Stowers Institute Stem Seminar hosts youth
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - Kausik Si is hoping to pass on his knowledge to the next generation. The Stowers Institute Scientific Director hosted a STEM seminar on Saturday at Union Station aimed at educating and inspiring youth to pursue science in the future.
“Even if I can excite one kid to think about science and think about pursuing science in the future,” Si said, “I think there will be nothing more I can accomplish.”
Over 100 kids participated in an event Saturday morning inside the theatre at Union Station. There, they listened to Dr. Si explain how the brain creates memories.
“At 9 o’clock, to see some 10-year-old got up to listen to what I do, what can be more rewarding than that?” Si said.
A large portion of the children in attendance were part of the group High Aspirations, a mentorship program for young Black men.
“The main thing we’ve done is the College Basketball Experience,” said Jacob Handy, the program director of High Aspirations. “We do all kinds of fun things, but we also want to make sure that we’re cultivating a holistic young man as well. I love the fact that our kids were asking questions. That was super awesome, even the younger ones.”
Dr. Si has participated in ground-breaking research at the Stowers Institute. Specifically, working in the area of memories and why human brains hold on to some things but not others. That research is done with the goal of assisting in the progress of treatment for those who have Alzheimer’s or Dementia.
“The brain is actually continuously reconstructing,” Si said. “Sometimes it holds onto some basic facts.”
Si is actively working on treatments for these diseases and said regardless of whether he solves the issues he remains optimistic in the next generation to do so.
“Even if we do not find any treatment from the knowledge that we have, my hope is that they will learn this, they will carry it farther, and they will be able to find something that will provide hope for the next generation.”
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