The Education and Outreach Component proposes three interrelated specific aims designed to advance NIAAA's mission of translating and disseminating research findings to health care providers, researchers, policymakers and the public.
These aims also support the Oregon Health &Science University's mission of healing, teaching, research and community service.
Specific Aim 1 : K-12 Education &Outreach. The principal goal is to provide K-12th grade students and their teachers with information about alcohol, the brain, and neuroscience. We propose age-appropriate activities that present information about how the brain works and how alcohol can affect it. The activities promote keeping one's brain safe, making informed choices, meeting male and female neuroscientist role models, and pursuing careers in neuroscience and alcohol research in particular.
Aim 1 focuses especially on adolescent vulnerability to alcohol abuse by training Middle School health teachers to utilize information and resources from the NIAAA curriculum, Understanding Alcohol: Investigations into Biology and Behavior and from other sources. We propose to continue to conduct and refine a novel neuroscience and safety curriculum developed by the PARC Education Component for children in Kindergarten-3rd grade (APPENDIX Item 4-1). At the high school level we plan to continue a flexible seminar/hands-on Genetics and Alcohol presentation that is adaptable from lab visits to in-school classroom visits to public auditorium talks.
Specific Aim 2 : Training in Alcohol Research. Here, we propose to provide training and laboratory experience in alcohol research to high school, undergraduate, graduate, and post-doctoral students. Training the next generations of alcohol researchers has been a major commitment of many PARC investigators, some for over 30 years.
Specific Aim 3 : Dissemination and Translational Interface. In this Aim we propose to coordinate and share the findings of the Center, and alcohol research results in general, with scientific colleagues and the broader community.
Aim 3 proposes activities and resources that include: professional and lay publications;the Center website for professionals and the general public;the PARC Library;inclusion of PARC investigators in the University's speakers and scientific experts bureau;dissemination of PARC findings to the media;professional conferences;and outcome review of Education and Outreach Component activities.
The PARC Education Component provides Kindergarten-12th grade students with age-appropriate information about the brain, alcohol, and neuroscience, and introduces them to female and male neuroscientist role models. Early intervention strategies promote keeping one's brain safe, making good choices, and making children's study of science fun and interesting. For more than 30 years, PARC scientists have trained high school, undergraduate, graduate, and post-doctoral students to be the next generation of researchers seeking breakthroughs in the prevention and treatment of alcoholism.
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