Photo credit: Michelle Gehlman-Teeter
Bioengineers from UW’s Institute for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine (ISCRM) led an educational outreach event at Mill Creek Middle School on December 15, 2016. The event marked the third year ISCRM visited the school to lead activities designed to teach students about science and health. The event was featured on ILoveKent, a local news website.
At December’s event, students rotated through a series of different “labs” — rooms set up with activities to demonstrate a different research area of stem cell and regenerative medicine research. Charles Murry, professor of bioengineering, pathology and cardiology, director of the Center for Cardiovascular Biology, and interim director of ISCRM, led a room focused on cardiac research. Assistant Professor Kelly Stevens’ lab ran a room focused on bioengineering and the liver, and Professor Michael Regnier’s lab (with Assistant Professor David Mack of UW Rehabilitation Medicine) led activities to demonstrate neuromuscular research. Activities ranged from a blood pumping “race,” using a bike pump to inflate pig lungs, pulling DNA strands out of a strawberry and learning how to to move limbs involuntarily via electrodes.
Dr. Murry said that the event was “A fun chance to have some community involvement.” He explains, “It’s great seeing through the kid’s eyes the first time they see it, how cool science is, showing them how it relates to health, and to remember why we love all of this.”