OREGON PARTNERS IN NEUROSCIENCE EDUCATION WIN AWARD TO 37TH SOCIETY FOR NEUROSCIENCE MEETING IN SAN DIEGO
For immediate release.
NR-30-07 (10/31/07) For more information, please call DeeDee Clendenning at (202) 962-4000 or dclendenning@sfn.org
OREGON PARTNERS IN NEUROSCIENCE EDUCATION WIN AWARD
TO 37TH SOCIETY FOR NEUROSCIENCE MEETING IN SAN DIEGO
Berk Moss, advisor to Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) on improving the interactions of its program with K-12 students and teachers in the state of Oregon, and Judy Cameron, PhD, of OHSU in Beaverton, Ore., 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.
Currently, Moss and Cameron work with a National Institutes of Health (NIH)-Science Education Partnership Awards (SEPA) funded program, the Teacher Institute for the Experience of Science -- a summer program for middle school teachers who spend a week with a basic researcher at the Oregon National Primate Research Center and a week with a clinical researcher at the Oregon Clinical and Translational Research Institute on the OHSU main campus. In the third week, Moss and another science education professor help teachers translate their experience into classroom activities. "Berk's role as a liaison to this cadre of teachers from the summer institute and their translation of my research into the classroom activities show great promise," says Cameron.
"Throughout the Institute, we work to build the teacher's understanding of the ethics of research with animal and human subjects and the rigorous safeguards which must be met," says Moss.
Moss and Cameron will continue with the NIH-SEPA program for four more summers. "We are successfully increasing our emphasis on serving historically underserved populations," says Moss. "In the final two summers we will shift our format to offer housing and a more compact program to accommodate teachers from a wider geographic area."
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. Moss, Cameron, 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.
