Michael B. Fernando, a MiNDS volunteer and PhD neuroscience graduate student, leads a sheep brain dissection and a comparative anatomy lesson for high school students during Brain Awareness Week.
Neuroscience graduate students, postdocs, faculty, and volunteers from The Friedman Brain Institute at Mount Sinai recently hosted a series of special activities during Brain Awareness Week, part of an annual global campaign each March by the Dana Foundation to increase public awareness on the progress and benefits of brain research.
Mount Sinai’s effort, which included fun classroom activities for elementary school children, lessons on comparative brain anatomy for high schoolers, podcasts, and a public lecture—all virtual—was driven by MiNDS, Mentoring in Neuroscience Discovery at Sinai. MiNDS is an educational initiative led by graduate students that makes neuroscience engaging and accessible for East Harlem, New York, schoolchildren. The Art of the Brain exhibit, typically held in an East Harlem, New York, art gallery, became a virtual sensation and remains open to the public until Friday, May 28.
“Our activities during Brain Awareness Week looked a little different this year without our onsite, interactive Brain Fair that would attract 500 visitors,” says Denise Croote, co-leader of MiNDS and a fifth-year PhD neuroscience graduate student, “but we were very excited that we were able to extend our enthusiasm about the brain into the virtual space.”
MiNDS partners with the Center for Excellence in Youth Education (CEYE) within the Office for Diversity and Inclusion —all part of a long and far-reaching effort of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. CEYE has been providing real-world classroom activities and interactions with faculty and staff since its founding in 1975, introducing summer and academic year internships and courses to thousands of underrepresented students interested in exploring careers in medicine, science, technology, and engineering.
Elementary school students learn brain basics during a Morning MiNDS program offered by PhD neuroscience graduate students Denise Croote and Brittany Hemmer.
They streamed four “Morning MiNDS” lessons at 9 am for elementary school students, covering the lobes and cells of the brain, and the sensory systems. “We also led students through several fun experiments using supplies we distributed in experiment bags,” Ms. Croote said. A cadre of MiNDS volunteers had assembled 500 bags, distributing 300 to students at its partner school, Patrick Henry Preparatory PS/IS 171, and the others to the Mount Sinai community, so they could participate in a hands-on activity remotely.
The other programs included:
- Streaming a sheep brain dissection and a comparative anatomy lesson for high school students, and looking at the brains of mice, rats, dogs, bears, and humans.
- Hosting a public lecture (with Spanish subtitles), “The Social Brain: Adapting During the COVID-19 Pandemic.” It included presentations on the neuroscience of social behavior and the impact of social distancing on mental health, and featured MiNDS co-leader Joseph Simon, IV, a fourth-year neuroscience PhD graduate student, and Anastasia Shuster, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Psychiatry.
Anastasia Shuster, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Psychiatry, co-hosted a public lecture that included Spanish subtitles on “The Social Brain: Adapting During the COVID-19 Pandemic.”
- And, special this year: the launch of a podcast series, “Journey Through the MiND: Exploring the Life of a Neuroscientist.” The podcast series was sponsored by the Dana Foundation and featured revealing conversations with Friedman Brain Institute faculty. Topics included pivotal experiments that helped shape their careers, and the overall twists and turns of the research world. Ms. Croote talked to Daniela Schiller, PhD; and Mr. Simon chatted with Uraina Clark, PhD.
While Brain Awareness Week has concluded, the commitment to the community is ongoing in new and imaginative ways. Says Kenya Townsend, CEYE’s Program Director: “For months, we have been planning new programs, and this summer we will be offering two engaging programs for current New York City high school students: Introduction to Bioinformatics, and Medical and Scientific Exploration. We are excited about these programs and these new students who are eager to learn about science.”