Join Main Course PHL as we release our Video Game and Education Edition featuring Philadelphia’s very own Jason Richardson, CEO of J1-Studios and the Founder of J1-Con, North America’s longest running, black owned anime convention! Take a trip back in time to our 2014 Edition for our first encounter with J. Rich as we explore the challenges of building his brand, the local gaming landscape and more.

The Video Game Industry is valued at close to 100 Billion dollars, and we want a piece of the pie. This Edition, Main Course PHL serves our readership local video game developers, esports organizers, trading card game stores, education tech and more as provide ways to use what we have, to get to where we want to be. We believe there is a relationship between the lessons learned in our hobbies (video games) and what we learn in the classroom. Can we bridge the gap to strengthen student retention?

This edition will feature:

• Teachers &
• Metro Esports
• The Laboratory
• Nucleus Esports
• Vizmoo
• Who Run Philly 2K
• Philadelphia Gaming Initiative
• Nerd Street
• Phenomenal Games and many more

Main Course PHL’s Video Game and Education Edition drops Summer 2023. Pre purchases of both our digital and print copies are available.

CRISPR Classroom:

CRISPR is a genetic biotechnology that allows scientists to rewrite DNA, offering hope for a new wave of strategies to cure diseases, solve food-shortage crises, and even help mitigate climate change. CRISPR Classroom, the education technology extension of the company, works to ensure students, and people in general, have access to learn about gene editing and associated biotechnologies. CRISPR Classroom develops turnkey biotechnology content for educators, aligned with Next Generation Science Standards, to promote critical thinking, communication, and collaboration in high school and college students. Additionally, by connecting learners with real scientists and biotechnology professionals through their Meet a Scientist program, they humanize the science industry in a way that supports connected engagement. To learn how you can bring CRISPR Classroom programs and scientists to your students, email them at hello@crisprclassroom.org or visit www.crisprclassroom.org.

Kristina Tatiossian, PhD:

Dr. Kristina Tatiossian, PhD, is a professional CRISPR scientist and founder of CRISPR Classroom. Using her company, Dr. Tatiossian discusses gene editing, how CRISPR works, as well as its application in the fields of medicine, agriculture, and sustainable energy production. Dr. Tatiossian founded CRISPR Classroom with a dream to improve science literacy and education in our country. Having received her B.S. in Entomology from UC Davis (Davis, CA) and her PhD in Medical Biology from the University of Southern California (Los Angeles, CA), she has made a career out of deeply understanding the magical biological world around and within us. Dr. Tatiossian believes that science education, when told through stories, has the potential to acutely impact the passions and career trajectories of blooming minds. You can find Dr. Tatiossian, on LinkedIn –  https://www.linkedin.com/in/tatiossian/ – where she invites all interested in her journey to connect and say hello.

About OnRamp:

The OnRamp Series at the University City Science Center is a free and inclusive program for first-time business founders to acquire foundational knowledge and take their venture to the next level. To learn more, please visit www.venturecafephiladelphia.org.

According to researchers, a middle aged mixed woman is the third person to be cured of H.I.V. The patient underwent a new blood transfusion procedure using umbilical cord blood or more specifically, stem cells. Scientists were able to treat her acute myeloid leukemia – a cancer that starts in blood-forming cells in the bone marrow along with building the patient an HIV-resistant immune system. This occurred because the cord blood used contained an HIV-resistant mutation. With this, the patient was able to enter remission for 14 months.

“She was part of a study that began in 2015 designed to monitor outcomes of 25 people with HIV in the U.S. who underwent a transplant, according to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.” – abcnews

Instead of the normal bone marrow transplant, doctors used the procedure known as a haplo-cord transplant, giving her cord blood from a partially matched donor. A relative provided her with additional blood to boost her immune system. Adult stem cells were then used to 

The first two people to be cured of H.I.V. are adult males, one male and the other latino, who received bone marrow transplants using adult stem cells.

According to www.hiv.gov

• Approximately 1.2 million people in the U.S. have HIV. About 13 percent of them don’t know it and need testing.
• HIV continues to have a disproportionate impact on certain populations, particularly racial and ethnic minorities and gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men.
• In 2019, an estimated 34,800 new HIV infections occurred in the United States

HIV in Philadelphia

Philadelphia was 1 of 48 counties in the United States selected to receive federal funding in 2019 to combat the HIV epidemic under the Ending the HIV Epidemic: A Plan for America (EHE) initiative. The plan’s overall goal is a 75% reduction in new HIV diagnoses by 2025 and a 90% reduction in new HIV diagnoses by 2030. Through this initiative, PDPH aims to reach these goals by focusing efforts on 5 Key Pillars: Diagnosis, Treatment, Prevention, Response, and an added pillar for an overarching approach based in health equity and radical customer service. Click here for more information.