IRANIAN PARTNERS IN NEUROSCIENCE EDUCATION WIN AWARD TO 37TH SOCIETY FOR NEUROSCIENCE MEETING IN SAN DIEGO
For immediate release.
NR-29-07 (10/31/07) For more information, please call DeeDee Clendenning at (202) 962-4000 or dclendenning@sfn.org
IRANIAN PARTNERS IN NEUROSCIENCE EDUCATION WIN AWARD
TO 37TH SOCIETY FOR NEUROSCIENCE MEETING IN SAN DIEGO
Armin Lak, a biology teacher in Tehran, Iran, and Mohsen Omrani, PhD, of the Institute for studies in theoretical Physics and Mathematics (IPM) in Tehran, have received a Neuroscientist-Teacher partner Travel Award to attend the Society for Neuroscience (SfN) annual meeting in San Diego, Calif., November 3-7.
This partnership program in neuroscience of one neuroscientist and one teacher, sponsored by SfN, recognizes 13 pairs for their commitment and innovative approach to bringing neuroscience into the classroom.
"Since 2003, a neuroscience cluster of the Iranian National Organization for Development of Exceptional Talents has been organizing annual neuroscience workshops for high school students," says Lak. "The most direct goal of these activities is to bring neuroscience to high schools and let students taste the real enthusiasm of brain research."
Lak and Omrani have taught students the importance of team work in science as well as arranged visits to different neuroscience laboratories in Iran. Their activities are the first attempt in Iran to connect researchers with high school students. Lak explains that they are now facing the challenge of how best to organize activities for their country's student population -- where high schools, especially ones located in towns far from the capital, have limited facilities and the result is a diverse range of knowledge among students. "One of our goals is to help interested tutors to organize local activities in their towns," says Lak.
Lak and Omrani have also worked with Baktash Babadi, PhD, and Seyed Reza Afraz, PhD, of IPM, and will be presenting their experiences on teaching high school students neuroscience in an abstract during the meeting.
In addition to receiving unlimited access to the meeting's thousands of sessions and forums, the awardees have been invited to attend a number of special events. Lak, Omrani, and the other educators will also be honored at a meeting of SfN's Public Education and Communication Committee.
The goal of the award is to further partnerships between research and educational communities. "The travel award program is an example of the Society's commitment to explaining basic scientific processes -- how research leads to discovery and how discovery leads to treatments, cures, and healthy choices at all stages in life," says Society for Neuroscience Public Education Director, Colleen McNerney. "This program provides encouragement and visibility to the Society's members to embrace and contribute to this work, demonstrating the value of scientists and teachers working in partnership."
Roughly 30,000 scientists from around the world will attend SfN's annual meeting to present and discuss the latest advances in neuroscience research. The meeting will feature more than 16,400 presentations covering topics ranging from stem cell research to basic human behavior.
The Society for Neuroscience, with more than 38,000 members, is the largest organization of researchers and clinicians studying the brain and nervous system.
