UB and Roswell Park to host second annual Genome Day

BUFFALO, N.Y. — The University at Buffalo and Roswell Park Cancer Institute will team up on March 10 to welcome 400 eighth graders from Buffalo Public Schools to participate in Genome Day.

Part of a month-long series of events celebrating the science, technology, engineering and math fields, Genome Day was created to inspire and encourage students to think about pursuing STEM career opportunities.

Buses will arrive at 9:30 a.m. at Roswell Park, located at the corner of Elm and Carlton streets.  A pep rally at 9:50 a.m. in Hohn Auditorium will kick off the event, followed by opening remarks by Norma Nowak, PhD, executive director of UB’s New York State Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics and Life Sciences (CBLS).

At 10:20 a.m. students will divide into groups to visit the CBLS, 701 Ellicott St., where 50 graduate students and postdoctoral associates from UB and RPCI will lead students through a series of hands-on activities to promote genomic and bioinformatics literacy.

Students will:

• Extract their DNA and take it home in a necklace
• Complete a karyotyping activity to identify a disease by observing chromosomal differences.
• Create and take home an origami model (to promote understanding of DNA structure).
• Identify genetic mutations by interpreting sequences from healthy and tumor cells.

News media are invited to attend any part of the event.

In addition to Nowak, guest speakers will include UB Provost Charles F. Zukoski, PhD; State University of New York Trustee Eunice Lewin; Buffalo Public Schools Superintendent Kriner Cash, EdD; and Roswell Park Cancer Institute Chief Academic Officer Richard Hershberger, PhD, MBA.

Genome Day is a partnership of UB’s CBLS; UB’s Genome, the Environment and the Microbiome (GEM) Community of Excellence; the State University of New York; and Roswell Park; with the City of Buffalo and Buffalo Public Schools.