UMNews
UM, Miami Museum of Science collaborate on research project
The University of Miami will be awarded a $1.3 million grant to fund Heart Smart, a collaborative project with the Miami Museum of Science & Planetarium. The Science Education Partnership Award supports the development of a hands-on traveling exhibit.
Granted by the National Center for Research Resources, the award will bring UM and the Museum of Science together in conducting scientific research.
Heart Smart will highlight the distribution of cardiovascular risk factors across Miami-Dade County’s diverse population and share the importance of controlling that risk.
The university and the museum are also set to conduct a health education study that will assess the effectiveness of a museum-based curriculum on student knowledge.
“This project accomplishes two important missions: to educate the community about cardiovascular disease and to collect data to further study the disease, its manifestations and associated risk factors,” Patrice Saab, associate professor of psychology at UM and project co-planner, said in a press release. “Museum patrons represent a richly diverse demographic that is not easy to obtain by more traditional research approaches.”