Dr. Katy Thakkar started a new campus program, Mental Health Research Connect

October 6, 2021 - Caroline Kraft

Dr. Katy Thakkar started a new campus program called MSU Mental Health Research Connect to foster collaboration between community members and mental health researchers on campus. 

"MSU Mental Health Research Connect is a program that seeks to alert community members about research studies that they might be interested in learning more about, hear from community members about what they think mental health research should focus on, and sponsor regular outreach activities that are geared toward both mental health researchers and community members."

MHRC aims to reduce issues that can arise in research and encourage community participation and feedback. For instance, many studies lack diversity in participants, and this lack of diversity means that important segments of the population are being left out of research. Increasing diversity among participants will help researchers conduct studies that benefit everyone. MHRC will communicate research findings with the community through outreach to reduce mental health stigma and provide people with more knowledge about mental illnesses. Joining with MHRC will enable community members to voice their concerns about research and the aspects of mental health research that are most important to them. 

You can learn more about MHRC here.