Purpose: To promote and support undergraduates' participation in biomedical research.
Eligibility: All undergraduate students at Case Western Reserve University who are continuing as undergraduates in fall 2012 are eligible to apply for PRISM summer funding. Students who are awarded a summer research experience cannot enroll in summer classes. Students are expected to conduct research for 40 hours per week for 10 weeks. Students will be awarded a stipend of $3500 plus $1500 toward CWRU guest housing.
Program Dates: May 29, 2012 - August 3, 2012
Applicants must choose from 1 of 4 available projects in their application:
Project One: Data analysis methods for finding informative subgroups of
patients in high dimensional data.
Mentor: Jean-Eudes Dazard, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor Center for Proteomics and Bioinformatics
The goal of this summer research project is to mine high-throughput data to identify informative subgroups of patients and improve diagnostic and prognostic of diseases as well as personalized medical interventions. In the Case Center for Proteomics and Bioinformatics, we have been developing algorithms to cater this task. The student must have an interest or experience in bioinformatics. He will be responsible for testing existing subroutines on real and synthetic datasets and help analyze the results. Ideally, he will be able to use and implement subroutines in the R language or in MATLAB.
Project Two: Development of fluorescently labeled reporter viruses to study
HIV entry dynamics.
Mentor: John Chip Tilton, M.D., Assistant Professor,
Center for Proteomics and Bioinformatics
The goal of this summer research project is to assist in the development of fluorescently labeled reporter viruses to study HIV entry dynamics. In the Case Center for Proteomics and Bioinformatics, we have been developing technologies to identify viral progression through checkpoints in the viral life cycle using replication-defective (e.g. non-pathogenic) reporter viruses. The long-term goals of this project are to help delineate the viral and cellular factors that regulate viral progression from fusion to integration to new virus production. The student must have interest in or experience with virology, and will be trained in and responsible for DNA cloning and testing of reporter virus constructs on cell lines and primary cells. Training in laboratory safety and bloodborne pathogens will be provided.
Project Three: Implement pathway scoring tools for disease classification.
Mentor: Gurkan Bebek, Ph.D., Instructor, Case Center for Proteomics
Many complex diseases can be divided into subclasses. An integrative tool can utilize data collected from disease samples to predict these classes. One way would be scoring ordered networks (graphs) of proteins/genes/macromolecules a.k.a. pathways. The summer internship is an introductory project, and will require basic knowledge of programming/scripting. Large datasets from the public domain will be used to test he tool. All majors are welcome to apply.
Project Four: Social Networks and Systems Analysis of Public Health.
Mentor: Gurkan Bebek, Ph.D., Instructor, Case Center for Proteomics
Many problems we face in protecting the public health are inherently relational. As the social networks around us grow, analysis of such population networks in terms of Systems Biology and Medicine has not been done extensively. The summer project will aim to collect social data from micro blogging sites, such as Twitter, and built networks, and utilize these to examine some relational aspects of public health. The project will require some programming experience.
Deadline:
The deadline to submit a completed application to Joan Schenkel, 10900
Euclid Ave, BRB 933, Cleveland, OH, 44106-4988 or attach as one pdf to
jms114@case.edu March 15, 2012.
Your resume and transcript are required to
complete your application.
Selection Criteria:
Applications will be reviewed to confirm that the
applicant meets the eligibility criteria. The selection committee will
evaluate applications based upon application materials and research
interests. Selected finalists will be asked to come to the Center for
Proteomics and Bioinformatics for an interview.
Questions? Please contact Joan Schenkel, joan.schenkel@case.edu.