Shannon M. Carlin-Menter, Ph.D. - US grants

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The Western New York Genetics in Research and Health Care Partnership will develop an ongoing partnership with disadvantaged schools across a 14-county region that will serve as a pipeline for teacher and student recruitment, training and mentorship in bioscience, with a particular focus on genetics. It is designed to support career paths for students in both scientific research and the health professions, emphasizing assistance to those from underrepresented and disadvantaged groups, as well as to familiarize teachers with basic bioinformatics concepts that they can introduce into their classrooms. The Partnership will be led by the PIs, representing the University at Buffalo Department of Biotechnical and Clinical Laboratory Sciences (BCLS) and the NYS Area Health Education Center System, which has its Statewide Office based in the University at Buffalo Department of Family Medicine. Members will include the Erie Niagara AHEC and WNY Rural AHEC, along with the 15 to 25 school districts that will be invited to join over the 5-year project period. At project start, AHEC analysis will identify disadvantaged school districts serving underrepresented populations. Each year, 3 to 5 districts will be invited to join the Partnership, making them eligible for teacher training (total 20 teachers per year) and technical support for advanced experiential learning projects and a Capstone Symposium (total 100 students per year). Twenty biology teachers annually from the partnering schools will attend a two-week summer workshop at the University at Buffalo where they will receive training in use of the Integrated Microbial Genomes Annotation Collaboration Toolkit (IMG-ACT) of the U.S. Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute. During the fall semester of each school year, AHEC will organize 4-5 health/science college and career exploration sessions to familiarize students with the gene annotation project and to give it some real world context. Students will develop career plans by the last of these sessions as well as indicate their interest in doing gene annotation during the spring semester. Each teacher will then work with at least 5 students (100 total per year) to participate in genome annotation using the IMG-ACT during the school year. Each spring, the Capstone Symposium will be held at UB, bringing participating students and teachers together to present their projects and network with researchers and employers. AHEC will track and offer support (e.g., scholarship and career information, new internship opportunities) to participating students as they enter and progress through college, supporting entry to and retention in research and health careers in the region.

The Metagenomics Education Partnership: Harnessing the Power of Microbial Genome Sequencing and Big Data with High School Students and Teachers will further an ongoing partnership between the Department of Biotechnical and Clinical Laboratory Sciences (BCLS) of the University at Buffalo Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, the New York State Area Health Education Center System (NYSAHEC), the Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics & Life Sciences at the University at Buffalo and the Buffalo Niagara Waterkeeper (BNW) with underserved/disadvantaged schools across a 14-county region of Western New York. The proposal activities will 1) develop and strengthen partnerships between local high schools, colleges, biotechnology companies, and local not-for profit organizations and serve as a pipeline for recruiting students to scientific and health-related careers, with an emphasis on those from underrepresented groups; 2) utilize community-linked citizen science involving metagenomic analyses of water samples in Western New York with underserved high school students, empowering them to assist in safeguarding local water resources for present and future generations; and 3) allow high school students and teachers to sequence and analyze a microbial genome, supporting their explorations of Big Data, STEM and health-related careers related to genomics. Proposal participants will be among the first high school students and teachers to use third generation Oxford Nanopore MinION sequencing technology, giving them first-hand experience with the preparation of genomic DNA samples for sequencing, in school DNA sequencing, tools for determining the makeup of microbial communities from sequencing data, and the construction of a microbial genome through the compilation of a large number of overlapping long MinION sequence reads. The project will include a week-long teacher professional development covering hands on experience with all aspects of project activities in the summer, followed by three different day-long refresher training sessions for teachers during the school year. Students will perform identical project activities during the academic year under the guidance of their teachers and faculty from the partnership. Year one of the proposal will be formative, involving two schools and three teachers along with a total of 30 students. Years 2-5 will have ten intervention teachers and 100 students per year take part, who will be compared with a total of 30 teachers and 300 students as matched controls in years 2-4 as part of the evaluation plan. Students and teachers will present data at an annual capstone event each spring. Their data on waterway quality will in addition be shared and publicized by BNW, and their microbial genome sequencing data will ultimately be shared on GenBank. The authentic research experiences for students involving new DNA sequencing technology and big data manipulations will increase their interest, engagement and future performance in STEM, and positively influence their long-term STEM and health-related career goals.