ALBA-FKNE Diversity Prize 2023 Winner

“Integrating equity & inclusion advocacy in my research is more than a checkbox activity for me. It is the Sisyphean task of overcoming systematic barriers to professional development that lie ahead of me, while devising useful ways to dismantle those barriers for others to come. As a queer brown immigrant from the Global South, I am committed to creating a more inclusive culture for our researchers and research participants alike. This recognition enables me to remind other multiply-minoritised and early career researchers: you are not only welcome in neuroscience, but your lived experience and perspectives are essential to progressing this field forward.” - Arish Mudra Rakshasa-Loots

Arish Mudra Rakshasa-Loots, PhD student at the University of Edinburgh, UK, has been awarded the ALBA-FKNE Diversity Prize 2023 for his contribution to advancing diversity and inclusion in brain research. This year’s prize highlights a Europe-based student or researcher (who is not a group leader) who has made outstanding contributions to promoting diversity in brain sciences. 

Dr Laura Andreae (King’s College London, UK), Chair of the ALBA network, said: “The idea behind this prize is not just to recognise the incredible contributions to improving diversity by a single individual, but also to help inspire the entire community and remind us of how change is possible by all our actions.” “We strive toward diversity in neuroscience to allow the world to benefit from everyone's talents and ideas, regardless of their background or identity, and to allow everyone the opportunity to participate in the exciting process of understanding how the brain works”, added Dr Andrew Lin (University of Sheffield, UK), FENS-Kavli Scholar and chair of the ALBA-FKNE Diversity Prize Selection Committee. “Arish is a highly committed and outspoken individual who has worked toward reducing HIV-related healthcare inequities through his doctoral research, with meaningful and quantifiable outcomes across multiple countries. He is more than deserving of the award and will be an excellent role model for our community.”

Arish has been awarded this prize in recognition of his contribution and outreach efforts towards reducing HIV-related healthcare inequities and also in promoting gender, ethnic and regional diversity in mental healthcare, research and teaching. His research asks whether neuroinflammation arising from HIV infection in the brain, contributes to the high risk for depression among people living with HIV. To address this, he leads a portfolio of clinical neuroscience studies in South Africa, the UK, and Netherlands. The ALBA Network and the FENS-Kavli Network of Excellence (FKNE) would like to highlight the following achievements:

• He led the design of a demographic questionnaire which offered participants diverse and culturally sensitive options in isiXhosa to self-report their sexual orientation and gender identity, making a strong case for the increased inclusion of gender and ethnic diversity in participant cohorts.
• He led the production of the first open-access isiXhosa-language version of the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), expanding its use as a culturally specific tool for clinicians serving South African Xhosa speakers to screen for depressive symptoms.
• He contributes to building science capacity in his hometown in India by organising research skills training programmes for high school students and offers free mentorship support for Project EduAccess, a non-profit initiative that aims to improve access to higher education in the UK for learners from marginalised communities in South Asia. 

The ALBA-FKNE Diversity Prize Selection Committee would like to congratulate Arish for being such a vocal advocate of equity and inclusion in the field at this early career stage, and encourages him to continue his efforts.

More information on the ALBA-FKNE Diversity Prize can be found here. Read the official press release here.