Laryngology: New Techniques in Vocal Cord Surgery Spare the Voice Dermatology: Sun May Cause Cancer by Targeting Rb Pathway Epidemiology: No Cancer Risk Found for Acrylamide Clinical Research: Statistical Approach Speeds Up Stent Trials Diversity: Teachers Institute Aims to Improve Diversity, Increase Science Literacy Integrated Medicine: First Osher Pilot Grants Announced for Studies in Complementary and Integrative Medicine   The Winter Bookshelf   Integrin Crystal Structure Reveals New Conformation Study Links Brain Attack to Oral Health Telomere Loss Acts Together with Atm Deficiency to Sap Stem Cell Supplies Blocking Protein Aggregates Reverses Disease in Mouse Model of Huntington's   New Appointments to Full and Named Professorships State Health Commissioner to Join HSPH Faculty Nathan to Receive Howland Medal for Pediatrics HSPH Launches Revamped Home Page Call for Papers on Medical Education in Poorer Countries Nominations Wanted for Excellence in Mentoring Awards Announcing the Second Year Show Honors and Advances News Briefs   Faculty, Students Build Bridges to Better Dental Health   Beyond Roe vs. Wade   Front Page

DIVERSITY Teachers Institute Aims to Improve Diversity, Increase Science Literacy "Tina" was supposed to be the patient in teacher Heather Cabrera's science class last fall at New Mission High School in Roxbury. That is the name of the most recent medical case study shared with middle- and high-school teachers during mini-sabbaticals at the HMS Teachers Institute. But the mythical 14-year-old Tina, whose breathing troubles begin with asthma and end with pneumonia, offered real-life lessons. One day, when Cabrera's seniors were learning how to take their respiratory rates, they discovered they had worse numbers than Tina on her sickest days. "More than half of my kids have asthma," Cabrera said. "Roxbury has one of the highest asthma rates in Boston." Diversity Goals Roxbury also has a high percentage of minorities, whom colleges and universities have been trying to attract to scientific careers. In the HMS dean's state of the school address in September, Joseph Martin reiterated a goal "to increase diversity of faculty, students, and staff." Harvard University is also preparing a friend-of-the-court brief this month in support of goals to increase diversity in higher education in the University of Michigan cases now before the U.S. Supreme Court. In terms of student diversity, HMS "recruitment is among the top in the country," Martin said. Of the 738 students progressing to an MD or a combined MD-PhD, nearly half are women and nearly one quarter are underrepresented minorities. Of the 525 students in the PhD program, 53 percent are women and 10 percent are underrepresented minorities. Increasing the number of underrepresented minorities in the sciences is a particular challenge, but that has not discouraged the faculty or participants in the HMS Teachers Institute, according to Joan Reede, HMS dean for diversity and community partnership. All told, almost 100 teachers from Boston and Cambridge public and parochial schools have attended three-day mini-sabbaticals since the program began in 1994. "Teacher-fellows" go back to school with a tool kit of ideas and equipment, such as thermometers and stethoscopes. The Howard Hughes Medical Institute launched this professional development program with a grant in 1994 and continues to fund the activities. The mini-sabbatical is a gateway to year-round programs for teachers and their students, said Emily Rickards, Teachers Institute coordinator in the HMS Office for Diversity and Community Partnership. Last month after school, for example, teacher-fellows attended a much-requested breakout session on bioterrorism featuring David Hooper, chief of the infection control unit at Massachusetts General Hospital. Programs for teachers and students are continually modified based on their classroom experiences and emphasize the value of peer-to-peer advice. Teaching the Teachers The Teachers Institute has become an important part of helping to keep Boston science teachers up-to-date in the fast-moving sciences, said John DioDato, a science teacher who is now working as a professional development specialist at the Boston Public Schools science center. "That's what's so special about what's going on between Boston and HMS now," DioDato said. "In five-year cycles, we run almost 100 percent of our science staff through the mini-sabbaticals. We see it as an opportunity to improve the pipeline of minority candidates." It's working, said Javier Bastos, a New Mission science teacher who got involved in the Teachers Institute three years ago and referred Cabrera to the program when she joined the high school science faculty last year. A third colleague has applied to join next month's mini-sabbatical class of about 17 more teachers. Bastos and Cabrera expanded the Tina case study with lessons to occupy a full trimester. "We've seen some genuine enthusiasm on the part of the students when science is presented in an inquiry-based format, where they feel like they have a place to contribute," Bastos said. "Many of these students felt that science was not for them because they felt shut out, almost like it was a foreign language without an interpreter." Now, Cabrera said, after playing doctor in class--measuring blood pressure, temperature, and heart rate--her students are more interested in details when they see their doctors. And after extensive study of microbes, she says, no one can sneeze or cough without covering their mouth--or else suffer verbal slings and arrows from their classmates who have learned how germs are spread. A few want to become doctors, and one is considering a microbiology career. --Carol Cruzan Morton