Our Work
Beyond support groups, Columbia Synapse is deeply involved in advocacy and education. We work to raise awareness about the realities of living with a brain injury, challenging misconceptions and breaking the silence surrounding this often invisible disability. Through educational initiatives, we seek to bridge the gap between medical knowledge and lived experience, ensuring that survivors’ voices are heard in research, policy, and community discussions.
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Storybook Initiative
Over the course of the past semester, our peer support committee collaborated on a project dedicated to honoring and amplifying the voices of individuals and caregivers living with traumatic brain injury. Many of the individuals we spoke with described feeling invisible or misunderstood, trapped between a desire to be seen and a world unprepared to understand them. Through their words, we saw an opportunity to bring these stories to light as a catalyst for change.
Speaking with Healthcare Professionals
As part of our ongoing commitment to bridging medicine with empathy and patient-centered care, our hospital presentation initiatives aim to educate healthcare providers on the lived experience of brain injury survivors. Our presentations are rooted in the narratives compiled in our TBI Storybook. We integrate these deeply human accounts with clinical information to illuminate both the medical and emotional dimensions of brain injury. By grounding our presentations in survivor voices, we hope to prompt reflection and foster compassionate care practices that extend beyond diagnosis and prognosis. We’ve presented to interdisciplinary teams at Brookdale Hospital’s ICU, including nurses, physicians, and support staff. We’ve also spoken at the Neurocritical Care & Beyond Forum at NYU, an educational series to engage neuro residents, nurses, and ICU providers across NYU and NYC Health + Hospitals sites
Fall Undergraduate Research Panel
Our Fall Undergraduate Research Panel is designed to inspire, inform, and empower the next generation of scientific leaders. The panel features a diverse group of undergraduates engaged in research across disciplines, from basic neuroscience and cognitive psychology to clinical and translational studies. Panelists share their journeys into research, discuss the challenges and breakthroughs they’ve encountered, and offer practical guidance on how to get involved in meaningful scientific inquiry as an undergraduate.
Newsletter
Our biweekly peer support group newsletter is a space of connection, reflection, and community for individuals living with traumatic brain injuries their families, and our wider Columbia Synapse network. The newsletter serves as an extension of our support group sessions—sharing insights, uplifting stories, and practical resources that help foster continuity and solidarity between meetings.