When she recruited Julie Peck to hitch her research lab, neuroscientist Brittany Howell had a plan.
Howell, affiliate professor at Virginia Tech’s Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC, takes additional measures to make sure that moms from rural areas are included in her research, which mix organic and behavioral evaluation to higher perceive wholesome human mind improvement.
Her dedication hasn’t gone unnoticed.
Howell was named the 2025 winner of the Charles Crowder Jr. award, which acknowledges particular person dedication and service to advancing rural health in the commonwealth. The award, introduced by the Virginia Rural Health Association throughout its annual convention in November, acknowledges individuals and organizations that advance rural health, from direct companies to training and advocacy to research.
Peck is related with girls in communities surrounding her residence in Swords Creek, a small group in Russell County. She is a peer navigator in Howell’s lab, leveraging her expertise to assist moms in her space via challenges starting from substance use dysfunction to psychological health to discovering and accessing sources.
She and different members of the research workforce make sure that biomedical research are inclusive.
“We are giving a voice to groups that haven’t had a voice in research,” Howell stated. “These are the families who will be impacted by this study — they aren’t just represented, they are included in the data. Decisions based on the data won’t be made without their involvement.”
By having workforce members embedded in the group — the lab can also be a robust advocate of assist teams and organizations reminiscent of Huddle Up Moms — Howell has had success in drawing from Virginia’s less-populated areas. For Peck, which means every part from enrolling mothers in research research to driving them to Roanoke for in-person visits to connecting them with sources reminiscent of meals, lodging, and automobile seats for individuals and siblings.
Howell additionally has a singular perspective.
She spent her early childhood along with her mom and sister on a pastime farm in rural New Hampshire. She grew up studying the worth of ingenuity, laborious work, and humility.
“Dr. Howell personifies excellence, innovation, and personal commitment in advancing rural health through her leadership in the HEALthy Brain and Child Development Study,” stated Michael Friedlander, director of the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute and Virginia Tech’s vice chairman of health sciences and expertise.
Sponsored by the National Institutes of Health, it’s the nation’s largest long-term research of early mind and baby improvement in the United States, involving greater than 7,000 households.
“As the primary investigator for the Virginia Tech arm of the program, Dr. Howell is leading one of the most inclusive efforts found within the entire study,” Friedlander stated. “Her team’s trust-building is seen as a model that others can follow, and it has helped her in her role as co-chair of the Rural and Sovereign Communities workgroup for the HEALthy Brain and Child Development study. She is a visionary and unafraid to challenge dogma — good for science and good for all of us.”
Howell and her workforce proceed to recruit pregnant girls in their second or third trimester from central and southwest Virginia to participate in the study.
Howell additionally holds an appointment as an affiliate professor in the Department of Human Development and Family Science in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences.
The Virginia Rural Health Association, which has places of work in Blacksburg, Marion, Luray, and Danville, is a nonprofit centered on bettering the health of rural Virginians via training, advocacy, and fostering cooperative partnerships.