BioVoyage Institute, Inc

BioVoyage works with schools (private, home, charter, etc), school districts, State Departments of Education, communities, and foundations to support the creation, development and implementation of biotechnology standards-based curriculum, instruction, and assessment.

BioVoyage assignments primarily consist of biotechnology curriculum development; training of teachers; establishing of laboratories; workshops; support for on-site implementation; development and dissemination of products, materials and information; research and development; and program evaluation.

Summary of Goals

Within five (5) years:

¨ To educate 25,000 teacher-leaders (especially kindergarten, elementary, middle school and high school) and 500,000 students through education, hands-on workshops that introduce labs and teacher-tested activities to bring biotechnology into the classroom.

¨ To increase the number of K-12 school students pursuing biotechnology studies through education, exposure to laboratory experiments, and to link schools and students with biotechnology industry mentors.

¨ To raise general public awareness, understanding, and appreciation of biotechnology through an interactive Web site that provides reliable information and perspectives on biotechnology.

¨ Host educational forums that focus on timely biotechnology topics for key government officials, policy leaders, members of the academic community, industry representatives and the press.

Accomplishments

BioVoyage has received considerable funding and support worldwide. Collaborative research on the Medical Probe and diagnostic devices were conducted in institutions throughout the U.S. and Canada. Researchers include Joshua Ken Davidberg, PhD, primary researcher and Clifford Librach, MD, FRCS, a specialist in reproductive endocrinology and infertility at the University of Toronto. Dr. Librach helped to design the vaginal wand adapter of the Medical Probe. Other collaborators include: Kunal Mitra, PhD, Director of the Laser, Optics, and Instrumentation Laboratory, Florida Institute of Technology; Ron Waynant, MD, PhD, Johns Hopkins University and the Food and Drug Administration; (Most of the testing was done at the FDA's facilities); and Charles Lambert, MD, PhD, Health First Heart Institute.

Other grants and support include:

¨ Collaborative research support from the Universities of Toronto and Florence;

¨ Collaborative curriculum support with the Universities of Wisconsin & Iowa;

¨ A $10,000 Industrial Research Assistance Program grant from the Canadian government;

¨ $2,500,000 equipment funding from Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health and Property Utilization Section;

¨ Collaborative curriculum support and training with University of Florida

¨ Collaborative curriculum support and training Utah State University;

¨ In‑kind support from the University of Florence (more than $200,000);

¨ Prototype development and testing of the Medical Probe by GE Medical, Toronto;

¨ New business startup support from Grant Thornton, a major accounting firm.

With remarkable success, our innovative and challenging educational program was implemented at The Joseph Little~Nguzo Saba Charter School. We successfully made presentations to Palm Beach County School Board; Broward County School Board; Miami Dade County School Board, various schools in the Bahamas and the Bahamian Government. Likewise, we made presentations to schools in Jamaica and the Jamaican Government; also in Canada and other countries.

In 2006, we developed and implemented a bioscience summer program, which was highly successful. The GPA of the students taking part jumped from 'F' to 'C' in less than 90 days.

BioVoyage promises to contribute to the economic development of Florida and nationally through education, the development of a biotechnology research institution and the creation of professionals, educators, skilled, and unskilled jobs. The organization has received various letters of support. These are old. We are getting new letters