Summer Student Program

Accepting Applications for the Summer 2012

Our 10-week long summer research program provides students with an opportunity to get hands-on experience working in biomedical research. Summer interns, who are undergraduate and graduate students with some previous lab experience in biology, biochemistry, neuroscience, or biomedical engineering, will participate in day-to-day laboratory activities working alongside their accomplished mentors, conducting research aimed at developing effective diagnostics and treatments for medical problems. Students will attend weekly lectures by HMRI scientists about recent research developments and, at the end of the summer program, will present the results of their own research projects.

Many alumni of HMRI’s Summer Student Program have gone on to distinguished careers. For 54 years HMRI has provided a summer research program for science students who are interested in careers in biomedical research. Several HMRI alumni have gone on to be chairmen of medical school departments and directors of research institutes, including the prestigious Salk Institute in San Diego, crediting their HMRI experience as a springboard to their future professions. The summer program strives to identify and encourage the intellectual development of new scientists.

NO STIPEND OR HOUSING ASSISTANCE will be provided for the participation in the program (with a few exceptions made on the basis of financial need, see the application for details). Deadline for the applications is April 15th, 2012.

In order to apply for admission, the following should be submitted to the program director (see the address below):

1) a completed application form (download here)
2) 1-2 page-long essay expressing your personal motivation for doing biomedical research in the selected laboratory/ies (please avoid making general statements on the importance of biomedical research, and rather describe your personal interests and future goals)
3) an official transcript.

In addition to submitting the application, you are welcome (but not required) to establish direct contacts with the investigator(s) with whom you wish to explore the research opportunities. Please contact the program director for the email addresses of the investigators. Submit the application and essay to the program director, Dr. Victor Pikov, by email: pikov@hmri.org.

Summer 2011

The Summer Student Research Program-2011 has brought 23 students from UCLA, USC, Princeton, Stanford, Berkeley, and other universities and colleges to HMRI laboratories. The students contributed 10 weeks of their time to various projects in biomedical research, working under the mentorship of Mike Harrington, Alfred Fonteh, Xianghong Arakaki, Myron Tong, Marylou Ingram, Henry Chan, Thao Tran, Pom Sailasuta, Douglas McCreery, Martin Han, and Victor Pikov. At the end of the summer, they presented the results of their research projects to the HMRI community and, along with their parents, participated at the Medical Research Council dinner.

Standing (left to right):

  • Christina Fischer
  • Michelle Miller
  • Hector Salavarrieta
  • Patrick Chang
  • Rebecca Liu
  • Alessandra Marick
  • Robert Trent Jones
  • Riley Marangi
  • William Ross
  • Linus Kuo
  • Paige McCleary
  • Matthew Techy

Sitting (left to right):

  • Sarah Park
  • Jessica Liu
  • Carmen Cong
  • Min Jeong
  • Cameron Henneberg
  • Tiffany Bui
  • Judy Trieu

Not in the photo:

  • Charles Dennis
  • Jack Hale
  • Leeyen Hsu
  • Cindy Wang

View participants of prior years.

List of Recent Summer Research Projects

Liver Research (Dr. Tong and Dr. Corey):

  • Hepatitis B treatment algorithm including screening for viral mutants
  • Hepatitis in Asian Americans
  • Demographics of Asian Americans with Hepatits B
  • Clinical course of hepatocellular carcinoma in Hepatitis C patients treated with interferon
  • Analysis of clinical progression in patients with normal ALT chronic Hepatitis C
  • Clinical characteristics and follow-up of inactive carriers of Hepatitis B
  • Treatment of HBeAg positive chronic Hepatitis B: When do we stop?

Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (Dr. Ross, Henry Chan, Thao Tran, Dr. Salisuta):

  • The effect of aging on hippocampal volume and cortical MRS signals
  • Diffusion Tensor Imaging in hydrocephalus patients
  • Development of polarizer for hyperpolarization of MR agents
  • Imaging of strain in carotid arteries using DENSE MRI
  • Measurement of atherosclerotic plaque using hyperpolarization technique
  • Right ventricular function in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy
  • Cardiac MRI analysis of ejection fraction
  • Hyperpolarization in vivo
  • Identifying mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s disease using MRS and quantitative MRI
  • Metabolic evidence of glial abnormalities during primary HIV infection

Molecular Neurology (Dr. Harrington, Dr. Fonteh, Dr. Arakaki, Sherri Lee):

  • Apolipoprotein A-1 in Alzheimer’s Disease
  • Carnonsine pathway in Alzheimer’s Diseasea
  • CSF biomarkers in Alzheimer’s disease
  • Bioinformatic analysis of lipids in CSF from healthy people and Alzheimer’s patients
  • Detection of myeloperoxidase and cholesterol in cerebropsinal fluid in neurological diseases
  • The role endocannabinoids in migraine pain
  • Endogenous steroid glycosides in Na+/K+-ATPase activity in migraine
  • Detection of phospholipases in cerebrospinal fluid during migraine
  • Alpha and beta CGRP in CSF of migrainers
  • Circadian rhythms of cation concentrations in human saliva and urine
  • Endocannabinoid Metabolism in Migraine
  • Compositional Glycerophospholipid Changes in a Ketogenic SN1A KO Epilepsy Model
  • Needles in the migraine haystack: Cerebrospinal Fluid biomarkers
  • CSF and body fluids of migraineurs in Ojai Headache clinic
  • Composition of nanostructures in the cerebrospinal fluid of hydrocephalus patients
  • Primary cultures of rats’ hippocampal astrocytes as part of construction for an artificial blood brain barrier for migraine studies
  • Effect of NKAT regulators on sodium concentration of the brain
  • Localization and expression of NKAT in Cacna1a Knock-in migraine mice
  • Analysis of lipid content in the CSF of Alzheimer’s patients and control subjects
  • Spectrofluorometric analysis of cholesterol assays
  • The dura mater of a rat migraine model at the capillary endothelial cell level
  • Brain capillary endothelial cell Na+ pumps in the rat migraine model
  • Capillary sodium regulation in the ciliary body and retina in a rat migraine model
  • Comparison of daily nutrient estimates among men and women in an Alzheimer’s study disease
  • Membrane-bound particles in the cerebrospinal fluid in Alzheimer’s disease

Molecular Pathology (Dr. Imam):

  • Jagged1, a potential marker for prostate and cervical cancers
  • GST Pi and prostate cancer
  • Cytoplasmic and nuclear PTEN as a prognostic marker for prostate cancer
  • Expression of Hepatocyte Growth Factor in human breast cancer
  • Expression of chemokine receptor CXCR4 and its ligand in breast cancer
  • Expression of fibroblast immunomarkers in breast cancer

Neural Engineering (Dr. McCreery, Dr. Pikov, Dr. Han):

  • Heating of cells during exposure to millimeter waves
  • Use of modulated laser pulses for actvation of light-sensitive proteins in cortex
  • Device for detection and treatment of obstructive sleep apnea
  • Image analysis of electrode locations and analysis of neuronal activity in the spinal cord
  • Testing of longevity of the neuroprosthetic electrodes
  • Characterization of degradation of poly-lactide-co-glycolide probes in phosphate buffered saline
  • Measuring Neuronal Membrane Potentials With FRET
  • Finite element modeling of the insetion stress of polymer probes
  • The cochlear nucleus auditory prosthesis: PST histogram analysis
  • Quantification of tissue response to a novel bimorphic neural probe
  • High-throughput testing of corrosion in implantable electrodes

Tissue Engineering (Dr. Ingram):

  • Effect of potent anti-cancer drugs in 3-dimensional cultures of cancer-derived cell lines
  • Effect of Xanthosine on differentiation of neural progenitor cells
  • Quantification of cancer cells in tumor-like histoids using a fluorescent marker
  • Transfection of cultured cancer cells with fluorescent marker
  • Toxicity screening of cancer cell lines

Business Office (Frank Davis):

  • Role of administration in advancing medical research

For more information on the HMRI Summer Student Program, please contact:
Dr. Victor Pikov
Huntington Medical Research Institutes
734 Fairmount Ave.
Pasadena, California 91105
(626) 397-5850 or Email: pikov@hmri.org