OHBM Diversity and Inclusivity Committee 2023-2024 Election Results

Kangjoo Lee, Lucina Q. Uddin, Rosanna Olsen on behalf of the OHBM Diversity and Inclusivity Committee ​

Overview of DIC committee 2023-2024 election procedure and results

The Diversity and Inclusivity Committee (DIC) at OHBM is dedicated to cultivating a diverse, engaged and inclusive international community of scientists conducting human brain research. To achieve this goal, DIC members collaborate to formulate a comprehensive plan to promote inclusivity across OHBM’s activities. The DIC’s approach involves investigating and implementing best practices suggested by current research on fostering inclusive environments. The committee develops new policies and programs aimed at creating a more inclusive environment, including leadership, education, and mentorship. These efforts are conducted in close collaboration with other OHBM committees and Special Interest Groups.  Comprising 9-15 members, including the Chair and Chair-Elect, the DIC plays a pivotal role in shaping OHBM’s commitment to diversity and inclusivity. In the autumn of 2023, the DIC conducted two significant elections to further advance its mission.

The first election took place from September 24th to October 2nd. Here, we were pleased to fill four positions for the roles of  graphic design officer, social media officer, and ad-hoc members for the 2023-2024 DIC term. We invited the OHBM public to apply for these positions. This opportunity attracted a remarkable response from our community, with a total of 55 applications submitted. These applications represented the rich spectrum of OHBM members, encompassing diverse backgrounds and career stages, ranging from graduate students to accomplished senior scientists. With the help of OHBM Executive Director, the 2022-2023 members of DIC voted on and elected our new members. 
The second election took place from November 1st to 3rd, and the focus was on selecting a chair-elect from among two current DIC members. Election procedures, described in detail below, led to the identification of four exceptional new DIC members and our new chair-elect.

• 2023-2024 DIC new members: Joana Cabral (graphic design officer), Leyla Loued-Khenissi (ad-hoc member), Alyssa Pozzobon (ad-hoc member), and Jana Totzek (social media officer). 
• 2023-2024 DIC Chair-elect: Sharna Jamadar

Joana Cabral is a research scientist at the Life and Health Sciences Research Institute, University of Minho, Portugal. She is a Biomedical Engineer with a PhD in Computational Neuroscience and a postdoc in Psychiatry. She has developed several analysis and modeling algorithms to investigate the activity patterns detected with fMRI across conditions.

Leyla Loued-Khenissi is a Tunisian-American mother, cognitive neuroscientist and long-time brain mapper living and working on the shores of Lake Geneva, Switzerland. She currently holds a position as a postdoctoral fellow at the Lausanne University Hospital. Her areas of interest focus on fMRI, uncertainty and predictive coding.

Alyssa Pozzobon is a PhD Student in Experimental Psychology with a focus in Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Ottawa in Ottawa, Canada. She has worked in the field of sleep neuroscience and memory for over 5 years. Her current research looks at the micro-architecture of sleep dependent memory consolidation in older adults with dementia and cognitive impairments.

Jana Totzek is a Ph.D. student in Mental Health at McGill University's Department of Psychiatry. She earned her B.Sc. in Psychology from Maastricht University in 2020 and went on to complete her M.Sc. in Cognitive and Clinical Neuroscience at the same institution in 2022. As part of her M.Sc., she completed a research internship at the Douglas Research Centre in the CRISP group, where she is now pursuing her Ph.D. under the supervision of Dr. Martin Lepage and Dr. Katie M. Lavigne, focusing on psychosis, multimodal neuroimaging, and machine-learning.

A/Prof Sharna Jamadar is a cognitive neuroscientist based at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. She is broadly interested in how our life experiences confer resilience to the aging process. Sharna has developed a new approach to study brain connectivity on the basis of FDG-PET, called metabolic connectivity. She is also interested in parental neuroscience, and has proposed the novel hypothesis that parenthood contributes to cognitive reserve. She is a passionate advocate for diversity, inclusivity and accessibility in neuroscience.

​New member election timeline:

08/29/2023	Initial Notification and Recruitment The OHBM Executive Director (ED) informed the OHBM DIC about the number of seats available for the 2023-2024 term. The DIC and ED initiated the recruitment process for open seats. The recruitment was advertised through the OHBM twitter and e-blast.
09/08/2023	Application Deadline.
09/20/2023	Review and Criteria Consideration The ED collected applications and transferred them to the DIC. The DIC evaluated the applications and established a set of criteria for candidate selection: Consideration of candidate’s availability for one of the four suggested positions To obtain gender and geographic diversity within the DIC To obtain career stage diversity within the DIC
09/24/2023	Voting Phase Ballot voting commenced to allow each 2022-2023 DIC member to identify  candidates and suggested roles. It was not mandatory to suggest a role for every candidate. The list of 2022-2023 DIC members can be found at https://ohbm-dic.github.io/about_us/ourteam/.
10/02/2023	Ballot voting concluded. 58.3% of the DIC members voted.
10/18/2023	The ED reported the ballot results to the DIC chair.
10/20/2023	Final Selection The ED and DIC chair meeting to identify four finalists based on the number of votes received and the specific roles suggested during the ballot. ​
10/20/2023	Offer Notifications

​Chair-elect election timeline:

09/20/2023	Initial Notification and Nomination (including self-nominations)
10/20/2023	Final Notification and Candidate Statements. A final notice for nominations was issued, along with a request for candidates to submit a statement (at least 3-5 sentences and no more than 1 page) outlining their qualifications and vision for the role.
10/31/2023	Final Candidate Statements Received.
11/01/2023	Voting Phase Ballot voting commenced. The ED sent two candidate statements to the DIC members. All DIC members, including new members and candidates, were allowed to vote in the election.
11/03/2023	Ballot voting concluded. 75% of the DIC members voted.
11/06/2023	The ED reported the ballot results to the DIC chair.
11/06/2023	​Announcement of Results.

2023-2024 DIC members
Kangjoo Lee, United States - Chair
Sharna Jamader, Australia - Chair-Elect
Lucina Q. Uddin, United States - Past-Chair
Athina Tzovara, Switzerland - Subcommittee Chair - Gender
Tan Davynn, Singapore - Subcommittee Chair - Language and Culture
Tilak Ratnanather, United States - Subcommittee Chair - Accessibility
Alexander Barnett, Canada - Subcommittee Chair - Race and Ethnicity
Maryam Ziaei, Norway (Australia) - Subcommittee Chair - Career Level and Development
Christienne Gonzales Damatac, Netherlands - Subcommittee Chair - Socioeconomic Status
Lena Oestreich Australia - Subcommittee Chair - Mental Illness and Neurodiversity, BrainArt SIG Liaison
Julia Kam, Canada - FYM Officer
Fernanda Hansen Pacheco de Moraes, Brazil - Event Communication Officer
Joana Cabral, Portugal - Graphic Design Officer
Jana Totzek, Canada - Social Media Officer
Leyla Loued-Khenissi, Switzerland - Ad-hoc Member
Alyssa Pozzobon, Canada - Ad-hoc Member
Hiromasa Takemura, Japan - Council Liaison
Caroline Ahn, United States - Student and Postdoc SIG Liaison
Elisa Guma, United States - Communications Committee Liaison
Anibal Solon, United States - Open Science SIG Liaison
Linda Mah, Canada - Women PI SIG Liaison
*Rosanna Olsen, Canada - Guest, 2021-2022 Chair
*AmanPreet Badhwar, Canada - Guest, 2020-2021 Chair

* Guests are invited for a 1-year term when they are involved in the projects tied to the Committee. Guests are not eligible to participate in elections held by the Committee members.