KANNAPOLIS — Science lovers of all ages are invited to celebrate nutrition and science in April at the N.C. Research Campus in Kannapolis.
The campus is offering several free events featuring everything from personalized nutrition to STEM (science, technology, engineering and math).
As part of the N.C. Science Festival, Rowan-Cabarrus Community College is sponsoring a STEM Open House at the college’s training center on the Research Campus.
The UNC Chapel Hill Nutrition Research Institute will host its annual Appetite for Life Academy Frontiers in Nutrition series. And the campus’ Catalyst Group presents their Third Annual Research Symposium.
All of the events are free and open to the public. 
• Third Annual Catalyst Research Symposium
From 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. April 15 in the David H. Murdock Core Laboratory Building event room, located at 150 Research Campus Drive, learn about advances in personalized nutrition from UNC Chapel Hill Nutrition Research Institute scientists:
Dr. Natalia Krupenko, who investigates the nutrient folate and how disruptions in folate metabolism lead to the development of disease.
Dr. Sergey Krupenko, who researches folate and its connection to cancer.
Dr. Saroja Voruganti, who studies how genetic and environmental factors influence hyperuricemia (gout) and diseases such as diabetes.
The symposium keynote speaker is Dr. Ana S. Iltis, director of the Center for Bioethics, Health and Society at Wake Forest University. Iltis has a background in health care and research ethics. She serves on National Institutes of Health data safety monitoring boards, publishes regularly on bioethics and serves in editorial positions for bioethics journals. Undergraduate and graduate students as well as post-doctoral fellows will present their research.
The N.C. Research Campus’ Catalyst Group, a professional development association for post-doctoral students, is organizing the event. The symposium is sponsored by the NC Biotechnology Center.
The symposium is free. Registration is required and closes April 8. Visit www.ncresearchcampus.net for more information or to register.
• Rowan-Cabarrus Community College STEM Open House
The annual N.C. Science Festival runs through April 13. As part of the statewide festivities, RCCC on the N.C. Research Campus is hosting its Third Annual STEM open house with 40 family-friendly and free interactive demonstrations.
• UNC Chapel Hill Nutrition Research Institute’s Frontiers in Nutrition
Free, public seminars will be held at 7 p.m. April 1, 8 and 22 in the Core Laboratory Building event room. Webcasts are available. Register and get more information at www.uncnri.org.
The N.C. Research Campus in Kannapolis is a 350-acre research center. Partnering corporations, universities and healthcare organizations apply some of the most advanced instrumentation in the world to explore the interplay between genetics, nutrition, environmental factors and lifestyle choices and to generate new approaches to the prevention and treatment of diseases like cancer, obesity, diabetes and heart disease. For more information, visit www.ncresearchcampus.net.