Equity, Diversity & Inclusion: 5 New Intradepartmental Grants Awarded

Department Chair Dr. Stefan Pulst and the Department of Neurology's Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee have come together to fund five different grants to further the departmental goal of ending neurological disease through specialized patient care and the education of tomorrow's physicians.

1. Residents Raeann Borscheid and Gitanjali Das's project will educate residents using the AAN's anti-racism curricula and partner with other universities to evaluate its implementation.
2. Research Assistant Ka-Ho Wong’s project is to reach out to high-school Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) to increase their opportunities in, interest in, connections to, and mentorship within neurology and neuroscience through designing and providing course curriculum and designing and offering a summer internship research program with the Department of Neurology.
3. Drs. Amanda Simon, Michelle Miranda, and Angela Peters's project will study how folklore about epilepsy affects the Spanish-speaking population to better educate providers on delivering more culturally informed care.
4. Dr. Melissa Cortez’s project is to develop and validate Spanish-language headache questionnaires, filling a gap in existing clinical and research tools that are essential to providing health equity in headache care.
5. Drs. Emily Dennis, Elisabeth Wilde, David Tate, and Spencer W. Liebel's project will develop an online school focused on neuroimaging, neuroscience, neuropsychology, and basic science literacy geared toward seniors in high school or entry-level college students—especially those coming from backgrounds that do not include easy access to mentorship. This project is currently looking for participants. If interested, please reach out to Bennsey Johnson at bennsey.johnson@hsc.utah.edu.