"This year the presentations were particularly relevant to the classroom.  I cannot imagine teaching without the stimulation of the Whitehead program and the connection it provides to the research community and the latest important work in a rapidly changing field.”

-- 2011-2012 Teacher Participant

Teacher program: Seminar Series

Whitehead Institute’s 2012-2013 Seminar Series for High School Teachers: Neuroscience Now: The Quest for Breakthroughs in the Brain

According to the World Health Organization, nearly 7 million people will die from neurological disorders this year. This high mortality, coupled with an associated global economic and health care burden in the billions of dollars annually, spotlight the urgent need for improved understanding of the brain and the disease processes that affect it.

Through the combination of technological advances and novel approaches to neuroscience research, scientists are increasingly better equipped to answer fundamental questions about how the brain works—and why, all too often, it doesn’t.

Whitehead Institute’s 2012-2013 Lecture Series for High School Teachers, Neuroscience Now: The Quest for Breakthroughs in the Brain, will explore the many ways in which today’s brightest scientific minds are unraveling the mysteries of some of our most vexing neurological and neurobehavioral disorders.

The first seminar of the 2012-2013 season was held on Monday, October 1 in Whitehead’s McGovern Auditorium. Each session begins promptly at 4:15 p.m. and includes a lecture and working dinner, typically ending by 6:30 pm.

We also match interested teachers with Whitehead partners—young Whitehead scientists who serve as a resource during the school year. Partners are eager to answer questions, discuss their fields of expertise, and even visit schools to meet with students. Teachers who have taken advantage of these partnerships in past years have found them to be invaluable relationships.

Participating teachers may be eligible to earn up to 27 Professional Development Points toward recertification.

For more information on the teacher program, please contact Amy Tremblay at tremblay@wi.mit.edu or 617-258-7270.