We in Chapel Hill are blessed with the finest medical and research facilities in the nation.  The University of North Carolina, Duke and North Carolina State University are magnets attracting governmental agencies and private institutions that pour millions of dollars into the economy and create high paying jobs. And we have two Nobel Prize winners in our midst.

You, too, can be a participant in the advancement of science. How, you might ask? Public and private institutions are crying for students and  citizens from ages 18 to 80 to participate in paid clinical studies, focus groups, drug trials, cognitive testing, sensory studies and environmental research.

I personally have participated in a couple of these studies—one at the UNC Psychology Department on short and long term memory, and another at the Environmental Protection Agency to investigate the relationship between air pollution, smoking and lung capacity. It was an eye-opening experience.

So how can you find out about these research studies? Our local universities and public institutions have websites announcing opportunities. Flyers are posted at the Seymour Senior Center and other places.  Advertisement also appear in the local newspapers. No, you don’t have to be a Nobel Prize winner to help in the advancement of science and medicine. Be a research volunteer—not just a so-called guinea pig. It can be a rewarding experience.

— Walt Mack

 

Have a comment or opinion you would like to share? Submit your commentary or column for the Commentators, on WCHL 97.9FM and Chapelboro.com.

Related Stories
‹
Europe Launches a Drive To Attract Scientists and Researchers After Trump Freezes US Funding
The European Union launched a drive to attract American scientists and researchers to Europe with offers of grants and new policy plans.
When RFK Jr. Was Presented With the Science on Vaccines He Said He Needed To See, He Dismissed It
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. spent insisted to senators that he’s not anti-vaccine. But he repeatedly refused to acknowledge scientific consensus.
AI Is Having Its Nobel Moment. Do Scientists Need the Tech Industry To Sustain It?
The tech industry has now made it easier for AI scientists to pursue their ideas even as it has challenged them with new ethical questions.
Astronauts Answer CHCCS Students Questions From Space to Help Promote STEM
Some Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools students taped questions and heard live responses from the International Space Station on Wednesday.
Fight To Curb Food Waste Increasingly Turns to Science
Written by DEE-ANN DURBIN Hate mealy apples and soggy french fries? Science can help. Restaurants, grocers, farmers and food companies are increasingly turning to chemistry and physics to tackle the problem of food waste. Some are testing spray-on peels or chemically-enhanced sachets that can slow the ripening process in fruit. Others are developing digital sensors […]
Nobel Win for Swede Who Unlocked Secrets of Neanderthal DNA
Written by DAVID KEYTON, FRANK JORDANS and LAURA UNGAR Swedish scientist Svante Paabo won the Nobel Prize in medicine Monday for his discoveries on human evolution that provided key insights into our immune system and what makes us unique compared with our extinct cousins, the award’s panel said. Paabo spearheaded the development of new techniques […]
Darwin in a Lab: Coral Evolution Tweaked for Global Warming
Written by CALEB JONES On a moonless summer night in Hawaii, krill, fish and crabs swirl through a beam of light as two researchers peer into the water above a vibrant reef. Minutes later, like clockwork, they see eggs and sperm from spawning coral drifting past their boat. They scoop up the fishy-smelling blobs and […]
Scientists Hail Golden Age to Trace Bird Migration With Tech
Written by CHRISTINA LARSON A plump robin wearing a tiny metal backpack with an antenna hops around a suburban yard in Takoma Park, then plucks a cicada from the ground for a snack. Ecologist Emily Williams watches through binoculars from behind a bush. On this clear spring day, she’s snooping on his dating life. “Now I’m […]
Newer Methods May Boost Gene Therapy’s Use for More Diseases
Written by MARILYNN MARCHIONE Jordan Janz knew his gamble on an experimental gene therapy for his rare disease might be paying off when he returned to work and a friend sniffed him. “He said, ‘you have a normal smell, you smell good,’” Janz recalled. “And I’m like, ‘that’s probably the nicest thing you’ve ever said.’” The […]
New White House Panel Aims To Separate Science, Politics
Written by SETH BORENSTEIN Eager to the turn the page on the Trump years, the Biden White House is launching an effort to unearth past problems with the politicization of science within government and to tighten scientific integrity rules for the future. A new 46-person federal scientific integrity task force with members from more than two dozen government […]
›