DC News Now featured Assistant Professor Rachel Romeo and Abria Simmons ’25 and their work to make neuroscience research more inclusive. Simmons is leading efforts to develop hairstyling techniques to make functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) caps work more effectively for people with Afro-textured hair. Romeo and her team at the College of Education’s Language, Experience and Development (LEAD) Lab use the caps to study how young children’s early life experiences affect their learning and brain development, including language development.
“Ultimately, what Abria has come up with is this menu of options, depending on someone’s hair length [and] hair texture,” said Romeo.
“Black people deserve to be represented in these spaces," said Simmons. "They deserve to have their voices heard.”
