Brain Research Apprenticeships in New York at Columbia (BRAINYAC)

Brain Research Apprenticeships in New York at Columbia (BRAINYAC)

The objective of the BRAINYAC program is to prepare high school students for, and deliver, the experience of working in a neuroscience research laboratory over a summer. Our program goals are to prepare local students from Upper Manhattan and the South Bronx with the skills necessary to enter a working research laboratory over a period of 8 months, and support them in learning key laboratory skills and communicating them to an audience.Our hypothesis is that students' self-reports of scientific effectiveness and science identity will improve over the course of the 8-month long program. Self-reported efficacy measures predict academic performance in science, so an improvement in these self-report measures may indicate a higher likelihood to succeed in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) studies or careers. Likewise, science identity has a positive impact on a student's likelihood of entering a science career, particularly in populations that are under-represented in science.Over a 4-year period we will track students' self-reports of (1) scientific efficacy, including their level of confidence in scientific writing, oral presentation, library and literature search, conducting research and general academic skills, and (2) science identity. We will adopt a mixed-methods approach combining survey data with focus groups and interviews to present a full picture of these changes. We also propose to track students after they leave the program, to measure whether the changes in scientific self-efficacy translate into STEM studies at the level of higher education or career choices. We will also obtain data from scientific mentors in the program to inform us whether we are adequately supporting them in providing the students with training.

Study Overview

• Status: Recruiting
• Conditions: Educational Activities
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Education program

Detailed Description

This study will utilize a mixed methodological approach integrating quantitative and qualitative data elements. It will employ a one-group, pretest-posttest research design, in order to allow us to determine the effect of participation in the BRAINYAC program (i.e., the intervention) on participating students' STEM development (i.e., efficacy and identity). The study will also include retrospective individual and focus group interviews in order to obtain a fuller understanding of the concepts under study (e.g., scientific identity, readiness to pursue science, etc.) from the students' point of reference. To the extent possible, the study will incorporate a longitudinal analysis in order to examine how program participation affects students' academic and career decisions in their final high school and postsecondary years through retrospective surveys of alumni participants. In addition to assessing program impact, the research design will include an evaluation component to examine program implementation. Through an examination of program documentation (e.g., student attendance, descriptions of activities) and retrospective surveys of participants (i.e., students and mentors) this component will determine the extent to which the program was implemented as proposed. It will provide valuable information connecting program elements to observed outcomes and can be used to make modifications to the research and/or program designs, as needed.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 180
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Daphna L Shohamy, PhD; Phone Number: 212 854 7560; Email: ds2619@columbia.edu

Study Locations

• United States
  • New York
    • New York, New York, United States, 10027
      • Recruiting
      • Zuckerman Institute, Columbia University
      • Contact: Daphna Shohamy, PhD; Email: ds2619@columbia.edu

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 15 years and older (Child, Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• All students and mentors in the program will be invited to enroll

Exclusion Criteria:

• None

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Other
• Allocation: N/A
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Students; Education program	Behavioral: Education program; Mentored high school summer research program

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Self-report of scientific effectiveness	Change in Likert score	8 months
Self-report of scientific identity	Change in Likert score	8 months
Likelihood of studying science in college or going on to a science career	Change in Likert score	4 years

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Columbia University
• Collaborators: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Daphna Shohamy, PhD, Columbia University

Publications and helpful links

Helpful Links

• Program web page

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): December 30, 2020
• Primary Completion (Estimated): August 1, 2026
• Study Completion (Estimated): August 1, 2026

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: January 21, 2021
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 25, 2021
• First Posted (Actual): January 28, 2021

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): February 20, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 18, 2026
• Last Verified: February 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Health Services; Health Care Facilities Workforce and Services; Child Health Services; Community Health Services; Preventive Health Services; Early Intervention, Educational
• Other Study ID Numbers: AAAT4760; 1R25NS115551-01 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract); 2R25NS115551-06 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No