National Institutes of Health Award Great Lakes Science Center $1.2 Million, partnering with Case Western Reserve University to address diabetes, obesity, and cardiovascular disease.

July 25th, 2011

CLEVELAND (July 25, 2011) – Great Lakes Science Center has been awarded a five-year $1.25 million Science Education Partnership Award (SEPA) to develop BioMedTech: Students Translating and Exploring Medicine (STEM). The grant is awarded through the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Great Lakes Science Center will partner with the Clinical Translational Science Collaborative (CTSC) at Case Western Reserve University to develop new programs and exhibits. CTSC (http://casemed.case.edu/ctsc/) was established with a $64 million grant from the National Institute of Health in 2008. Great Lakes Science Center will collaborate with Cleveland Metropolitan School District’s MC2STEM High School and WVIZ/PBS ideastream.

The Science Education Partnership Award (SEPA) Program funds innovative educational programs with the specific aim of creating partnerships among biomedical and clinical researchers and K-12 teachers and schools, museums and science centers, media experts, and other educational organizations.

BioMedTech: Students Translating and Exploring Medicine (STEM) will be a suite of programs and exhibits to introduce students and the general public to the broad spectrum of research that is needed on the linkages between diabetes, obesity, and cardiovascular disease, including laboratory, clinical, community, and population research. Key deliverables include: student science research internships with CTSC researchers and visual communication internships with professionals at WVIZ, Community Career Days, Mini MedSchool lectures, educator curriculum guides, distance learning programs, STEM professional development events for educators and a dedicated program website highlighting Case Western Reserve University’s research, links to local and national biomedical innovators, and links to the family of SEPA projects throughout the nation. Students will develop an understanding of biomedical research and use this knowledge to develop and facilitate educational experiences on the topic for families at Great Lakes Science Center and in their own communities.

“We are proud to further our work in our BioMedTech Gallery on yet another level with our CTSC partners and the Cleveland Metropolitan School District,” Dr. Linda Abraham-Silver, President and CEO, Great Lakes Science Center, said. “Biomedical technology is a critical economic driver for our region and we are committed to providing the right STEM education to the region’s students to enable them to move into these careers.”

“The Case Western Reserve School of Medicine and the CTSC are pleased to have the opportunity to improve science literacy in the community by sharing their research and scientific expertise from the lab with students,” said Pamela B. Davis, MD, PhD, principal investigator of the CTSC and dean of the School of Medicine. “We aim to provide the students at the Great Lakes Science Center with experiences that will help shape their understanding of health issues faced by many children and adolescents today.”

Great Lakes Science Center is home to the Cleveland Metropolitan School District’s MC2STEM High School freshman class. The STEM school (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics), resulting from a public-private partnership, is the first of its kind in Ohio as enabled by House Bill 119, which authorizes financial support and partnerships critical to the development of STEM education.

About the Great Lakes Science Center
Great Lakes Science Center is one of the nation’s leading science and technology centers and home to Northeast Ohio’s NASA Glenn Visitor Center and Cleveland Metropolitan School District’s MC2STEM High School’s freshman class. Its mission is to stimulate interest in and increase understanding of the sciences, with a particular emphasis on the interdependence of scientific, environmental and technological activities in the Great Lakes region. It features hundreds of hands-on exhibits, themed traveling exhibits, daily demonstrations, the awe-inspiring OMNIMAX® Theater and the Steamship William G. Mather. The Science Center is open daily 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Discounted parking is available for guests in the attached 500-car garage. Great Lakes Science Center is generously funded by the citizens of Cuyahoga County through Cuyahoga Arts and Culture. For more information, contact the Science Center at (216) 694-2000 or visit www.GreatScience.com.

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