MEDIA CONTACT: Lisa Freed
561-297-3022, lfreed@fau.edu
BOCA RATON, FL (July 26, 2006) – Students of Florida Atlantic University’s Honors Summer Institute (HSI), hosted by the Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College, will participate in the last day of the program’s classes on Friday, July 28. This year marks the inaugural year for the three-week summer science institute that recruited advanced 11th- and 12th-grade high school students to participate in courses taught by distinguished FAU Honors College faculty and Scripps Florida scientists.
“We hope our students leave the program with a more developed sense of personal responsibility and self-confidence, both of which are essential to academic and career success,” said Dr. Keith Jakee, HSI program director. “Our collaboration with Scripps Florida has surely opened many of our young minds to the very cutting edge of what is known and what may be possible. It would be wonderful to think that some of the students sitting in this year’s lectures will have been spurred on to solve – in the future – some of the currently intractable scientific puzzles discussed in their Scripps Florida lectures.”
Students received three college credits for either a course in biotechnology, bioethics, or evolution, psychology and human nature. Scripps Florida scientists also led afternoon lectures and discussions. Topics discussed at the Institute included prion diseases, targeting protein kinases in drug discovery, and obesity and the regulation of food intake.
Although most school evenings were devoted to studies and class preparation, students were treated to optional films, a minor league baseball game, as well as a beach party, bowling, a kayaking trip, and a trip to the Kennedy Space Center.
The final lecture of the program, titled “Scripps Florida: Realizing the Vision,” will be held on Friday, July 28 from 1 to 2:30 p.m. in EC (Education Classroom) 101 and 102 on FAU’s John D. MacArthur campus, Jupiter. The Institute, sponsored in collaboration with Scripps Florida, will present Dr. Harry Orf, professor of chemistry and vice president of scientific operations in Florida.
The discussion will focus on the “vision” of Scripps Florida from both a scientific and educational outreach perspective. The lecture will review Scripps Florida’s basic biomedical research component, similar to those in La Jolla, California and all other major research centers, and also discuss the advanced technologies and drug discovery components.
“These components make us unique in our scientific capacities compared to other academic centers,” said Orf. “We have cutting-edge equipment and technologies that allow us to conduct true translational research, such as target identification, lead compound identification, and lead compound optimization, in an academic setting.”
The lecture also will cover educational programs and community outreach efforts and will describe Scripps Florida’s current status – personnel and facilities – and concludes with a glimpse of renderings of its future permanent facilities.
For more information on the FAU Honors Summer Institute, contact 800-920-8705, visit www.fau.edu/summerinstitute or e-mail summerinstitute@fau.edu.
- FAU -
