Starting an outreach program: PA DNA Day

This past April, I organized volunteers from Lehigh University to hold the inaugural Pennsylvania DNA Day (PA DNA Day)!

PA DNA Day is an outreach program that brings young scientists into high schools to talk about DNA, genetics and new genomics advances.  I had seen this successful model while I was at UNC Chapel Hill (which is where the DNA Day program started), so I reached out to the coordinator there and they were happy to help me set it up here in PA! It was great timing as well, as DNA Day activities were expanding across the US. 

With its inception, PA DNA Day joined the growing network of states celebrating National DNA Day (https://www.genome.gov/10506367/national-dna-day/), held every April 25^th to commemorate the discovery of DNA's double helix in 1953 and the completion of the Human Genome Project 50 years later in 2003.

I worked with with the Director for Academic Diversity and Outreach at Lehigh, who helped facilitate formation of a partnership with science teachers the Bethlehem City high schools. This way, I met with the superintendent first, then they reached out to the teachers to see if it was something they were interested in. Once we confirmed teachers would find this helpful I put out a  campus-wide open invitation to interested young Lehigh scientists. Those who responded included undergraduates, graduate students and postdoctoral researchers, and they were trained to deliver a class module on genetics aimed at high school students.

A major goal of PA DNA Day is to provide an opportunity for high school students to meet and interact with a young scientist, broadening their scope of what a scientist looks like and breaking down barriers for students to follow scientific career paths, especially students from STEM underrepresented minorities. Moreover another major goal of PA DNA Day is to give early-career scientists at Lehigh the opportunity to share their passion for science with students fostering a spirit of public engagement and interest in science outreach throughout their careers.

For this inaugural PA DNA Day, 16 Lehigh University volunteers participated: 10 undergraduates, 5 graduate students and 1 postdoctoral researcher. Combined, the volunteers taught 11 different class periods, from 5 teachers at Liberty and Freedom high schools, reaching over 300 students!

In each class, Lehigh volunteers discussed with students the advances in genetics and genomics, as well as their own personal paths to science. The interactive class module involved a presentation on DNA and a short experiment to demonstrate genetic principles (such as: extracting your own DNA from saliva! Or testing if you have the PTC tasting gene!). 

Feedback about the program was overwhelming positive. Teachers from the high schools praised the Lehigh volunteers. Said one teacher, "All the ambassadors were amazing, their range of experience was great to witness." Another commented on their students’ reactions saying, “It was a great experience for the students. They thoroughly enjoyed the activities and guest lectures. I would highly recommend this event to others."

The young scientist volunteers from Lehigh University also praised the program. Said one volunteer, "[Participating helped me] I think most importantly, being able to communicate scientific topics (various ranges of complexity) to a general population/audience is a very useful skill that I know I personally will need in my future research career."

With the success of PA DNA Day 2016, planning is already underway for next year’s event. I hope to expand the program to nearby Lehigh Valley colleges and universities to recruit more volunteers, which will allow more high schools to be reached by including nearby other school districts! 

If you have any questions about joining in PA DNA Day or how to set up an outreach program like this feel free to contact me, I'd be happy to help.  

And, for more information on PA DNA Day, visit the website at http://www.lehigh.edu/~indnaday/ and follow us on twitter @PADNADay.  

Graduate student and postdoc volunteers having fun trying to make DNA with their hands. 

Me with the graduate student and postdoc volunteers on  DNA Day. 

Graduate student Chuck Fisher demonstrates DNA saliva extraction with a Bethlehem high school student. 

Volunteers Katie Mageeny and Jessica Leung with their class after the lesson. 

Undergraduate volunteer Cynthia Xu teach a Bethlehem high school class.