141st APHA Annual Meeting

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294197
Challenging high school students to think about clinical trials: A laboratory approach

Monday, November 4, 2013 : 10:50 AM - 11:10 AM

Don DeRosa, EdD , CityLab/Mobile Lab, Director, Boston University School of Education, Boston, MA
CityLab, a collaboration between Boston University Schools of Medicine and Education, is developing a new curriculum supplement that includes both hands-on laboratory experiments and computer-assisted analysis to impart a keen understanding and appreciation of the basic elements of clinical research to students in grades 9-12 and their teachers. The program expands on one of CityLab's most successful curriculum supplements entitled “The Mystery of The Crooked Cell”. This supplement teaches students about the point mutation that is responsible for sickle cell anemia and it does so by engaging students to perform hemoglobin electrophoresis. To expand this curriculum supplement to teach students about clinical trials, students learn about the importance of testing a novel drug candidate that may reverse the clinical manifestations of sickle cell disease by reactivating the gene that codes for the formation of fetal hemoglobin. This session will provide an overview of the curriculum as well as share experience and outcomes of the curriculum used with students at CityLab. CityLab is supported by a grant from the National Institutes of Health Science Education Partnership Award.

Learning Areas:
Public health or related education

Learning Objectives:
Describe pedagogical strategies used to inform young adults about the purpose and process of clinical trials.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have been CoPI on NIH SEPA grants to develop curriculum focusing on biotechnology and served as PI on a NIAAA grant to a develop laboratory-based curriculum about alcohol for high school students (www.alcoholeducatiionforyouth.org ). My primary scientific interest is in science education and pre-service science teacher preparation. I am the science program coordinator for BU School of Education and the Director of CityLab.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.