What
Through the Nobel Laureates School Visits Series, 11th and 12th grade students at the Massachusetts Academy of Math and Science at WPI will have the opportunity to discuss scientific research with Nobel Prize winner Craig C. Mello.
Who
Mello, whose research focuses on genetics and molecular biology, won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2006 for discovering RNA interference, gene silencing by double-stranded RNA. He is the Blais University Chair in Molecular Medicine and Co-Director of the RNA Therapeutics Institute at the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester, and an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute in Chevy Chase, Md.
When
Tuesday, Dec. 10, from 10:00 a.m. to12:30 p.m., with the speaking portion of the program to begin at 10:15.
Where
Mass Academy of Math and Science at WPI, 85 Prescott St., Worcester, Mass.
More Information
The Nobel Laureates School Visits Series was founded by Edward Shapiro, a Russian-American scientist and inventor, who enlisted the help of Dan H. Fenn Jr., founder and first director of the John Fitzgerald Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, and Nobel Laureate and MIT professor Robert Solow, as well as the Massachusetts Secondary Schools Administrators' Association. The MSSAA Board embraced the program and provided the institutional base for its implementation. Initial financial support for the series came from a team of seven volunteers, their friends and IBM Corp. Since February 2009, the Nobel Laureates School Visits Series has brought Nobel laureates to 31 public middle schools and high schools in Massachusetts, New York, and Illinois.
About Mass Academy of Math and Science at WPI
Mass Academy is a public, co-educational school of excellence program that enrolls about 100 academically accelerated 11th and 12th graders. Math and science are emphasized within a comprehensive, interactive academic program. The rigor of the junior year classes exceeds high school honors and AP, emphasizing depth over breadth, engaging students in project-based learning and more than 1,200 hours of instruction. Seniors complete a full year of college, enrolling in classes at WPI, a nationally-ranked university, thus making the Academy the only public school in Massachusetts whose students attend a private university full time as seniors in high school. The Academy is a collaborative effort among the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, and the high schools of Massachusetts.
