The Educational Core is committed to advancing education in innate immunity from the earliest stages of learning to the the most advanced. The Core offers a local public school science lab in immunology to engage elementary, middle school, and high school students in topics of immunology, infection, and immune regulation in daily life and disease. The core also offers a high school student Summer Research Internship Program in CIIID member labs.

At UW Medicine, training the next generation of researchers and physicians is a central part of our mission. Through the CIIID’s educational outreach core, we intend to make innate immunity-related education — still a new field —visible and vital to students, trainees, the University community and the public.

Our aims are to:

• Establish an endowed fellowship program. Fellowships allow trainees with M.D.s and Ph.D.s to receive further training in innate immunity and immune disease. The CIIID would like to start a fellowship program to promote novel research projects, and produce a cadre of immune-system experts who will advance our understanding of innate immunity and immune disease.
• Enrich the curriculum for M.D. and Ph.D. students. Immunology is, of course, part of the standard curriculum at the UW School of Medicine. However, as our knowledge of innate immunity grows, the CIIID is working with UW School of Medicine administrators to update and expand the curriculum.
• Provide special projects for high-school students. The CIIID has sponsored high-school students for a hands-on research experience over the summer, with the hope that will pique their interest in pursuing medicine. The education outreach core places three or more high school students in member labs for summer research internships.
• Nurture curiosity in Seattle-area schools.  Interest in science starts at a young age, and researchers at the CIIID are visiting Seattle-area schools to nurture students’ curiosity and their potential interest in a scientific career. In addition, the education outreach core of CIIID is running a lab-visit program for area high-school science classes. Students visit UW Medicine and observe CIIID research teams in action through an interactive one-day visit. With additional support, the CIIID intends to expand this program.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

The Education Outreach Core provides science engagement to the Seattle community.