Community-based participatory research (CBPR) serves as a bridge connecting researchers, practitioners, patients, advocates, and other relevant parties, facilitating diverse perspectives to enrich genomics and ELSI research. Within CBPR programs, interpersonal networks can influence engagement dynamics and shape communication patterns, decision-making, and collaborative outcomes. The present study utilizes a mixed methods approach including social network analysis (SNA) and engagement analytics to assess the interactions among 52 sickle cell disease (SCD) partners across the research community and the patient and advocacy community, offering insights into the influence of pre-existing social ties on the CBPR process. Data were acquired from a four-day virtual SCD CBPR meeting, conducted as part of the Democratizing Education for Sickle Cell Disease Gene Therapy project. After day three, participants completed a social network survey detailing their pre-existing connections with other participants. Survey responses were input into Gephi software (v0.10) for diagram production and network analysis. The SNA revealed power differentials between the research community (n=39) and patient and advocacy community (n=13). Participants from the research community were positioned more centrally within the network (greater degree, closeness centrality, betweenness score, and modularity class), indicating greater power and influence over information sharing throughout the four-day meeting. Investigation of the recorded interactions from the project will be reported, including speaking frequency and duration, interactions with others, and attitudes toward SCD gene therapies. The results demonstrate the impact of interpersonal connections on power dynamics, underscoring the need for intentional strategies promoting equitable engagement within community partnerships within the field of genomics research.
