network representation

SLI Events

COVID-19 Vaccine Education Series

2021-22 Series

SLI and the STEM Division co-hosted a vaccine education workshop at District Opening Day on Thurday, 9/16/21. Dr. Sara Cooper and Dr. Rebecca Ryan (both faculty at Foothill College) both presented and then answered questions from the attendees. 

Link for Recording

Link for Dr. Rebecca Ryan's slides from Opening Day presentation

Spring 2021

The Science Learning Institute and STEM Division hosted a four-part education series focused on the COVID-19 vaccine in spring 2021.

We used this educational space to allow for the sharing of questions, concerns, and uncertainties about the virus and the vaccine.

Links for recordings are all posted below. Please share!

Talk Format

Each session involved a presentation by the main speaker for about 30 minutes, followed by questions and answers moderated by Ram Subramaniam and Sophia Kim.

Here is a copy of the flyer that was used for outreach.

Session Recordings

Select a topic to watch a recording of the talk.

The Biology of COVID-19: The Virus and the Vaccines

Monday, April 19, 2021, 4 - 5pm

with Dr. Sara Cooper, Biology Instructor, Foothill College

COVID-19 has changed the world we live in.  Vaccines will help us change it back.  Join us as we explore how a tiny virus wreaks such havoc and the biology behind the vaccines that can protect us from it.  Ample time will be provided to address your questions and concerns about COVID-19 and the vaccines. 

Sara CooperSara Cooper has been a microbiology instructor at Foothill College since 2014.  She earned her Ph.D. in Cellular and Molecular Biology from Stanford University and did her undergraduate studies in Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology at the University of Colorado, Boulder.   

Link for RecordingLink for PDF of Presentation Slides

Public Health Context of COVID-19

Monday, April 26, 2021, 4 - 5pm

with Dr. Rebecca Ryan, Health Instructor, Foothill College

The COVID-19 pandemic has pushed both public health and medicine to take quick and drastic measures to ensure that human lives are protected. In doing so, efforts to ensure vaccine safety and efficacy may seem startling to those to hear about pauses in vaccines. Join us as we discuss the latest in the Johnson & Johnson/Janssen vaccine pause and how vaccine hesitancy can be overcome by looking at historical and social justice issues that affect vaccine uptake.


Rebecca RyanRebecca Ryan has been in public health and education since 2006. She earned her Ph.D. in Health Behavior and Human Sexuality from Indiana University, MPH from San Jose State University, and a BA from California State University, Sacramento. 

Link for Recording

Link for PDF of Presentation Slides

Link for recording with closed captioning

Debunking Vaccine Myths

Monday, May 3, 2021, 4 - 5pm

with Dr. Peter Hotez, Baylor College of Medicine

Peter HotezPeter J. Hotez, M.D., Ph.D. is Dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine and Professor of Pediatrics and Molecular Virology & Microbiology at Baylor College of Medicine where he is also the Co-director of the Texas Children’s Center for Vaccine Development (CVD) and Texas Children’s Hospital Endowed Chair of Tropical PediatricsHe is also University Professor at Baylor University, Fellow in Disease and Poverty at the James A Baker III Institute for Public Policy,  Senior Fellow at the Scowcroft Institute of International Affairs at Texas A&M University, Faculty Fellow with the Hagler Institute for Advanced Studies at Texas A&M University, and Health Policy Scholar in the Baylor Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy.

Dr. Hotez has authored more than 500 original papers and is the author of four single-author books, including Forgotten People, Forgotten Diseases (ASM Press); Blue Marble Health: An Innovative Plan to Fight Diseases of the Poor amid Wealth (Johns Hopkins University Press); Vaccines Did Not Cause Rachel’s Autism (Johns Hopkins University Press); and a forthcoming 2020 book on vaccine diplomacy in an age of war, political collapse, climate change and antiscience (Johns Hopkins University Press).

Dr. Hotez on The Daily Show with Trevor Noah

Link for Recording

Encouraging COVID-19 Vaccination through a Culturally Competent, Evidence-Based Approach

Monday, May 10, 2021, 4 - 5pm

with Dr. Elsa Villarino, Assistant Public Health Officer, Santa Clara County Department of Public Health

Dr. Elsa Villarino is the County of Santa Clara Public Health Department’s Tuberculosis Controller and is an Assistant Health Officer for the Department. She serves in the Infectious Disease & Response Branch, leading efforts to investigate tuberculosis cases and outbreaks, to stop their spread, and to prevent disease spread in the community. Dr. Villarino also serves as Director of the Special Investigations Branch for COVID-19 Response, facilitating the development of Infection Prevention and Control for COVID-19 in healthcare facilities (HCFs). As Director, she oversees implementation of measures in HCFs to prevent the spread of COVID-19, including working with the stakeholders at these hospitals and long-term care facilities to support infection control. Prior to joining the County, she was a Medical Epidemiologist with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the Division of Tuberculosis Elimination where she was the lead of the TB Clinical Trials Consortium (TBTC). While at CDC, Dr. Villarino also worked in the National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases (NCEZID) Division of Global Migration and Quarantine (DGMQ), as the Country Office Director for Mexico, and the Liaison for Ministry of Health in Mexico from 2013 to 2019. Dr. Villarino earned her MD at Autonomous University of Baja California and received a Master of Public Health from the San Diego State University Graduate School of Public Health. She is a member of the American Board of Preventive Medicine.

Link for Recording

For Further Reading

If you cannot attend any of these events, we will provide links to the recordings, and here are some suggested readings from Foothill College faculty: 

Science-Based Resources on COVID-19 Vaccine

Easy-to-Read Articles about COVID-19 and Vaccines

Santa Clara County Information

Booster information

Santa Clara County Dashboard

Santa Clara County Raw Data

Other Media

Get Vaccinated!

Links to county-specific information provided about vaccination sites through health care providers and other venues such as pharmacies. Information about transportation is also available on these sites.

The federal government is providing the vaccine free of charge to all people living in the United States, regardless of their immigration or health insurance status. To understand this better, you can go to this CDC webpage and skip to "Cost of Vaccines."

Not sure where to get your vaccine? Visit any of these sites:

Below is a list of some of the regional county health departments with more information about COVID-19 vaccines:

If you have questions, comments, or feedback, please email SLI Director, Sophia Kim.

STEM Resources & Opportunities

Sign up to receive emails about internships, scholarships, conferences, and other opportunities for students in STEM.

Sign up for Emails

Sophia headshot

Questions?
I'm Here to Help!

Sophia Kim, SLI Director

650.949.7455


kimsophia@fhda.edu


Bldg 4400, Office 4408

Top