Expectations & Responsibilities

Everyone at Cerebella

These principles apply to everyone – founders, management, employees, contractors, and advisors.

Big picture expectations:

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Uphold scientific and ethical integrity.

It is never acceptable to:

Fabricate, manipulate, or selectively report data

Overstate evidence or make unsupported claims

Plagiarise or misrepresent work

Fail to disclose conflicts of interest

Respect lived experience as expertise.

Women are not just “users”. Co-creation is an expectation, not an optional extra.

Be rigorous, not rushed.

Whether you’re designing an activity, analysing data, writing copy, or building features:

Think it through, test it, sense-check it, and ask for review.

Mistakes happen – carelessness shouldn’t.

Collaborate generously

Help others when you can, even if it’s not “your” responsibility.

We succeed as a team, not as individuals competing for credit.

Own and correct mistakes

If you discover an error, raise it early. Transparency builds trust. We acknowledge mistakes, correct them, and move forward together.

Foster inclusion and respect

We respect differences in background, culture, identity, beliefs, communications style and working needs.

Discrimination, harassment, or dismissive behaviour will not be tolerated.

Speak up early

If something feels off, scientifically, ethically, or interpersonally, say something.

Silence helps problems grow.

Take care of yourself

Your health and well-being come first. Burnout does not serve innovation, science, or impact.


 

Small picture (day-to-day) expectations:

 To keep Cerebella running smoothly:

Communicate clearly and reliably (internally within 24-48 hours – or acknowledge if more time is needed)

Show up to meetings you have committed to. If you can’t, give notice as early as possible.

Be respectful of time

Come prepared to meetings. Value asynchronous work when appropriate.

Work flexibly, but responsibly

We care about outcomes, not rigid hours – but accountability matters.

Manage your workload transparently and flag capacity issues early.

Maintain professional standards

Our culture is friendly and informal, but our work is serious.

When engaging with participants, users, partners, or the public (about work), represent Cerebella with care and professionalism

Protect data and confidentiality

Follow governance processes at all times.

Health data is a responsibility, not a resource to exploit.

 

Leadership responsibilities (founders/managers/directors):

All of the above, and leadership additionally commits to:

• Support the team professionally and personally

• Provide timely constructive feedback

• Be accessible and transparent

• Protect scientific and ethical standards

• Support career development

• Model the culture we expect

• Prioritise well-being over output.

Open innovation and collaboration

Cerebella is built on the belief that meaningful progress in women’s brain health requires cross-disciplinary collaboration and shared learning.

Open innovation at Cerebella means:

• Working across boundaries (academia, healthcare, industry, lived experience)

• Valuing different forms of expertise equally

• Designing for real-world impact, not just outcomes (or ego)

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Principles for collaboration

When working with Cerebella, our collaborators can expect the following (and we ask them to commit to the following too):

1. Mutual respect and shared purpose

• All collaborators bring valuable expertise, whether scientific, clinical, technical, commercial, or experiential.

• Contributions from people with lived experience are treated as expert input, not anecdotal add-ons.

• Disagreements are expected and welcomed – disrespect is not.

2. Scientific integrity and transparency

We expect everyone to uphold high standards or scientific integrity which includes:

• Honest reporting of methods and results

• Transparency around limitations and uncertainty

• Openness to null or unexpected findings

• No data fabrication, manipulation, or selective reporting.

Open science is not about perfection – it is about truthfulness and accountability.

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3. Open science (where appropriate)

Cerebella supports open science practices wherever ethically, legally, and commercially appropriate, including:

• Sharing protocols, materials, or analytic approaches

• Open-access publication when feasible

• Responsible dissemination of findings beyond academic audiences

We recognise that openness must be balanced with:

• Privacy

• Data protection requirements

• Regulatory obligations

• Agreed intellectual property arrangements

These boundaries are discussed early and explicitly. Clarity at the start enables generosity later.

4. Responsible communication

All public communications relating to work at and with Cerebella should:

• Be accurate

• Avoid sensationalism or over-claiming

• Use respectful, non-stigmatising language

Where possible, public messaging will be aligned with all collaborators in advance.

Raising concerns and continuous improvement

If at any point a collaborator feels that:

• Open science commitments are not being met

• Ethical boundaries are unclear

• Expectations feel misaligned

We strongly encourage raising this early. Open innovation only works when concerns can be voiced safely and constructively.

This document will be reviewed quarterly by leadership and anyone can suggest changes via email to nahid@cerebella.health.