Base Pair/ SOAR Students Discuss Avian Flu At Community Science Forum

Jackson Public School students, under the supervision of UMC scientists, will host a free Base Pair/SOAR Community Science Forum on the avian influenza for members of the greater Jackson area at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 27 in the second-floor conference center of the Norman C. Nelson Student Union.

Director of Base Pair Dr. Rob Rockhold, UMC assistant vice chancellor for student outreach and assistant vice chancellor for academic affairs, said the forum entitled, “Avian Influenza: The Next Great Pandemic?� will be presented by high school students in the Base Pair/SOAR program and will cover facts concerning the avian influenza or “the bird flu.�

“Many are concerned the avian influenza or the ‘bird flu’ is the next big epidemic,� said Rockhold. “It is a complicated issue. There is so much interest and fear. We are trying to get across the facts to the public and the ability of our health care providers to respond to such a disease if it does in fact occur.�

The Community Science Forum is an initiative of Base Pair/SOAR, a scientific mentoring program that encourages careers in the health professions by pairing high school students with scientists at UMC. Funded by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the Base Pair program requires students to spend one semester in their home school in preparation for lab work, then another semester with their mentor at UMC.   The SOAR component focuses on research activities within each high school site. 

“The community science forum presentations were developed to increase health care literacy in the general public,� said Rockhold. “We use the forum not only to increase the community’s knowledge about health sciences but also to improve the student’s ability to communicate difficult ideas about science and health care to the community in a clear and understandable way.�

Students at Murrah, Provine, Bailey Magnet, Jim Hill, and Forest Hill High Schools will make the presentations during the forum.

For more information about the forum, call the Division of Public Affairs at 601-984-1100.

—    Jenny Woodruff (11-27-06)

 

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