Short Courses for Teaching Gene-Environment Interactions with a focus on Environmental Justice Communities

项目摘要/摘要 美国的环境健康教育急剧下降，这一点在 培训卫生专业人员。这个麻省理工学院的项目与纽约大学和纽约州立大学的同行P30中心合作，将 解决卫生专业人员在基因组学和环境健康方面的培训需求，为期一周 关于基因-环境相互作用的课程。每个夏季将在资助周期内教授两门短期课程。 与乡村部落学院合作，为南达科他州夏延河苏族部落(CRST)服务，以及护理部 拉马波学院的学生为新泽西州的拉马普勒纳普部落服务。此外，还有一个在线之夜 课程将在达科他州试行，面向在职护士。为护士提供这样的学习机会 主要与土著居民和/或环境正义社区合作将做出重大贡献 在弱势群体中建立社区公共卫生。教授基因与环境的相互作用需要 基本熟悉分子生物学，并指导学员如何沟通 这些基本知识是在这个短期课程中学到的一项重要技能。参与者每天都会开始 就预先选定的与社区相关的环境健康主题进行演讲/讨论。讲座将会是 之后是一个独特的动手项目，使用麻省理工学院专利的DNA和蛋白质模型以及前后测试 将用于衡量参与者的学习收益。每一次专题演讲都将强化亲身实践的分子 生物学课程，展示环境正义社区的具体应用。重要的是， 从麻省理工学院埃杰顿中心DNA试剂盒和 针对同事和社区成员的蛋白质工具包将使用不同的技能集进行练习，并在 短程课程。这些短期课程的培训将帮助参与者交流困难的主题，包括 导致基因变化和蛋白质反应的环境暴露。短期课程参与者将 开发扩展的技能集，通过实例了解和实践基因-环境相互作用，以及 将针对他们自己选择的环境健康主题生成健康信息产品，以演示 在沟通中获得的技能。将进行一项跟踪研究(3个月后)，以收集有关如何 参与者利用了他们关于基因-环境相互作用和沟通技能的新知识。 拟议的课程将填补卫生保健专业培训方面亟需的空白，这可能会 为最需要它的社区带来意识并提高生活质量。

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT There is a dramatic decline in the US on environmental health education and this is particularly noticeable in the training of health professionals. This MIT program in collaboration with peer P30 centers at NYU and UNM, will address health professionals’ need for training in genomics and environmental health with a one-week Short Course on gene-environment interactions. Two Short Courses will be taught each summer over the grant cycle with rural Tribal Colleges, serving the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribes (CRST) in South Dakota, and the Nursing Students at Ramapo College serving the Ramapough Lenape Tribe in New Jersey. Also, an online evening course will be piloted for working nurses in the Dakotas. Providing such learning opportunities for nurses that work primarily with Indigenous populations and/or environmental justice communities will significantly contribute to building community public health in vulnerable populations. Teaching gene-environment interactions requires foundational familiarity with molecular biology and instructing the course participants on how to communicate this fundamental knowledge is an important skill learned in this short course. The participants will start each day with a lecture/discussion on a pre-selected, community-relevant environmental health topic. Lectures will be followed by a unique hands-on program using MIT-patented DNA and Protein models and pre- and post- tests will be used to measure participant learning gains. Each topical lecture will reinforce the hands-on molecular biology sessions, demonstrating specific applications for Environmental Justice Communities. Importantly, the skills of communicating gene-environmental concepts learned from the MIT Edgerton Center DNA Kit and Protein Kit to colleagues and community members will be practiced using different skill sets and critiqued during the short course. Training from these Short Courses will help participants communicate difficult topics including environmental exposures that cause genetic changes and protein responses. Short Course participants will develop an expanded skill set to understand and practice gene-environment interactions through examples, and will generate a health messaging product on a topic of their own choosing in environmental health to demonstrate skills gained in communication. A follow up study (3 months later) will be conducted to collect feedback on how participants have utilized their new knowledge about gene-environment interactions and communication skills. The proposed courses will fill a much-needed gap in health care professional training that has the potential to bring awareness and enhance quality of life to communities who need it the most.