Co-Research Blog

Welcome to our research blog! We are a diverse team of individuals, some with Down syndrome and some without, who have come together to learn about the health of people with Down syndrome. Over the past year, we have worked together, shared our experiences, and collaborated on a research project focusing on mental health. Through this blog, we aim to share our journey and experiences of being on a research team. Thank you for joining us on this exciting research adventure! If you have any questions, email us at ds2max@bu.edu!

Team Background

Hi everyone!

We’re excited to introduce our research team. We are a diverse group of indivudals passionate about our project on the health of people with Down syndrome. Let me give you a brief background on who we are.

Our team has seven remarkable adults with Down syndrome: Caley, Alexis, Staci, Gus, Benjamin, Kaethe, and Eden that work alongside Dr. Eric Rubenstein, an Assistant Professor of Epidemiology at the Boston University School of Public Health. Supporting our efforts, we have a dedicated team of staff, research assistants, and volunteers including Ashley, Emily, Prisha, Keryden, and Ryan.

We began working together in July 2022 on a research project about the mental health of people with Down syndrome. Together, we came up with a research topic (mental health) and created a survey to explore how people with Down syndrome take care of their mental health. We are currently in the analysis phase. 

For our first post, we wanted to tell you a little about why we like being on a research team . Read our answers below!

What do you like about research? 

It allows me to explore and learn new things about a topic that interests me. I have learned some new thinking skills and how to work with others. –Alexis

I like meeting people and teamwork. –Gus

First, I like looking up things on safari because I research YouTube to find things I like. I look up topics about health because I like to learn new things. I also like helping out on research projects and assignments. For example, talking about health and strengths. On my co-research team, we made a survey about mental health. We get the chance to talk about how to help other adults with Down syndrome to have a better healthy life. –Benjamin

What health topics are you interested in researching and why?

Nutrition and diet is interesting. Since I am on a gluten free diet, I want to learn about different foods I can and can’t eat. –Alexis

Environmental health and the physical environment, like diseases and conditions. I looked these up once and it was interesting. – Benjamin

It helps to have pets because finding other relationships doesn’t always work out = having a pet, whether it’s a dog or a cat or any kind of pet, that person can have a companionship. That’s what a lot of people want in the long run, to have a companionship. Pets are good for people who are single, so they aren’t alone. Pets always love you. This can help with your mental health. I would like to learn if other people feel the same way about having a pet. –Staci

Other than stress (which we are currently researching), I would say relationships/friendships and how to respond to them. –Eden

One of the other many health topics that I find to be very interesting is how individuals can incorporate healthy eating into their lifestyle as well as the importance of exercising.

I find healthy eating & exercising very interesting as I would like to learn more about it and for every individual to know how important it is. And I want others to know what it is that they can do to be healthy since they know their bodies better than other people may think.

I think it is important because it is important to know how to portion size certain foods that you really enjoy eating and making sure that you are putting the right things into your body. If I could use one word to describe our research team it would be either pumped or determined! –Kaethe

Tell us, what is your favorite part about being on a research team?

I get to meet and work with some great individuals. It has helped me with my speech strategies. I like to hear other people’s ideas. -Alexis

My favorite part is getting together talking about mental health. I like talking about life in general with the team. We had a webinar in March. I liked the webinar because we talked about being healthy and being on a research team. –Benjamin

That we all are working together to help answer health problems. –Eden

What pictures represent your work on the co-research team?

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