December 14th marks the 11th anniversary of the mass shooting at Sandy Hook. As long as mass violence is a scourge on our schools, night clubs, concerts, grocery stores, parties, places of worship, theaters...basically anywhere people gather, we must do all that we can "to build compassion and prevent violence through neuroscience research, community engagement and education". At the Brain and Behavior Innovation Center (BBI-CEN) at the Department of Psychiatry and in collaboration with the Avielle Initiative and the Jeremy Richman Brain Health Research Endowed Fellowship Fund, we share a belief that real change can happen when organizations and communities work together to develop and implement science-driven solutions to promote brain health, create compassion and ultimately reduce violence.      

The Avielle Initiative aims to seek out solutions to improve clinical care quality, build empathy, and empower people to improve their own well-being. Through technology and innovation, we create new ways to connect people to promote health, prevent illness, and eliminate barriers to access and support. The Avielle Initiative Seed Grant for Brain Health Research and Innovation will support cutting-edge brain health research across all stages of the translational science spectrum that will further Avielle’s legacy and goals of building compassion and/or preventing violence.

We are excited to announce that two proposals have been selected from this year’s Call for Proposals, and will start in January 2024:

1. “It is just too much to do at once”: Adapting a brief, scalable parenting program delivered via telehealth to optimize parental executive functioning, by Dr. Jacob Holzman. Project overview: “We will partner with the local Denver Great Kids Head Start program to understand barriers to benefitting from a brief, telehealth parenting program among parents with executive functioning difficulties. Guided by the input of parents, we will develop implementation strategies that optimize parental executive functioning during this program. Then, we will examine the acceptability and perceived benefit of these implementation strategies among Head Start parents in preparation for a pilot randomized clinical trial”.
2. Brain Camp, by Jessica Fluharty and Dr. Tracy Bale. Project overview: Brain Camp is an interactive science- and art-based program using a creative and engaging program to teach children about the brain to boost emotional well-being and manage stress. The students learn the importance of brain health through fun and engaging hands-on science and art experiments. Camp activities will culminate in children-designed Little Free Libraries boxes to be installed in their local community to serve as a resource and reminder as to the power and importance of brain health. Empowering kids with the knowledge to talk about the brain and emotional well-being is invaluable. We graciously thank the Avielle Initiative for the funding to provide this free program for children and families in the Aurora community.

In addition, we support the careers of young scientists through the endowment of the Jeremy Richman Brain Health Research Endowed Fellowship . Young scientists interested in brain health will inform the development of technology products and programs focused on building compassion and preventing violence. The internship will be awarded annually to an applicant of Psychiatry Undergraduate Research Program and Learning Experience (PURPLE) whose interests and research activities align with and honor the mission of the Avielle Initiative.