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Abstract The impact of Covid‐19 pandemic has dramatically shifted the education landscape between recent college and university graduates and pathways to graduate degrees. In my perspective article, I wish to share the challenges, reflections, and a call‐to‐action framework in ways we can support and advocate for postbaccalaureate persons excluded because of their ethnicity of race, or from a structurally marginalized community orPEERSthrough the lens of mindfulness, humility, reflection, and deep listening. Through cross‐institutional community network support, culturally responsive mentoring of postbaccalaureate PEERS is one of the key dimensions in empowering communities toward health, environmental, and social justice.
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Community-centered projects on health and the environment are vital for inclusive and equitable student learning. One of the ways to engage STEM and humanities undergraduates on public and global health and environmental justice topics is using a framework called community-based participatory research (CBPR). CBPR provides a framework for culturally relevant and responsive environmental or health topics through community engagement. In our feature article, we provide background on public and global health perspectives related to heart disease, and showcase how CBPR can be woven into the introduction to biology class and lab as a pathways to engage and empower students from all disciplines on developing a community awareness project.more » « lessFree, publicly-accessible full text available August 11, 2026
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Student-centered learning of biology concepts through hands-on tactile approaches is one of the important themes in inclusive and equitable STEM teaching. In our article, we describe the development of clay Velcro origami models for students to explore the molecular and cellular process of muscle fiber formation. We repurposed dollar store items and recyclable items used to construct a variety of textures in the clay Velcro model of early and late stages of muscle fiber formation. These hands-on activities are linked to the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) on using a model to explore the cell and structure changes to form a multinucleated muscle fiber or the formation of a syncytium. Finally, we also illustrate how students can utilize the clay Velcro model to make predictions if key molecules in cell fusion do not work during the process of syncytial formation during muscle fiber development.more » « less
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In light of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), recent clinical research has demonstrated that severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) affects breathing and internal organs, especially the kidneys and liver function. It is evident that the kidneys are induced by the virus through the course of the medication treatments, such as the side effects that lead to kidney and liver damage. In order to scaffold kidney pathophysiology with normal kidney development and function in a virtual class or lab setting during the COVID-19 pandemic, we have developed a hands-on and cost-effective clay modeling teaching tool at the undergraduate level for learning about kidney anatomy and development. Given remote teaching, this innovative tool can be used to link the structure to molecular and cellular function through an easy hands-on model for both learning and teaching demonstration for all students.more » « less
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Over the past decade, the development of three-dimensional mammalian cell organization—called human organoids—from stem cells has provided a framework for future clinical therapies. As human organoid research progresses, we also need to keep in mind the cross-cultural and ethical dimensions of human organoids research. Our review article aims to examine the ethical dimensions of cerebral human organoids and provide an ethical framework guide within human organoids research.more » « less
