Community Partnership Programs

The increasing importance of science in our daily lives and the explosion of knowledge in the biological sciences, specifically in neurobiology, have led to a need to keep the public better informed about new developments in these areas. In addition, San Diego teachers need resource material beyond that supplied by their schools to improve scientific literacy among their students and illustrate basic mechanisms and principles of biology in the classroom.

KIBM co-sponsors the Grey Matters Lecture Series, which is designed to educate the public about the exciting brain research occurring in the San Diego area. This series should pique the interest of parents, teachers and students and encourage young people to consider a neuroscience-related career. The five Grey Matters lectures in the 2006-07 year covered topics as diverse as decision-making, memory systems, treatments for the aging brain, autism, and bird brains. These lectures are broadcast on UCSD-TV’s local cable networks in San Diego, on UCTV’s nationwide cable stations, and are archived in streaming video on UCSD-TV’s website. For the current schedule, go here:

http://greymatters.ucsd.edu/

We are also co-sponsoring a series of neuroethics weeks (with the Center for Ethics in Science and Technology) to bring together the public and our top thinkers to discuss new and proposed technologies that may allow others to “read” our thought processes or “predict” our behavior and the impact that these technologies will have on our society.

Traumatic Brain Injury Project: From Molecule to Mind

Greenspan Laboratory of Genetics and Neurobiology