Dr. Clíona Kelly
Postdoctorate Associate
Yale University
Co-Founder
Black in Neuro

Clíona is a Postdoctorate Associate at Yale University. Her PhD combined neuroscience and computer science to investigate social interaction with a particular focus on eye gaze. She utilised two growing technologies, virtual reality and neuroimaging (EEG) to successfully tap into the underlying neural mechanisms of social interaction in a naturalistic environment. Currently, in her postdoctoral research, she will be using the same tools but applying them to an understudied and underfunded area, the maternal brain.

Understanding these changes during a pivotal life event is crucial and differences in how mothers may interact with their newborns based on their experiences is central to Clíona’s interests.

In addition to her research, Clíona has co-founded Black In Neuro, a non-profit (501c3) organisation that aims to support, highlight and encourage current and aspiring Black neuroscientists around the world. She helped grow this group from its inception to boasting 34 thousand social media followers, over a thousand active members and a presence in over 61 countries. Clíona has personally contributed to Journal of Neuroscience, Spectrum News, and British Neuroscience Association articles which explain aspects of the movement. This advocacy lends itself to her research as all too often Black people are missing from reported data and we see these absences manifest in accepted practices, for example, the exclusion of certain hair textures from EEG research. Clíona continues to advocate for better understanding and practices within the neurosciences.