Funding for CityLab

The National Institutes of Health

The National Institutes of Health (NIH), a part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is the nation’s medical research agency- making important discoveries that improve health and save lives. The National Institutes of Health is made up of 27 different components called Institutes and Centers.

The National Institutes of Health SEPA Program

The Science Education Partnership Award (SEPA) Program supports educational activities, including interactive digital media resources, which complement or enhance workforce training to meet the nation’s biomedical, behavioral, and clinical research needs.

SEPA promotes interactive partnerships between biomedical and clinical researchers and pre-kindergarten to grade 12 (P-12) pre-service and in-service teachers, schools, and other interested organizations. The program provides opportunities for students from underserved communities to consider careers in basic or clinical research; provides teachers with professional development in science content and teaching skills; and improves community health literacy through SEPA-funded science centers and museum exhibits on health and medicine.

Educational resources including classroom curricula, mobile laboratories, science center and museum exhibits, workshops, films, software, and websites that provide P-12 students, teachers, and the general public a better understanding of life sciences are also supported.  A dedicated SEPA website provides access to the educational materials and expertise produced through these efforts.