Overview
Arkansas Technology and Data Science in Health & Medicine (AR Tech DaSH) is a STEM focused outreach program for high school students, teachers and the community sponsored by faculty at UAMS. The program incorporates imaging technologies and a data science curriculum focused on health and medicine in classroom outreach, a ten-day summer day camp, community outreach events hosted by the high school participants serving as STEM ambassadors, and virtual outreach to students and teachers across the state. The goal is to serve as a model for attracting students towards STEM and data science careers to ensure that the future workforce in these fields better reflects the diverse population in the US.
AR Tech DaSH was awarded a five year, $1.29 million dollar R25 grant from the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases as part of the Science Education Partnership Award (SEPA) program on May 2, 2024. https://nihsepa.org/project/ar-tech-dash-arkansas-technology-and-data-science-in-health-and-medicine/
Announcement of our grant at UAMS: https://news.uams.edu/2024/07/08/uams-gets-1-3-million-grant-for-high-school-focused-tech-and-data-science-exposure-program-in-nwa/
This project is funded by an R25 Science Education Partnership Award (SEPA) award from the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), National Institutes of Health (NIH). Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the NIAID or NIH.
Who We Are
Program Staff
- Kevin D. Phelan, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Neuroscience, UAMS (Program Director AR Tech DaSH)
- Paul D. Drew, Ph.D., Professor and Chair, Department of Neuroscience, UAMS
- Brian Gittens, Ed. D. MPA, Director, UAMS Academic Pathways and Workforce Partnerships
- Sandra Perez, B.A., Education Outreach Program Coordinator, AR Tech DaSH, UAMS
- Samantha Robinson, Ph.D., Associate Professor, University of Arkansas Fayetteville.
Program Evaluators
- Jessica Presley, Senior Director of Evaluation, UAMS Institute for Community Health Innovation
- Luis Marin, Ph.D., Evaluation Specialist, UAMS Institute for Community Health Innovation
External Advisory Committee
- Nancy Moreno, Ph.D., Professor and Chair, Huffington Department of Education, Innovation & Technology, Baylor College of Medicine
- David Ussery, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Biomedical Informatics, UAMS
- Diana Gonzalez Worthen, Ph.D., Director, Project Reach, University of Arkansas Fayetteville
- Jacob Morris, CTE Department Chair, Rogers Heritage High School, Rogers School District, Arkansas
- Angela Braggs, Computer Science Teacher, Southwest High School, Little Rock, Arkansas
AR Tech DaSH Camp
Our program annually hosts a two-week summer day camp AR Tech DaSH Camp for rising 10th grade students from Washington and Benton counties in Northwest Arkansas. The camp is designed for students interested in learning about STEM and data science as it relates to health and medicine.
The next camp is scheduled for June 2 through June 13. The camp is limited to 25 rising 10th grade students each year. The online application is now live and posted at the bottom of this page.
The first week of camp is focused on providing students with hands on activities including: medical related skills, anatomical basis of disease, clinician-patient simulations, and research on various diseases. Students will learn how to use stethoscopes, blood pressure devices, hand-held ultrasound devices, suturing, taking a patient history, and learn about EEG, EMG, and EKG. Students will dissect pig hearts, inspect plastinated human cadaveric specimens and embalmed human brains and learn about computerized tomography (CT) imaging. Medical students will serve as mentors during the first week.
The second week of camp is focused on providing students with an introduction to data science and data analytics using large data sets. Students will learn how infographics are used to inform the public about relevant disease information, explore population based disease statistics, use software to examine summary statistics for large data sets, use the graphical user interface software program Orange for data exploration, summary stats, and visualization of large data sets, and use Orange to learn about machine learning. Undergraduate UA Fayetteville students will serve as mentors during the second week.
STEM Ambassador Program
Students who complete the AR Tech DaSH camp will be designated as community STEM Ambassadors and will be expected to participate in limited community outreach activities during off school hours during the next academic year. Program staff will also provide a short series of college preparation sessions for the STEM Ambassadors. Students will attend camp and are designated as STEM Ambassadors will be paid for their participation in the program.
The 2025 STEM Ambassador cohort includes: Abhinav Rajesh, Aidan Loring, Andrea Richards, Ann Feutcha, Brooklyn Legg, Charlotte Broshears, Connor Janusz, Divija Kilaru, Eliana Martinez, Erica Cepeda, Gavin Horton, Jack Duvall, Josephine Mitzner, Kaelyn Ruiz, Katherine Jerez, Katherine Scoggin, Leslie Reyes, Marley Holmes, Matthew Poland, Olivia Hummel, Prashita Rambha, Spencer Schaaf, Srivykunth Rubesh, and Spencer Purcell.
Our first cohort of STEM Ambassadors (2024-2025) are participating in a college readiness series of sessions as part of the AR Tech DaSH program. The first session asked them to interview someone who had recently graduated from college (less than six years ago) or is currently in college. They were asked to think of five questions that they thought would be helpful in knowing the answers to as they prepare to explore college. Read their questions and the answers.
Community Outreach
The AR Tech DaSH staff and STEM Ambassadors have been busy conducting many community outreach and classroom outreach events in Northwest Arkansas. This includes the following events:
- Medical Applications of Science for Health (MASH) camp at Mercy Hospital (7/9/24 and 7/17/24)
- Springdale Police 2024 “National Night out” (8/6/24)
- Northwest Arkansas Community Showcase – Rogers (9/14/24)
- ArkanSalsa sponsored by One Community – Springdale (9/28/24)
- Fayetteville Montessori – PreK STEM outreach (10/22/24)
- Health Occupations Students of America (HOSA) – Eureka Springs – UAMS campus tour (10/23/24)
- Rollins Elementary – Halloween/STEM night for K-6 (10/25/24)
- Health Occupations Students of America (HOSA) – Fayetteville High School (11/8/24)
- Find Your Future in Healthcare 2024 (UAMS Regional programs) (11/13/24)
Virtual Classroom Outreach Opportunities
The AR Tech DaSH program can host virtual STEM outreach events via Zoom for any classroom across the state. For more information, teachers can contact us directly at artechdash@yahoo.com.
AR Tech DaSH 2025 Camp Application Form
Submit the online application below to be considered for acceptance into the free AR Tech DaSH 2025 camp. Spots are limited to 25 high school students from NW Arkansas. Students must currently be in 9th grade (rising 10th grade students in the summer). There are no specific course requirements for attendance at camp. We are looking for highly motivated students! An electronic letter of support from a current high school teacher or counselor is required (one letter only). This letter can be emailed to Dr. Phelan at artechdash@yahoo.com. We will be surveying students during the program so parents must complete and sign a consent form allowing us to do so. See other requirements listed at the end of the application form.