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DBS Interns Investigate Research Careers
This summer, fourteen college juniors and seniors in the biological
sciences are visiting the school, learning about the breadth of
public health and serving as research interns on faculty-organized
projects. These young men and women are part of the Minority
Undergraduate Summer Internship Program, run by the Division of Biological
Sciences. This experience enables them to test the waters of academic research at
a time when they are making important decisions about
graduate-level academic and research training.
Two students explained how their work at HSPH is broadening their horizons: Inna Hughes, a biology major at Williams College, said, "I've always heard that if I wanted to help people or work with diseases, then I should go to medical school. Now I know there's an alternative."
Phu Phan, who studies biology at the University of Virginia, said: "I had been planning on pursuing my medical degree, and I thought that having some research skills would add to my credentials. I came here to learn about what it takes to be a researcher, and now I'm beginning to see myself in that role. I enjoy the problem-solving aspects of it. Now I'm considering applying for MD/PhD programs."
The students, each from a different location in the US, arrived at the school in June. They received an orientation to the school and a tour of the participating laboratories, along with an introduction to an array of research projects. They met with the faculty investigators of those projects, and, together, they matched students with projects. Some students, like Phan, opted for projects that matched existing interests.
"I'm working in Joseph Sodroski's lab at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute," said Phan. Sodroski is investigating the structure of the AIDS virus and its host cells with the hope of developing a vaccine that will prevent the transmission of the virus from one cell to another. "This is exactly the kind of work that I'm interested in," said Phan. "When we toured the labs, I knew right away that this was the project I wanted to work on." His part of the effort has been synthesizing one of the two proteins that is integral to the passing of the AIDS virus from one cell to another.
Hughes, on the other hand, chose her project because it was different from the work she'll be doing next year. "I'll be working on my senior honors thesis in genetics," she said. "All year long, I'll be running gels and attempting to get small pieces of DNA into organisms. I wanted to take this opportunity to see what the rest of the world is like."
Hughes is working in Harriet Burge's lab on a project that simulates a water-damaged room. "There is a toxogenic fungus called Stachybotrys chartarum that grows on water-damaged wallboard and building materials. It appears to create spores with high toxin levels that have harmful effects if ingested or inhaled. In my simulated room, we're measuring how many spores are in the environment so that we can interpolate what a person's exposure would be if they had a houseful of this stuff."
Near the conclusion of their internships, Hughes, Phan, and the other interns will give presentations to each other and to interested graduate students and faculty members. "That will be good experience for us," said Phan. "Earlier this summer, I went to a conference and I saw how important it was for scientists to be able to present their results clearly."
"Making research presentations is a basic part of the careers that we hope to have," added Hughes.
In addition to their intensive exposure to individual research projects in the labs, the interns are introduced to a wide range of public health topics through seminars featuring faculty from the Departments of Cancer Cell Biology, Environmental Health, Immunology and Infectious Diseases, and Nutrition, and from the Center for the Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease.
As enriching as the interns find the research experience, this is
not the only benefit of their internship: "One of the most valuable
aspects of the program," said Hughes,
"has been the opportunity to meet all of the other interns and get to
know them. We're a group from diverse places, each with our own
different interests. But, we're all doing biology and we have the same drive
and motivation to do it. This has been a great chance to work hard and
meet others- it gives us new perspectives to think about in planning our
futures."
Participants in the 1998 Minority
Undergraduate Summer Internship Program. Back row, from
left: Gladys Ting, Jaime Hernandez, Errol Bush,
Zojeila Flores, and Phu Phan. Front row, from left:
Program Administrator Ruth Kenworthy, Inna Hughes, Nicolle DiFonzo, SuzAnn Musgrove,
Brandon Davis, Jerrilyn Jones, and Sara Ocon. Not
pictured: Karin Sinavsky, Carlo Casulo, and Steve Fordan.
