Science and the Human Heart

This video features three recent NWABR events: Youth Ethics Summit 2011, hosted at the University of Washington Institute for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine, then Life Sciences Research Weekend 2010, where hundreds of biomedical researchers met thousands of students, children, and families at Pacific Science Center, and finally Student Bio Expo 2011, where high school students presented art and science projects in categories ranging from music to molecular modeling to global health.

These educational programs and more are funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the National Science Foundation (NSF), our members, and contributors like you. Donate to support science outreach and education at http://nwabr.org.

Science communications in the developing world

Russell agrees and emphasizes that communication is a big factor in establishing trust, generally and not only for one population or another. People need to hear back how their contributions helped.

Our moderator, Sorensen asks Russell to discuss more about what GAPPS has been doing in the developing world with regard to communication.

Russell: “We’re focusing on populations where these problems are the most acute, with high rates of preclampsia and pre-term birth and more.” Russell recalls meeting with women living in villages in Bangladesh and India. They had seen so many babies die in their villages that they really wanted to participate in research. They understood immediately that this would help not only in their lives but that it would help women everywhere in the world. They were very enthusiastic and wanted to contribute.

Sewards repeats out loud a question they consider often: Should one population bear the burden for all? They seek a middle ground in knowing that some populations need more protection than others.

Sewards mentions the Belmont Report and says that we also need to ensure research benefits all, not any one population. See also a less technical description of the Belmont Report.