Outreach
To broaden the scientific impact of our research, we have partnered and continue to partner with local organizations to educate and train the next generation of computational biologists.
From 2017 to 2020, we partnered with Central Park School for Children, a public school in Durham, NC with a longstanding commitment to enrolling a diverse student body that mirrors the demographics of Durham neighborhoods. We hosted two field trips for Durham third grade students in our laboratory, teaching them basic concepts of cell biology and engaging them in laboratory activities such as cell culture, microscopy, and image analysis.The long-term goal was to include these students as co-authors in any resulting publications in which they played an active role in data annotation. We had a third, and by far the largest, field trip in the works but because of COVID-19 this partnership was halted.
Since 2019, we have partnered with UNC’s TEACCH Autism Program, a world-class center for Autism research, clinical services, and consultation for parents, care providers, and employers. Over the past three years, we have worked closely with TEACCH to employ and train neurodiverse individuals to carry out the vital image analysis tasks needed to quantify live- and fixed-cell data. We are building on this effort by recruiting undergraduate students to serve as job coaches for our neurodiverse lab members. This initiative will allow us to scale up our image analysis throughput; equip the employees and students with important life and employment skills; and set an example that encourages other laboratories to incorporate similar efforts into their research programs.
Since 2022, we have collaborated with Durham School of the Arts, also known as DSA. We worked with DSA’s seventh-grade science teacher Chris Huggins. Starting this past year, we are now partnered with Huggins and Amy Castle, DSA’s other seventh-grade science teacher. Alongside the generous donation of a screened-microscope from Thermo Fisher Scientific for Huggins’ classroom in 2022, we orchestrated the loan of a second screened-microscope for Castle’s classroom in 2023. DSA is a public magnet school reaching nearly 2,000 students every day and serving a diverse array of children. Each classroom reaches roughly 100 students in total throughout the class periods. Through partnership with an arts-focused school, we help DSA accomplish their goal of providing a well-rounded academic experience. While DSA students are immersed in artistic subjects, we shine light on the sciences, a topic they might not have given much thought to or expressed interest in. Working with Huggins and Castle, we coordinated supplying the screened-microscopes, making in-class microscope demonstrations more engaging, interesting, and enjoyable for students. Instead of students looking into their teacher’s microscope one at a time, the screened-microscope allows Huggins and Castle to project on the screen how to use the tool and what their students should see when looking into their own instrument. We also collaborated in the teaching of material, assisting in demonstrations, question and answer segments, and general microscopy instruction. We visit DSA between three and four times a year to assist Huggins and Castle in teaching the microscopy unit. With a classroom of around twenty-five students each, our assistance with the hands-on microscopy lessons allow more students to experience using the instrument accurately. Being in the classroom also provides students access to our lab personnel for further questions about the subject and potential career pathways.
