In this episode of Voices from the Field, we speak with Dr Kiran Aftab, a medical doctor and neuroscience researcher whose work connects Pakistan and the UK. Kiran discusses her research using portable MRI and artificial intelligence to investigate neurological conditions, alongside the challenges of developing neuroscience research in settings where access to conventional brain imaging and research infrastructure may be limited.

We explore the potential of portable neuroimaging, the use of AI in dementia research, and the importance of ensuring that datasets represent populations beyond those traditionally included in biomedical research. Kiran also reflects on the practical challenges of conducting research in Pakistan, building local research capacity, and developing collaborations that can help address inequalities in access to neuroscience and healthcare.

From the opportunities offered by emerging technologies to the limitations of applying research findings across different populations, this conversation considers how neuroscience can become more inclusive, representative and equitable.

Chapters:

00:00 Introduction to Dr. Kiran Aftab and episode overview

04:03 Healthcare Landscape in Pakistan

06:37 MRI and Portable MRIs

13:28 Portable MRI Research in Pakistan

26:45 Artificial Intelligence and Neuroscience

29:41 Dr. Aftab's Aims for Research in Pakistan

38:26 Dream Research Project and Current Work

Voices from the Field is a special series from the Smooth Brain Society, supported by the International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology (IACCP) through its Spark Grant. The series explores culturally responsive research and what cross-cultural psychology looks like in practice. The views expressed by guests are their own.

In this episode of Voices from the Field, we speak with Dr Veena Easvaradoss, a clinical psychologist and researcher from Chennai, India, about the ways culture and gender shape everyday life.

We discuss her research with women who roll bidis (a tobacco product) in their homes, exploring gendered work, economic opportunity, health risks and an intervention designed to help workers move towards alternative livelihoods. We then turn to parenting in India, looking at how cultural values, urbanisation and changing family structures shape parenting practices and why psychological theories developed in one cultural context may not always translate neatly to another.

Part of Voices from the Field: International Conversations on Cross-Cultural Research Practice, supported by the International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology (IACCP) SPARK Grant.

Topics: Gender and work • Bidi workers • Women’s livelihoods • Occupational health • Alternative livelihoods • Indian parenting • Family and culture • Cross-cultural psychology • Cultural adaptation • Gender roles • Socioeconomic inequality

Chapters:

00:00 Introduction to the episode and guest

00:44 Dr. Easvaradoss Shares Her Origin Story

03:13 Women in the workplace: The Indian Context

09:54 The Bidi industry and its gendered nature

16:57 Interventions to help bidi rollers

33:13 Policy, welfare and Future

35:25 Parenting Styles in India

48:03 Dream Research and Wrap up

#CrossCulturalPsychology #CulturalPsychology #India #GenderAndPsychology

What can researchers around the world learn from Māori approaches to knowledge, language and community?

In this episode of Voices from the Field, we speak with Dr Awanui Te Huia (Ngāti Maniapoto) about te reo Māori, identity, colonisation and Kaupapa Māori research.

Awanui shares how language shapes identity and belonging, why culturally responsive research requires genuine relationships with communities, and how Māori approaches can challenge conventional ideas about psychology, wellbeing and research.

We also discuss language revitalisation, researcher positionality, community-led research, and what it means to create research that is accountable to the people it seeks to serve.

Part of Voices from the Field: International Conversations on Cross-Cultural Research Practice, supported by the International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology (IACCP) SPARK Grant

Topics: Māori psychology • Kaupapa Māori • te reo Māori • Indigenous research • language revitalisation • identity • colonisation • research ethics • cultural psychology • neurodiversity

#CrossCulturalPsychology #KaupapaMāori #MāoriPsychology #IndigenousResearch #TeReoMāori #SmoothBrainSociety

What does it actually mean to decolonise research?

For the first episode of Voices from the Field, we go to Greenland to speak with Inuk anthropologist, educator and Indigenous rights advocate Qivioq Nivi Løvstrøm about research, identity and disability rights in Greenland.

Qivioq takes us into the realities of conducting research in Greenland, exploring what decolonisation can mean beyond theory, what it looks like in practice and why research cannot be separated from the historical and political structures in which it takes place.

We also explore the power of language. Qivioq discusses teaching historical methods in Kalaallisut, challenging colonial narratives of Greenland's past, and how the words we use to describe disability can shape how people understand themselves and their place in society.

We finish by imagining a different academic system built around genuine collaboration, Indigenous knowledge and international networks rather than tokenistic inclusion.

Supported by the International Association of Cross-Cultural Psychology (IACCP).

Finley Ngarangi Johnson and Colleagues introduce 'Ngaruroro' which is a new model for Māori wellbeing. Fin, who is a PhD student at Victoria University of Wellington and a Researcher at the Ministry of Social Development, talks about the effort put into designing the new measure. the themes it covers and some of the issues faced when designing a wellbeing measure for the complexities of different Māori identities.

Their paper can be accessed here : https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/21/4/445

The episode is co-hosted by Prateek Shankar, CEO, Jungle Publics. He was a guest on an earlier episode about his work on Planetary Melancholia

See Prateek's episode here: https://smoothbrainsociety.com/2024/05/31/38-planetary-melancholia-prateek-shankar-and-valerie-navarrete/

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Associate Professor Gina Grimshaw leads the Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Lab at Victoria University of Wellington. She joins to talk about emotions and her research on how emotional states affect cognitive processes like attention, language, and executive control. Gina also gives us an intro into multiple aspects of emotions such as the association of emotions with colors and why artificial intelligence is poor at detecting emotions.

Support the show

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https://smoothbrainsociety.com
https://www.patreon.com/SmoothBrainSociety

Instagram: @thesmoothbrainsociety
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What do we mean when someone is creative? Professor. Vlad Glaveanu from Dublin City University video called in to talk about his work with creativity, imagination, culture, societal changes and possibility. We cover topics like the factors useful to creativity, types of creative identities, creativity and culture and Prof. Vlad's recent work on possibility and researching memes.

Prof. Vlad Glaveanu's webpage

Support the show

Support us and reach out!
https://smoothbrainsociety.com
https://www.patreon.com/SmoothBrainSociety

Instagram: @thesmoothbrainsociety
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email: thesmoothbrainsociety@gmail.com

Aotearoa New Zealand celebrated Mental Health Awareness week 2022 from the 28th of September to the 2nd of October. To pay tribute to the work done by people who do not fit directly under the traditional psychologist, psychiatrists and therapist roles, we had 3 interviews with guests covering different styles of support work and mental health resources available to communities.

This episode contains discussions on mental health. If you are struggling please reach out for help. Useful contacts for some countries can be found here. https://www.helpguide.org/find-help.htm

Rob Cartwright joined us to speak about Bravely, a global, mental health app trying to bridge the gap between therapy and 'just using google'. The second interview is with Jasmin Shoukri, a mental health coach in Germany, who spoke about the similarities and differences between support work in New Zealand and Germany before talking about her own coaching. Lastly, we come back to the studio with Abbey Busch, the Education and Youth Development Coordinator of Youthline Wellington to talk about the roles they play and services they offer with regards to youth mental health support work in Wellington in particular and Aotearoa in general.

As mentioned in the episode all proceeds go to Youthline Wellington:
Merchandise website: http://smoothbrainsociety.digitees.co.nz/

Again, we would like to thank our guests for the work they do and finding time to come on the podcast. For more information:

Bravely: https://www.bravely.io/
Jasmin Shoukri: instagram, linktr.ee
Youthline: Website, instagram

Support the show

Support us and reach out!
https://smoothbrainsociety.com
https://www.patreon.com/SmoothBrainSociety

Instagram: @thesmoothbrainsociety
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Twitter/X: @SmoothBrainSoc
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Merch and all other links: Linktree
email: thesmoothbrainsociety@gmail.com