Ochsner Clinic Foundation recently received a five-year, $1.25 million Science Education Partnership Award from the National Institutes of Health in order to fund BEST Science!, a program that links Ochsner with the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center and local school districts. The program, which will ultimately benefit high school students who are interested in biomedical research and health sciences, offers paid summer professional development workshops for teachers, curriculum supplements for hands-on lab modules and lab kits on loan. The teacher workshops will begin next summer, and the lab kits will be available in the upcoming school year.
On Nov. 20, Dillard University and the Institute of Women & Ethnic Studies will host “The Root Of It All: The State of Mental Health of New Orleans Youth.” The keynote speaker will be Dr. Mindy Thompson-Fullilove, a world-renowned social psychologist, who, along with other professionals, will discuss the mental health issues affecting local youth. Attendees will learn about challenges children are facing, as well as collaborate with other community leaders to best deal with mental health issues, which are at an unprecedented high in the area, with little access to services. The forum will take place in Dillard’s Professional Schools and Sciences Building and is free to attend.
Nov. 15 is the American Cancer Society’s Great American Smokeout Day, and it’s also the day that Children’s Hospital and all its satellite campuses will become smoke-free. The Board of Trustees voted to make all locations tobacco-free. The policy applies to everyone, including employees, members of the medical staff, volunteers, students, vendors and visitors.