NIH Funds 16 Science Education Partnership Awards

NIH FUNDS 16 SCIENCE EDUCATION PARTNERSHIP AWARDS
Nearly $17 Million Dollars Will Be Used to Engage Students and the Public in Health Sciences

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced today it will provide up to an estimated $17 million to fund 16 Science Education Partnership Awards (SEPAs). Led by the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR) — a part of the NIH — SEPAs provide two to five years of support to stimulate scientific curiosity and encourage hands-on science education activities. By supporting collaboration among scientists, educators and community organizations, SEPA projects help improve public understanding of NIH-funded medical research and encourage young people to choose science as a career path.

SEPA projects advance science and health education through ways such as interactive traveling exhibits, 3-D animated lessons, virtual and mobile labs and online teaching curricula.

“Now in its 18th year, the SEPA program reaches tens of thousands annually in more than 40 states, Puerto Rico and about 15 American Indian communities,” said NCRR Director Barbara M. Alving, M.D. “Projects include innovative and interactive methods that help explain the complexities of front page health and science topics, such as the role of diet and physical activity in health. Through these collaborations, students gain skills and engage their imaginations as they learn about the mysteries of disease, how to stay healthy and perhaps set a course for their future careers.”

These 16 awards bring the SEPA portfolio to 66 active grants, including 18 underway at science museums and planetariums. Through diverse venues, these new projects will continue the SEPA tradition of encouraging the next generation of health professionals while advancing public understanding of health and medicine.

2008 SCIENCE EDUCATION PARTNERSHIP AWARDS (A full description of the projects is available at www.ncrr.nih.gov/sepa/2008.)

AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY (New York), Five-Year Award: $1.09 million Human Health and Human Bulletins: Scientists and Teens Explore Health Sciences

THE AMERICAN PHYSIOLOGICAL SOCIETY (Bethesda, Md.), Three-Year Award:

$794,500 Six Star Science for Student-Centered Learning

DENVER MUSEUM OF NATURE & SCIENCE, Three-Year Award: $655,000 Genetics of

Taste: A Flavor for Health – Community Lab and Education Programs

EAST CAROLINA UNIVERSITY (Greenville, N.C.), Two-Year Award: $504,000

FoodMaster: Impacting K-12 Learning Environments – Phase II

GEORGIA STATE UNIVERSITY (Atlanta), Three-Year Award: $760,000 Helping K-12 Students Become Fluent in the Language of DNA

HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL (Boston), Two-Year Award*: $538,000 Opening the Pipeline for Native High Schools: Phase II *Funding for this award was provided by six NIH institutes, including the National Center for Research Resources, the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, the National Institute of Mental Health, the National Institute of General Medical Sciences and the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY (Ames), Three-Year Award: $771,500

Meta!Blast: An Immersive Interactive Learning Module for Cell Biology

KANSAS UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER (Kansas City), Five-Year Award: $1.25 million PathOlogical Life Sciences Training Program for Students and Families

MONTCLAIR STATE UNIVERSITY (Montclair, N.J.), Five-Year Award: $1.3 million Epidemiology and the Energy Balance Equation

NEW YORK HALL OF SCIENCE (New York), Five-Year Award: $1.35 million Evolution and Health Traveling Exhibition and Education Programs

NORTHWEST ASSOCIATION FOR BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH (Seattle), Five-Year Award:

$1.35 million Collaborations to Understand Research and Ethics (CURE)

PENN STATE COLLEGE OF MEDICINE (Hershey, Pa.), Five-Year Award: $1.31 million Investing in the Future: Collaborative Research Experiences for Students and Teachers

UNIVERSITY OF ALASKA FAIRBANKS, Five-Year Award: $1.35 million Biomedical Partnership for Research Education Pipeline in Alaska (Alaska BioPREP)

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, San Francisco, Five-Year Award: $1.33 million

Pathways: Promoting Access to the Health Sciences through Partnership

UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA (Athens), Five-Year Award: $1.3 million Learning Biological Processes Through Animations and Inquiry: A New Approach

UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII AT MANOA (Honolulu), Five-Year Award: $1.31 million Pacific Education and Research for Leadership in Science (PEARLS)

To learn more about specific SEPA projects, visit www.ncrrsepa.org. For more about the SEPA program and funding, visit www.ncrr.nih.gov/sepa.

The National Center for Research Resources (NCRR), a part of NIH, provides laboratory scientists and clinical researchers with the resources and training they need to understand, detect, treat and prevent a wide range of diseases. NCRR supports all aspects of translational and clinical research, connecting researchers, patients and communities across the nation. For more information, visit www.ncrr.nih.gov.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) — The Nation’s Medical Research Agency — includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S.

Department of Health and Human Services. It is the primary federal agency for conducting and supporting basic, clinical and translational medical research, and it investigates the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit www.nih.gov.