Vernon De Maynard of African Caribbean descent born in the UK, educated at KCL and UCL, has been working in mental health for over ten years.Currently he is attempting to establish the mechanism by which racism exerts its effect.

The idea being that if you know how it works to you can protect yourself against it. He is to conduct a series of research projects of the next few with this specific aim in mind.

"As you know, most government decisions are evidence-based, and therefore participation in ongoing and future research is the best way for black people to influence policy decisions, and combat social exclusion and disaffection in black and minority ethnic minority communities. To this end, a black and ethnic minority (BME) research panel will be convened."

The BME Research Panel will be comprised of black and ethnic minority people living in the UK who might be interested in taking part in ongoing and future web-based research. Participation is entirely voluntary, and you can withdraw from the Panel at anytime. All information will be kept confidential, and not share with anyone else without your prior expressed permission. If you would like to register please go to:

http://vadm.co.uk

Further, racism is a common experience in the UK for black people of African and African Caribbean descent, but very little is known about its effect on the mental health. Therefore, research will be conducted to determine whether racism does affect the mental health of black people, and whether black people deal with experiences of racism by dissociating them from immediate consciousness. To measure this effect, there is a web-based questionnaire which can be completed on line. The research will be carried out in collaboration with 'Faculty of Health and Social Care' at London South Bank University, and the findings will be disseminated by conference and peer reviewed articles.

To find out more cantact Vernon on Tel: 020 78158460. Email: vernon@vadm.co.uk
Centre for BME Mental Health, C/o V. De Maynard, rm307, Erlang House, 101 Borough Road, London, SE1 0AA.