Keynote speaker discusses stroke trial and health literacy
More than 1,500 community members attended the 2024 Viva Science SA event Saturday, April 20, at the Witte Museum. The free, family-friendly event drew people of all ages who enjoyed a day of scientific education and fun by gazing into microscopes, learning about different science disciplines and partaking in interactive and hands-on science experiments. Kids also had an opportunity to visit a petting zoo and play fun games.
With 45 booths representing a wide array of local institutions and 87 research posters representing middle schools, high schools, undergraduates and professionals, attendees’ eyes lit up with wonder as they visited science-themed tables featuring kid-friendly chemistry experiments, a robotics demonstration, 3-D printed brain molds, slides of microbes, fungi and bacteria and much more.
At the table representing the Brain Bank at the Glenn Biggs Institute for Alzheimer’s and Neurodegenerative Diseases, visitors could view slides of neurons and tissue and look at a model of the brain.
As Harvey Jaafar looked through a microscope at the Brain Bank table, he was filled with wonder. His mother, Afaf Saliba Jaafar, a UT Health San Antonio Integrated Biomedical Sciences program graduate student who will receive her PhD in May, was happy to bring her children to the event that showcased the importance of science.
“It’s important that kids start learning science at a very young age and understand that it’s for a good purpose,” Jaafar said. “Science is fun. It enhances intellectual capabilities and widens opportunities for future careers, growth and for exploring the world, making it a better place.”
Visitors at the UT Health San Antonio Medical Laboratory Sciences table had the opportunity to look through microscopes and learn about bacteria and fungi.
