Palm Health Foundation today announced a $150,000 grant from the Dana Foundation to launch Civic Neuroscience in Action, a new pathway for residents and researchers to learn from one another, ensuring that scientific discoveries are translated into practical, culturally relevant approaches that improve wellbeing and strengthen community resilience. The funding accelerates the Brain Coast Vision, linking South Florida’s world-renowned brain science institutions, community assets, and innovation to advance brain health.

The new grant-funded initiative tackles a frustrating reality highlighted by leading neurologists: the “know-do gap," a 17-year delay between laboratory discoveries and their practical application in daily life. In a recent Neurology Today article, experts maintain that community-engaged research could be neurology’s most powerful translation tool. Instead of treating residents as "downstream recipients" of scientific innovations, projects like Civic Neuroscience in Action design and conduct studies with the community from day one, embedding resident diversity, culture, lived experiences, and strengths throughout the process.

"This project embodies a national shift recognized by institutions like the Dana Foundation and the National Institutes of Health—true medical advancement requires public trust and co-creation,” said Palm Health Foundation President and CEO Patrick McNamara. “By engaging our residents as equal partners in science rather than just recipients of it, we are humanizing health and creating a replicable national model for civic neuroscience."

“This work is an exciting example of what is possible when communities, research institutions, health systems, and others come together to build connections and advance brain health together,” said Devon Collins, program director of the Dana Foundation’s Frontiers program, which supported this grant. “We hope this effort inspires others to invest in collaborative approaches that put community at the center of brain health.”

The centerpiece of Civic Neuroscience in Action is Project CIRCLE, a series of interactive experiences bringing residents and researchers together around brain health, cognitive wellbeing, creativity, social connection, and resilience.

Through participatory activities, dialogue, and shared learning, Project CIRCLE will foster trust, generate community-informed insights, and map future research directions. This work builds on Palm Health Foundation’s decade-long resident-led work, building trust in communities through its Healthier Together initiatives and Culture of Health Network, frameworks that helped Palm Beach County win the prestigious national Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Culture of Health Prize. Today, the foundation is leveraging this deep local credibility to serve as the lead convener of the regional Brain Coast movement, uniting national science institutions and local neighborhoods into a cohesive ecosystem.

“The Civic Neuroscience in Action initiative is proof-positive that leading national funders like the Dana Foundation see the Brain Coast as a powerful ecosystem for advancing brain health,” McNamara said.  “We are grateful to the Dana Foundation for their funding and shared vision to translate our community’s cutting-edge neuroscience into everyday wellbeing for local residents, and to create a model for community-engaged research across the nation and around the world.”

About Palm Health Foundation 
Palm Health Foundation is Palm Beach County’s community foundation for health. With the support of donors and a focus on results, the foundation builds strong community partnerships, respects diverse opinions, advocates for its most vulnerable neighbors, and inspires innovative solutions to lead change for better health now and for generations to come. The foundation supports health equity for Palm Beach County residents of all backgrounds, heritage, education, incomes and states of well-being. Palm Health Foundation has invested more than $98 million in Palm Beach County health since 2001. For more information about Palm Health Foundation, visit palmhealthfoundation.org or call (561) 833-6333.