Our co-designed PPI work with Sheffield’s Israac Community Centre, shaping more inclusive neurotechnology, has been featured in the EPSRC Healthcare Technologies Newsletter.
We’re delighted to share that our project, particularly the public and patient involvement (PPI) activities developed in partnership with community organisations, has been featured by the EPSRC Healthcare Technologies Newsletter.
The recognition reflects a year of practical co-design with the Israac Community Centre in Sheffield, where we set out to understand how people actually experience brain research and to translate those insights into changes that make neurotechnology fairer and more representative.
Why inclusion isn’t optional in neurotechnology
Neurotechnologies promise to improve care and revolutionise our understanding of the brain, but they do not automatically work equally well for everyone.
Factors like hair type and protective hairstyles, skin tone, head size, skull thickness and hormonal differences can all influence signal quality and comfort.
When research samples fail to reflect the diversity of real communities, the evidence base becomes skewed and the tools built on that evidence risk serving those who were easiest to recruit, rather than those who might benefit most. Inclusion should not a add-on at the end of a protocol. it is fundamental to scientific validity, clinical utility, and public trust.
Rather than inviting people into a finished plan, we began by listening. Together with Israac, we ran interactive workshops in familiar community spaces, set out equipment for hands-on demonstrations and made time for open conversations about expectations, concerns and practicalities.
We explained what electroencephalography (EEG) does and does not measure, what happens to data after a study, and how results are communicated, while participants explained what would help them feel respected and comfortable enough to take part.
From conversation to change
Listening only matters if it leads to action. We learned that we must rework our study procedures so they could be run in community venues first, with flexible evening or weekend sessions and shorter appointments where needed.
We must also ensure that participants could request same-gender staff and arranged private spaces for set-up. We must also communicate our information materials in plain English that explains at a glance, where data go, who can access them and how outcomes will be reported back.
We must also review compensation and practical support so that time, travel and childcare are recognised rather than assumed.
Alongside methodological changes, we created a short video. aimed at both researchers and community groups, explaining why diversity in brain research matters and how co-design helps.
The goal is to make the case for inclusion clear and actionable, to show that better engagement isn’t an administrative burden but a route to better science and more trustworthy technologies.
As the work develops, we plan to publish accessible checklists and templates that other teams can adopt and adapt.
The collaboration behind the work
This project brings together the University of Sheffield, led by Dr Mahnaz Arvaneh, Dr Dan Blackburn (with the NIHR Devices for Dignity MedTech Co-operative), and Lise Sproson, in close partnership with the Israac Community Centre.
What comes next
Over the coming months we will broaden our partnerships to include additional community centres so that lessons learned in one context can be validated in others. Most importantly, we will keep sharing outcomes back to participants first and then to the wider field, so that inclusion remains a living practice.
👉 Read the feature: “Breaking barriers: making brain research more inclusive” - EPSRC Healthcare Technologies Newsletter (Issue 18, Oct 2025).