November 13, 2007 - Oakland, CA – Children’s Hospital & Research Center Oakland has been selected to share in a $9 million funding award from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The hospital’s Hall of Health Museum, in collaboration with Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute, was selected for the NIH’s Science Education Partnership Award (SEPA), which supports innovative hands-on programs that encourage children to pursue health careers or that further their understanding of medical research.
Children’s Hospital Oakland is one of only ten institutions from across the country to receive this honor. The SEPA grant of $539,789 will provide funds to disseminate the Hall of Health’s “Your Genes & Your Choices,” an interactive exhibit on social and genetic factors that contribute to good and bad health outcomes. This exhibit contains eight activity stations. The grant will also provide funds to disseminate the Hall of Health's 4th and 5th grade "Health and Biomedical Science for a Diverse Community" curriculum, which focuses on diseases and health conditions that disproportionately affect minority populations. The curriculum will be disseminated through after-school science clubs at ten elementary schools in Oakland and Berkeley.
“We offer one of the country’s most innovative health education programs because of critical funding from respected organizations like the National Institutes of Health,” said Lucille Day, Ph.D., Director of the Hall of Health Hands-On Health Museum at Children’s Hospital & Research Center Oakland. “Through their support Children’s Hospital Oakland has offered outreach programs at schools or students can come to us to see how we turn their textbooks into interactive, educational play at the museum.”
Children’s Hospital Oakland is committed to offering community health programs like the Hall of Health, which is dedicated to promoting wellness and individual responsibility. More than 350,000 visitors of all ages have used the Hall of Health’s interactive, hands-on exhibits to learn about how the body functions and the value of a healthy lifestyle, including a good diet and exercise.
Led by the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR) – a part of the NIH – SEPA grants provide two to five years of support to stimulate curiosity and encourage scientific investigation through hands-on activities. It is hoped that by supporting interactions between scientists, educators and community organizations, the SEPA program will improve the public’s understanding of NIH-funded medical research and encourage the participation of young people in science careers.
Research at Children’s Hospital & Research Center Oakland, CA
Research efforts at Children’s Hospital & Research Center Oakland are coordinated through Children’s Hospital Oakland Research Institute (CHORI). Children’s Hospital Oakland is Northern California’s only freestanding and independent children’s hospital. CHORI’s internationally renowned biomedical research facility brings together seven centers of excellence that are devoted to clinical and basic science research to treat and prevent disease. CHORI has approximately 300 staff members and an annual budget of more than $49 million. The National Institutes of Health is CHORI’s primary funding source. The institute is a leader in translational research, bringing bench discoveries to bedside applications. These include providing cures for blood diseases, developing new vaccines for infectious diseases and discovering new treatment protocols for previously fatal or debilitating conditions such as cancers, sickle cell disease and thalassemia, diabetes, asthma, HIV/AIDS, pediatric obesity, nutritional deficiencies, birth defects, hemophilia and cystic fibrosis.