A Neuroscience Project Pushes To Include More African Americans In Brain Research



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African Americans and other under-represented minorities make up only about 5% of the people in research studies

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Scientists Reach Out To Minority Communities To Diversify Alzheimer’s Studies

These disparities are especially troubling when it comes to brain disorders that are more prevalent in people of African ancestry, says Dr. Daniel Weinberger, the Institute’s CEO.

African Americans are about 20% more likely than other people to experience a serious mental health problem, and perhaps twice as likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease.

To understand how genetics and the environment are interacting to cause these high rates of disease «you have to study brains,» Weinberger says.

And that’s where the Lieber Institute had something to offer. Over the past decade, it has received more than 700 brains from African American families who chose to donate the brain of a relative who died.

As part of the African ancestry initiative, «We have produced molecular data — detailed molecular data — on about 300 brains of African Americans, plus about 1,000 brains of people of European ancestry,» Weinberger says.

By comparing these brains, scientists hope to figure out why Alzheimer’s occurs more often in African Americans. They also hope to learn why having African ancestry can sometimes protect a person from the disease.

For example, Weinberger says, there’s a gene mutation that greatly increases the risk of Alzheimer’s in people whose ancestors came from Europe.

«If you’re of African ancestry, the risk from inheriting that gene from both your parents is about a fourth of what it is if you’re of European ancestry,» he says.

Figuring out what that is might lead to a drug that would protect all people, Weinberger says.

A matter of trust

This sort of research is tricky in a nation that has often mixed science with racism.


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Baltimore was the home to Henrietta Lacks, an African American woman whose cancerous cells were taken and grown in the lab without her consent or knowledge. Those cells, which had the ability to divide without aging, became one of the most important discoveries in medical research.

And research suggesting a link between race and intelligence continue to fuel social debates, though most scientists dismiss the idea.

«When you begin to talk about the brain, you begin to talk about the genomic dataset, immediately within the community that triggers all kinds of suspicions,» says Rev. Alvin Hathaway Sr., the pastor of Union Baptist Church in Baltimore and a participant in the neuroscience research initiative.

Hathaway has worked to ensure that the effort is transparent and inclusive.

For example, he wanted to involve Morgan State University, a public, historically black school in Baltimore. So he approached the Lieber Institute with a big request:

«That I should have persons from Morgan at every step of this process, from technicians to principal investigators, to researchers,» he says. «And there was overwhelming acceptance of that.»

Other efforts to diversify research have often left fundraising to white people, Hathaway says. But not this one.

«In this process, every step of the way, even in terms of capital formation, we’ve been actively, acutely involved,» he says, adding that one of the first investors was African American.

In July, the effort got a $1 million commitment from Brown Capital Management, a business in Baltimore founded and run by an African American. The State of Maryland has promised another $1.25 million.

And all of that is gratifying to Dr. Kafui Dzirasa, the brain scientist whose lab research has been motivated by his own family’s struggles with mental illness.

«I go in every day believing that is the day I will make the discovery that is going to totally transform my family’s life,» he says.

  • racial disparities in health care
  • racial disparities in research
  • brain disorders
  • african ancestry
  • African American health
  • African Americans



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