   |
|
  
Boston University: DetailsSuperfund Basic Research ProgramResearch Translation CoreProject Leader: David M. Ozonoff Progress ReportsYear: 2007 2006 2005The Boston University Superfund Basic Research Program (BU SBRP) is developing mechanisms to create partnerships with government agencies; identify and transfer technology developed in the BU SBRP to appropriate stakeholders, including researchers at other institutions; and communicate research methods and findings to a range of audiences, including other researchers. The Research Translation Core works closely with the Community Outreach Core toward these goals of Open Science, technology transfer, and the communication of research. In order to disseminate the Research Translation Core's methods and products to diverse audiences, Core researchers have been using a range of web-based tools. Their public website ( www.busbrp.org ) has resources available for both communities and researchers, including three new databases developed by the Bioinformatics Core. An RSS feed from the public website distributes newly posted web material to subscribers. A new section of the website, "Ask the Researcher", provides a way for viewers-from scientists in other disciplines to people from communities concerned about pollution to the general public-to ask questions of BU SBRP researchers. Ask the Researcher features a different scientist every two to three months. Questions are solicited from the public through partnering organizations, and the researchers' responses are posted on the site. Archives of the past online interviews will remain available. Over the past year, the researcher's efforts to make their research methods and products available through Open Science have included providing Open Source code for models and programs developed through BU SBRP Projects. The code and synthetic data from Tom Webster's analysis of patterns of breast cancer on Cape Cod are available on the BU SBRP public website for others wanting to develop disease maps. Working with Ann Aschengrau, graduate student Lisa Gallagher has been working on a static hydraulic model of local water distribution systems on Cape Cod. This model, which the researchers use for exposure assessment, is based on Open Source code for standard EPA software (EPANet). Open Source code has also been used in conjunction with the Outreach Core in the development of the contact database that community groups will be able to use to access professionals' expertise. Another joint Research Translation/Outreach project is the "Boston Consensus Conference on Biomonitoring." Consensus conferences provide a mechanism through which the public can be directly involved in science and technology policy and decision-making. In the Boston Consensus Conference on Biomonitoring, Core researchers recruited a panel of 15 lay people to learn about human biomonitoringthe growing practice of measuring chemicals in people's bodies, ranging from lead to alcohol to pesticide residues. Over two weekends, the panel considered technical, policy, ethical, and socials issues. Their deliberations culminated in a three-day conference open to the public where a variety of experts in the field of biomonitoring answered questions from the lay panel, and the lay panel presented their findings and final recommendations.  |
|
   |
|
|