COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT

The Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine is working with the Winston-Salem and Piedmont Triad communities to foster economic development and education in the region. Outreach programs include participation in the development of the Piedmont Triad Research Park, the formal education programs offered through Wake Forest University, intra- and extramural research projects, and community education programs.

The Piedmont Triad Research Park

WFIRM is a premier tenant at the Wake Forest University Health Sciences Biomedical Research Campus in downtown Winston-Salem. The Piedmont Triad Research Park, a 280-acre biotechnology initiative, will be the largest urban research park of its kind in the nation. The Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine works in close collaboration with the Piedmont Triad Research Park and the North Carolina Biotechnology Center. The Institute will serve as an incubator for new biotech businesses generated from the transfer of technologies discovered in its laboratories. In this way, Wake Forest University Health Sciences is building a research and development model that links academic medicine with knowledge-based economic development.

The Center of Excellence for Research, Teaching and Learning (CERTL)

CERTL fosters achievement of goals to increase the number of students who successfully participate, progress, and achieve in K-12 science and mathematics courses and who pursue undergraduate programs in the sciences, mathematics, engineering and technology fields. The program also promotes community awareness of healthy lifestyle choices. CERTL offers a summer research program for high school students and a science and mathematics camp for K-8 students. CERTL is a collaborative effort with the Wake Forest University School of Medicine.

The Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine is an active participant in the CERTL program and offers summer research experiences to selected high school students. The summer research program is designed to increase interest in mathematics and science research. The program provides hands-on research experience with distinguished faculty from the Institute. One aim is to create experiences in these settings which will help bring to the classroom a renewed sense of excitement about research science, which in turn stimulates students to pursue careers in regenerative medicine science and biotechnology. Students are matched with a faculty mentor with whom they share a common research interest and are mentored through the five-week program. They are assisted by their faculty mentor in the preparation of a scientific paper and then present their topic at a Student Research Symposium Day at the end of the program. To learn more about this program, click here.

Forsyth Tech

Forsyth Tech is located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, part of the Piedmont Triad, and serves Forsyth and Stokes Counties (Forsyth Tech Community College Students Learning Technology). Forsyth Tech is one of the largest community colleges in the state and serves a large and growing segment of the population seeking to acquire career-oriented education to become more qualified and marketable in today's increasingly demanding workplace environment. The college offers 156 programs of study that lead to an associate's degree, certificate or diploma in a variety of fields including healthcare, engineering technologies, business and office technologies, criminal justice, automotive repair, logistics management and biotechnology.

The Biotechnology curriculum, which has emerged from molecular biology and chemical engineering, is designed to meet the increasing demands for skilled laboratory technicians in various fields of biological and chemical technology (http://www.forsyth.tec.nc.us/degree/biotech.pdf). Course work emphasizes biology, chemistry, mathematics, and technical communications. The curriculum objectives are designed to prepare graduates to serve in three distinct capacities: 1) research assistant to a biologist or chemist, 2) laboratory technician/instrumentation technician, and 3) quality control/quality assurance technician. Graduates may find employment in various areas of industry and government, including research and development, manufacturing, sales, and customer service.

The Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine offers an internship program to students at Forsyth Tech who choose an associate degree in applied sciences in Biotechnology. This internship aims to give practical research laboratory experience to complement the following courses that are offered to students at Forsyth Tech: Basic Lab Techniques, Bioprocess Techniques, Cell Culture, Immunological Techniques and Biotech Lab Experience. During a semester-long internship, the students will work with the Institute’s faculty and research fellows on various research projects in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.

TechWorks Project

The mission of SciWorks is to promote scientific literacy, life-long learning and an appreciation of the sciences by providing innovative educational and recreational experiences for all people through interactive programs and exhibits, collections, an environmental park, and unique facilities. HealthWorks is another interactive experience that fosters a greater understanding of the human body, as well as the role of technology in medicine. The planetarium offers shows for various age groups. The new TechWorks exhibit will highlight technological innovations made in the Winston-Salem area.

At TechWorks, the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine presents its recent technologies in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. Through visual and hands-on exhibition, the Institute will present itself to the young and adult populations in Winston-Salem and western North Carolina. The TechWorks exhibition serves as an excellent medium to introduce the SciWorks visitors to “medicine in the second millennium” as envisioned by the scientists at WFIRM.

Primary Education Outreach

Faculty, students, and research fellows at the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine participate in community education outreach activities through interactive lectures at the pre-K, elementary, middle, and high school levels. Hands-on classroom presentations are popular with students and teachers alike. Guided tours of the Institute’s state-of-the-art laboratories are also available to small groups by special appointment. As part of our educational mission, we seek to engage the next generation of scientists and engineers, and expose them to the wonders of biotechnology and medicine.