Outreach

ABOUT YES!

YES! Youth Engaged in Science is a multi-faceted outreach program run by the Fair Neuroimaging Lab to counter educational and health disparities in underrepresented minority communities. As an example, African Americans hold less than 2% of PhDs in the biological sciences despite comprising approximately 14% of the US population. The numbers are just as disquieting in other professional fields in medicine and health sciences.

To address these issues, our outreach efforts aim to expose underrepresented students to science, research & STEM-related careers. YES! aims to get students excited about science through education, mentorship, and hands-on experience. The program also educates families about mental health and the importance of community participation in biomedical research, with the hopes of increasing enrollment of underrepresented populations in clinical studies.

To this end, YES! conducts its outreach efforts in three ways:

Bringing middle and high school underrepresented students from Portland area public schools to OHSU to provide them with educational tours of clinical and research institutions and laboratories.
Sending graduate students and postdocs to Portland area middle and high schools to provide interactive lessons about the brain using our "Brain in a Box" program developed in partnership with the OHSU Brain Institute.
Provide summer and year-long research internships in the Fair Neuroimaging Lab to high school and undergraduate students.

We believe that these programs will bridge the gaps in educational and health equity between OHSU and the Portland, OR community at large.

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Meet Damien Fair

Meet the members of the Fair Neuroimaging Lab

YES! recently hosted our annual Summer Academy to Inspire Learning.
Read our evaluative report.

Click here to see past outreach events

OUTREACH OPPORTUNITIES

Education
Learn about the brain and how it works with Brain-in-a-Box! Brain-in-a-Box is an exciting educational program used to bring neuroscience into middle and high school science classes. The goal of the program is to change knowledge, skills, attitudes and behaviors associated with brain health as a result of program participation. Students have the opportunity to learn: 1) How each brain is similar in commonalities but also different due to genes an environment; 2) About plasticity and that learning requires new/modified connections between neurons; 3) About the Adolescent brain and its maturation and how this relates to development and susceptibility to substance abuse; 4) How the adolescent brain has unique potential for learning new skills; 5) About our sense of identity and how it is contained within the brain, and how self -empowerment is important, and how brain damage can alter personality.

Community Engagement
We offer informational workshops on mental health - with an emphasis on developmental disorders such as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) - for local Portland communities. Our team of experts can answer questions about what it means to have a child with ADHD and/or ASD, current clinical treatments, the latest news about research on ADHD and ASD, and provide information on resources available.

Lab Tours
Take a tour of OHSU&#’;s facilities and other research and medical labs on campus!

Job Shadowing
Experience what a day-in-the-life of a neuroscience researcher is like by shadowing members of the Fair neuroimaging Lab. Learn how we study the developing brain using EEG (electroencephalography) and Neuroimaging (functional magnetic resonance imaging) techniques.

To get more info about these opportunities or to sign-up for our mailing list, email us at YES@ohsu.edu !!