (2) the biomedical ethics of integrating neuroscience in clinical care settings.
  • Examine the role of racism in perpetuating myths about biological measures, driving racial disparities in health outcomes, and systematically oppressing disadvantaged groups through coercion and exploitation in research both historically and in the present

• Frameworks to understand how translational neuroscience could better serve minoritized population
  • Discuss previous efforts to translate scientific principles into the community by discussing relevant psychological theories and frameworks related to dissemination, implementation, bioethics, minority stress, and intersectionality that may be applicable to the neuroscience-psychology translational gap.

• Actionable solutions to bridge the translational gap
  • Learn from clinician scientists who conduct research on behavioral interventions, mental health disparities, and neuroscience on how to maximize the broader impact of their science.
  • Evaluate potential solutions toward improved clinical and research practices by developing sustainable and meaningful community partnerships to enhance BIPOC representation within research and within the workforce/training programs.

At the end of this session, the learner will be able to:

1. Describe historical and ongoing barriers that have limited the application of neuroscientific techniques to study mental health disparities in minoritized populations.
2. Develop an up-to-date conceptualization of how translational neuroscience could serve minoritized stakeholders from bench to bedside.
3. Uplift the work and voices of BIPOC and additionally marginalized scholars and clinicians.
4. Engage with community partners to understand and heal potential distrust of (neuro)scientists and clinical trials in local communities.

Goals:

1. Showcase the work of BIPOC scholars, as well as scholars who hold additional minoritized identities, in the areas of mental health disparities/behavioral interventions and neuroscience.
2. Examine the role of racism in perpetuating myths about biological measures, driving racial disparities in health outcomes, and systematically oppressing disadvantaged groups through coercion and exploitation in research both historically and in the present.
3. Identify barriers to building trust between relevant stakeholders in the adoption of neuroscientific principles into psychology clinics, including knowledge gaps about (1) the effects of interlocking systems of oppression on different intersectionalities and consequences for seeking treatment, and (2) the biomedical ethics of integrating neuroscience in clinical care settings.
4. Evaluate potential solutions toward improved clinical and research practices by developing sustainable and meaningful community partnerships to enhance BIPOC representation within research and within the workforce/training programs.

Recommended Readings:

Abiodun, S. J. (2019). “Seeing Color,” A Discussion of the Implications and Applications of Race in the Field of Neuroscience. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 13, 280. doi:10.3389/fnhum.2019.00280.

Cabrera L.Y., Courchesne C., Bittlinger M., Müller S., Martinez, R., Racine, E., and Illes, J. (2020). Authentic Self and Last Resort Looking back and looking forward: Public perceptions of psychiatric neurosurgery. Journal of Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry, 45, 141-161. doi:  10.1007/s11013-020-09679-1

Carter, R. T. (2007). Racism and psychological and emotional injury: Recognizing and assessing race-based traumatic stress. The Counseling Psychologist, 35(1), 13-105.

McFarlane, J. & Illes, J. (2020). Neuroethics at the interface of machine learning and schizophrenia. Nature Schizophrenia, 6, 18.

Illes, J., Lombera, S., Rosenberg, J., & Arnow, B. (2008). In the mind’s eye: provider and patient attitudes on functional brain imaging. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 43(2), 107-114. doi:10.1016/j.jpsychires.2008.02.008.

Racine, E., Bar-Ilan, O., & Illes, J. (2005). fMRI in the public eye. Nature Reviews Neurosciences, 6(2), 159-164. doi:10.1038/nrn1609.