Undergraduate Interdisciplinary Research Summer Internship Program

PGFI's internship program for University of Pennsylvania undergraduates runs from June 1-July 31. This program starts with two weeks of training in molecular biology and genomics techniques. During the remaining weeks of the program, students pursue solutions to problems selected to stimulate multidisciplinary creative thinking and research innovation. Dr. Adam Peritz, PGFI staff scientist whose expertise is in RNA chemistry, trains and mentors the students in the PGFI Educational Facility.

2009 Undergraduate Interns

• Jasmin Imran Alsous (Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences)
• Nate Carberry (Bioengineering, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences)
• Alison Feder (Mathematics, School of Arts and Sciences)
• Zuolu Liu (Biology/Economics, School of Arts and Sciences)
• Avinash Maganty (Biochemistry, School of Arts and Sciences)
• Akash Shah (Bioengineering, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences)

As part of the internship program, interns attend a seminar series and lead paper discussions. Mentors, who are postdoctoral researchers and graduate students in the genome sciences, present their genomics work at these seminars. These postdocs and grad students are available to mentor the interns on science and career issues.

2009 Mentors

• Steven Bosinger, PhD (Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, School of Medicine)
• Sharon Diskin, PhD (Oncology, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia)
• Elizabeth Chao, MD (Genetics, School of Medicine)
• Charla Lambert, PhD (Genetics, School of Medicine)
• Renuka Nayak (PhD/MD student, Pediatrics and Genetics, School of Medicine)
• Larry Singh, PhD (Genetics, School of Medicine)

Interns present the results of their summer projects at a final symposium. This year, the symposium will be held from 3-5 PM, July 31. If you are interested in attending, please write to ef(at)genomics.upenn.edu.

PGFI is committed to increasing participation in the genome sciences. Women, minorities, and individuals from diverse and underrepresented groups in the STEM disciplines are always encouraged to apply to and participate in PGFI's programming.