2019 Summer Internship Program
The 2019 Summer Internship Program which wrapped up in August was another rousing success at the J. Craig Venter Institute. Faculty and staff in both the Rockville (MD) and La Jolla (CA) campuses mentored and trained 25 students (high school, undergraduate, and graduate students) from across the country in cutting-edge technologies related to the biomedical field. High school students participated in the internship for 8-weeks and undergraduate and graduate students took part in a 12-week program.
Students gained valuable, hands-on experience and contributed to the ongoing research in the areas of genomic medicine, synthetic biology, infectious diseases, human and environmental microbiome, and bioinformatics. The program also included focused seminars presented by JCVI scientists to engage students on current state-of-the art research, technologies and methodologies. Also incorporated into the program were student-led, researcher-guided journal clubs to encourage analysis, critical thinking and scientific communication between peers. Professional development workshops including career panels, networking opportunities and resume building classes were integrated into the program to prepare students for future careers in the biomedical sciences.
The Summer Internship Program culminated with students presenting their research accomplishments at the annual poster presentation to the organizations’ faculty and staff. Since the poster presentation was a judged event, emphasis on abstract and poster development was provided at various stages of the program to help students improve their communication and analytical skills. Some of the topics that were presentedinclude:
- Using Human Microbial Data to Predict Geographical Location
- Developing methods for the identification and quantification of diatom host Cylindrotheca sp. and a novel virus for use in transcriptomics studies of host-pathogen ecological dynamics
- C-Reactive Protein as a Marker for Oral-Systemic Inflammation
- Optimization of Sequencing the Human Gut Microbiome: Approaching Personalized Probiotics
- Systematic Plasmid Assembly and Strain Construction toward a Genome-Wide CRISPR-Interference Library for Characterizing Gene Function in a Minimal Cell
- Network Analysis to Identify Key Proteins and Pathways Targeted During Herpesvirus Infection
The JCVI Summer Internship Program is a highly sought-after opportunity designed to mentor and inspire the next generation of great scientists. While occasionally we do have interns other times during the year, our official program runs from May through August, and provides motivated high-school, undergraduate and graduate students with an in-depth, structured research experience.
Interested in applying for an internship at JCVI? Positions will be posted the week of March 9th and notifications of acceptance will be sent the last week of April. Please see our application page for further details.