Education

Our mission is to produce compelling, interactive resources including videos, posters and interactive exhibitions around high and middle/secondary school biology, biochemistry and biotechnology curricula.

We aim to enrich and extend the learning experience and to allow pupils around the world to achieve their full potential in understanding these important sciences.

A core part of our mission is to engage students and teachers in developing the resources. Once developed the resources will be taken into the community to engage with students on the ground in schools, libraries and public spaces.

Educational projects that we are currently working on include:

• Baby Makers: The story of IVF and global access to infertility treatment Fifty million couples worldwide cannot have children today without medical help. We are developing teaching resources to help children understand the challenge of infertility and the science behind IVF. The resources will be targeted at middle/high school students aged 14-18 in secondary school (US grades 9-12, UK KS3-4) studying topics like reproduction, infertility and genetics for their GCSEs, A Levels, International Baccalaureate and other school leaving qualifications. WiB is jointly developing the resources with staff at St Saviour’s and St Olave’s School.
• Dying from ignorance: A programme of education, enrichment and public engagement around hepatitis B More people currently die from chronic hepatitis B than HIV, malaria or TB. Despite killing just under one million people a year around the world, hepatitis B has attracted far less public attention or resources than other leading killers. Yet, the disease can be easily stopped from spreading by immunisation with a vaccine early in childhood. Together with the Education Development Center and the Hepatitis B Foundation, we are developing educational resources for students in secondary school (US grades 9-12, UK KS3-4) to help them understand the cause of hepatitis B and the science behind its vaccine. The materials will tie in with curriculum topics like viral infection, viruses and immunity that are taught to students taking their GCSEs, A Levels, International Baccalaureate and other school leaving qualifications.
• Monoclonal antibodies Monoclonal antibodies are now one of the most powerful tools for the diagnosis and treatment of disease. We are developing an educational resource aimed at students in secondary school (US grades 9-12, UK KS3-4) to understand what monoclonal antibodies are, their many uses in healthcare and the major impact they have had in the field of cancer and autoimmune and neurodegenerative disorders in recent years. The resource is being developed in collaboration with Lara Marks, author of The Lock and Key of Medicine: Monoclonal antibodies and the transformation of healthcare (Yale University Press, 2015). It will be of interest to students studying monoclonal antibodies and the immune system for their GCSEs, A Levels, International Baccalaureate and other school leaving qualifications.