Yale Brain & Community Collaborative

Yale Brain & Community Collaborative (YBCC) is a multidisciplinary group of clinicians, researchers, and trainees dedicated to advancing community engagement and promoting brain health awareness. YBCC focuses on identifying and addressing gaps in neurologic care in the community, with the goal of improving access to education, prevention, and clinical resources for all.

Through partnerships with local organizations and community leaders, YBCC supports outreach efforts that bring neurologic health education directly into the community. These efforts include participation in community events, health fairs, and educational outreach initiatives where Yale Neurology clinicians and trainees engage with community members to share information on brain health.

YBCC supports initiatives such as Stamp Out Stroke (SOS), a community outreach program dedicated to increasing public awareness of stroke symptoms, prevention strategies, and the importance of rapid treatment. One example includes participation in community tabling events, such as outreach activities at the HAVEN Free Clinic. Through collaboration with community partners, these efforts help bring stroke education and brain health resources directly to communities across New Haven.

In addition to outreach, YBCC supports research initiatives focused on improving equitable access to neurologic care. One current project is a pilot initiative implementing structured screening for social drivers of health (SDOH) in a Yale Neurology outpatient clinic. This effort aims to identify unmet social needs and other structural factors that influence neurologic health and access to care. Preliminary work evaluating SDOH screening practices within Yale Neurology has been accepted for presentation at Society for Equity Neuroscience (SEQUINS) 2026.

YBCC works closely with a community advisory board to ensure that outreach, research, and education efforts are informed by community priorities. Fostering meaningful partnerships and integrating community perspectives into neurologic research and care enables YBCC to advance more equitable brain health care access across the communities it serves.