INDIVIDUALS AFFILIATED WITH W&J
The following individuals are willing to host a W&J student intern during the summer and/or January Intersession. (Note that this does not guarantee that there will be projects available for any specific January or summer.)
The exact nature of each internship varies. Only highly motivated students with strong academic records and a strong work ethic should apply.
Students must seek financial support for these internships if the individual’s institution does not have a sponsored internship program or the individual does not have funds available from their research grants.
Possible sources of internship funding include:
W&J College’s Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Grant
W&J College’s Merck Internships for Excellence in Science program
The Edwin M. Linton Endowment for internships at the Marine Biological Laboratory at Woods Hole
W&J College’s Franklin Internship Awards
W&J College’s Magellan Project (Geary, Walker, and Kelso Awards)
The individual’s research funds (ask the individual if they can support you on their research grant)
National organizations such as the National Science Foundation (NSF) or the National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Professional societies such as the Ecological Society of America (ESA), American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB), the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB), the American Society for Microbiology (ASM), or the American Chemical Society (ACS)
Students should begin investigating these internship opportunities as early as possible.
To apply for an internship with one of these individuals:
- Identify individuals with whom you would be interested in working.
- Contact Dr. DeBerry for additional information concerning this individual’s laboratory, internship availability, and writing an inquiry letter.
- Write an inquiry letter expressing your interest, past research and related experience, career goals, etc. Show your draft to a faculty member for their suggestions.
- Send your revised inquiry letter to the researchers you have identified to determine whether they will have space and a project available in their laboratory.
- Once you have found a host laboratory, work with them to write a research proposal and complete any application materials required (including any official internship application procedure at the host institution).
- Read the recent primary literature (research articles) published by this lab to familiarize yourself with the individual's research. Ask faculty members to help you understand the literature if there are terms and/or concepts with which you are unfamiliar.
Ryan Adam
Corporate Recruiter, Civil & Environmental Consultants, Inc., 333 Baldwin Road, Pittsburgh, PA 15205
Focus: Environmental consulting
José R. Almirall, Ph.D.
Director, Forensic Science Graduate Program and Associate Director, International Forensic Research Institute, Assistant Professor, Department of Chemistry, Florida International University, Miami, FL, 33199
Focus: Forensic techniques, especially analysis of trace evidence
Erin Livengood (Chemistry ‘03) did an internship there in Intersession 2003
Denah Appelt, Ph.D.
Department of Neuroscience, Physiology and Pharmacology, Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, Philadelphia, PA 19131
Focus: Biology of aging: she is currently investigating connections between Chlamydia pneumoniae and Alzheimer's Disease
Jon Zahler (Biology ’02) did an internship there in Intersession 2002
Jonathan Arias, Ph.D.
Department of Biological Sciences, University of Maryland Baltimore County, 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250
Focus: Identification of gene regulatory networks of plant transcription factors that control response to infection, wounding, and stress.
Pete Passcuzzi (Biology '97) worked with Dr. Arias studying transcriptional factors in plants
Alistair Barber, Ph.D.
Department of Ophthalmology, Pennsylvania State College of Medicine, 500 University Drive, Hershey, PA 17033
Focus: Neurodegeneration in diabetic retinopathy, focusing on how diabetes compromises synaptic organization, neurotransmission, structure, and function of neurons in the retina
Jonathan Benstead
Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alabama, Box 870206, 1124 Bevill Building, 201 7th Ave., Tuscaloosa, Alabama 35487
Focus: The role of coupled cycles of carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus in food webs and ecosystem-level processes, with an emphasis on cave ecosystems.
Albert Berrebi, Ph.D.
Sensory Neuroscience Research Center, West Virginia University School of Medicine, Morgantown, WV 26506
Focus: Cellular and molecular mechanisms of organization of neuronal microcircuits in the central auditory pathway
Tom Biksey
Director of Risk Assessment, EHS Support, 311 Crabapple Drive, Washington, PA 15301
Focus: EHS Support is a consulting firm that provides environmental, health, and safety services to business and industry clients and specializes in identifying potential or actual environmental liabilities and preventing or correcting them. Specific tasks performed by our risk assessors include: development of sampling designs to obtain representative environmental media concentrations at points of exposure to human and ecological receptors; statistical analysis of the environmental sampling data to develop exposure point concentrations; fate and transport analysis including exposure uptake and food web models; research of the toxicological endpoints used to evaluate the exposure and intake dose; characterization of the potential risks including uncertainty analysis and risk perspective.
Georgia A. Bishop, Ph.D.
Department of Neuroscience, The Ohio State University, School of Biomedical Sciences, Columbus, OH 43210
Focus: Developmental neurobiology, specifically synaptic roles played by corticotropin releasing factor (CRF) during development and in the adult cerebellum
Brian Johnson (CMBiology ’02) worked with Dr. Bishop during Intersession 2001
Kenneth J. Blank, Ph.D.
Vice Provost for Research, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA 19102
Focus: The genetic regulation of host-virus interactions that occur during infection with retroviruses
Christine Beattie, Ph.D.
Department of Neuroscience, The Ohio State University Medical Center, Columbus, OH 43210
Focus: Genetic and molecular analysis of motor axon outgrowth during development and disease using zebrafish as a model system
Anthony Brown, Ph.D.
Department of Neuroscience, The Ohio State University Medical Center, Columbus, OH 43210
Focus: Using live-cell fluorescence imaging techniques in combination with molecular, biochemical and ultrastructural approaches to investigate the movement of neurofilaments and other cytoskeletal proteins in cultured nerve cells
Craig Cameron, Ph.D.
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, The Pennsylvania State University, 201 Althouse Laboratory, University Park, PA 16802
Focus: RNA Polymerases and RNA-binding Proteins in Viral Infection and Mitochondrial Disease
J. Patrick Card, Ph.D.
Center for Neuroscience University Pittsburgh (CUNP), Department of Neuroscience, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260
Focus: Functional organization of neural circuits involved in the control of behavioral state and autonomic function and characterization of the invasiveness of neurotropic alpha herpesviruses
Katie Davis (Psychology ’04) did an internship there in January 2004
Diane Carlisle, Ph.D. (B.A. W&J College 1996)
Department of Neurological Surgery, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15261
Focus: Lung diseases caused by second-hand smoke, and developing novel therapies (particularly stem cell therapies) for these diseases
Students who have interned in the Carlisle lab include: Stephanie Rellick (CMBiology ’04); Rachael Werner (CMBiology ’09); Katie Ryan (CMBiology ’10); Jamey Butala (GBiology & Psychology ’12); Raelynn Forsyth (CMBiology ’12).
Robert Colvin, Ph.D.
Neurobiology Program, Department of Biological Sciences, Ohio University, Athens, OH 45701
Focus: Molecular pathways of zinc influx and efflux in neurons, subcellular compartmentalization of zinc in neurons, and zinc homeostasis in Alzheimer's Disease
Wyatt Cross, Ph.D.
Department of Ecology, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT 59717
Focus: Food web dynamics and ecosystem ecology: linking species to whole-ecosystem material fluxes, and examining effects of altered carbon and nutrient regimes on freshwater ecosystem structure and function.
William Cruikshank, Ph.D. (B.A. W&J College 1977)
Boston University Medical Center, The Pulmonary Center, Boston, MA 02118
Focus: Signal transduction mediated by interleukin 16 (IL-16) and its role in inflammatory diseases such as asthma and rheumatoid arthritis.
Dr. Cruikshank is a W&J alumnus and is particularly interested in students who would like to continue their internship research projects at W&J, under the joint supervision of Dr. Cruikshank and a W&J faculty member.
Nick Zane (CMBiology & English ’03) did two internships in the Cruikshank lab; Bo Harstine (CMBiology ’11) and Patrick Memari (CMBiology ’12) also interned there.
Mary E. Davis, Ph.D.
Department of Physiology & Pharmacology, Robert C. Byrd Health Sciences Center, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26506
Focus: Mechanisms of toxicity of chlorinated environmental contaminants, interactions among drinking water disinfection by-products, and the role of cardiovascular control mechanisms in kidney toxicity
Linda Deegan, Ph.D.
The Ecosystems Center, Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, MA 02543
Focus: To understand the relationship between ecosystem dynamics and animal populations, combining the ecosystem perspective of energy and nutrient flows with traditional population and community dynamics
Josh Hopp (CHM ’04) and Talia Hughes (GBiology ’10) interned in the Deegan lab.
NOTE: Students who are interested in internships with Dr. Deegan must first contact Dr. March for more information.
Courtney DeVries, Ph.D.
Department of Neuroscience, The Ohio State University Medical Center, Columbus, OH 43210
Focus: Effects of social stress on the histological and behavioral consequences of experimental stroke (focal cerebral ischemia) in mice; the role of stress hormones in motivated behaviors such as social bonding and drug-seeking behaviors
Saara DeWalt, Ph.D.
Department of Biological Sciences, Clemson University, Clemson, SC 29634
Focus: Field research on the island of Dominica in the Eastern Caribbean, specifically: impacts of hurricanes on rain forest composition and structure, and restoration ecology, examining patterns of regeneration of native forest after natural and anthropogenic disturbance
Bonnie McGill (GBiology ’06) worked as a research associate with the DeWalt lab on Dominica from Summer 2006 – Summer 2007
NOTE: Students who are interested in internships with Dr. DeWalt must first contact Dr. March for more information.
Stephen E. DiCarlo Ph.D.
Department of Physiology, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, MI 48201
Focus: mechanisms of cardiovascular control and arrhythmia suppression
Lynn Dyster, Ph.D. (B.A. W&J College 1980)
Vice President, Drug Discovery, Kinex Pharmaceuticals, Buffalo, NY 14203
Focus: Developing next-generation anti-cancer drugs that target the molecular basis of disease by generating compounds that inhibit protein kinases and protein phosphatases; also developing therapies for immunomodulatory diseases
Dr. Dyster has hosted the following students while they did internships at the Hauptman-Woodard Research Institute, the Roswell Park Cancer Institute, and Kinex Pharmaceuticals in Buffalo, NY: Marijo Bilitski (BCH ’08), Kam Lam (CMBiology ’07); Matt Varacallo (BCH ’09); Elaina Sendro (BCH ’09); and Evan Lutton (CMBiology ’12)
NOTE: Students who are interested in internships in Buffalo facilitated by Dr. Dyster must first contact Dr. DeBerry for more information.
Drew Ferrier, Ph.D. (B.A. W&J College 1975)
Department of Biology, Hood College, 401 Rosemont Avenue, Frederick, MD 21701
Focus: Freshwater ecology, including the use of aquatic macroinvertebrates as indicators of water quality and effects of acid rain on stream ecosystems
Ada Gray Griffin
Center for Coalfield Justice, 184 South Main Street, Washington, PA 15301
Focus: Outreach, education, and regulatory affairs concerning the effects of coal mining on the environment and human health.
“January internships with CCJ would entail gathering and transcribing interviews with regional scientists working in the environmental sciences for an oral history project on the historic and potential impact of energy extraction on the ecology of Western Pennsylvania and its neighbors.
Summer internships will involve hands-on experience monitoring streams and watersheds in Washington and Greene Counties to advance the process of determining environmental impacts on water quality and microinvertebrate species and determining the probable causes for these changes. The students will learn how and be expected to place and maintain water monitoring devises; they will collect, log and extrapolate data using established data processing systems. Finally, the students will learn to import data provided by area watershed groups and other data collectors into a Geographic Information System and publish reports utilizing maps that will be published on the CCJ website, in the annual SWPA Watershed Atlas and by local media partners.”
Durland Fish, Ph.D.
Yale Vector Ecology Laboratory, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Yale School of Medicine, 60 College Street, PO Box 208034, New Haven, CT 06520
Focus: Epidemiology of vector-borne pathogens, landscape epidemiology of zoonoses, population regulation and biogeography of arthropod vectors, including large-scale field study of tick-borne pathogens in the United States
Olivera Finn, Ph.D.
Department of Immunology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15261
Focus: Human tumor specific immunity: specifically, using human tumor antigens MUC1 and Cyclin B1, and transgenic mouse models that express these antigens and develop cancer, to test vaccines designed to induce anti-cancer immune responses in the mouse models.
Brian Moore (CMBiology ’03) interned there in Summer 2001 and Summer 2002; Nick Tyger (CMBiology ’12) interned there in Summer 2010
Kerin Fresa-Dillon, Ph.D. (B.A. W&J College 1979)
Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, Philadelphia, PA 19131
Focus: Effect of age on infection by Chlamydia pneumoniae in mice; the host immune response.Chronic infection by this organism may be a factor in the pathogenesis of a number of non-respiratory diseases including Alzheimer's disease, atherosclerosis, multiple sclerosis, and cutaneous T cell lymphomas
Dr. Fresa-Dillon is a W&J alumna. She would prefer students who are interested in pursuing careers in osteopathic medicine.
Dr. Fresa has worked with W&J students Janel Foster, Ben Lewin, Diane Carlisle, Jon Zahler (CMBio ’02), Francis Burt (CMBio ’02), Taylor Eddens (BCH ’11), and Ian Kohler (BCH ’13). Taylor Eddens did an Independent Study with Dr. Fresa-Dillon and Dr. Alice Lee, and was awarded the Trelka Prize for Original Research and Honors in Biology.
James C. Garrison, Ph.D.
Department of Pharmacology, University of Virginia Health Sciences Center, Charlottesville, VA 22908
Focus: The interaction between two major G-protein coupled receptor signaling pathways in the cell membrane, one utilized by Gi linked receptors to activate hematopoietic cells and another used by Gs linked receptors to inhibit inflammation
Elizabeth Gettig, M.S, C.G.C.
Director, Genetic Counseling Program, Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15261
Focus: The process of genetic counseling, genetic education, clinical service delivery, and the role of community service in patient care
Rachel Steinberg (CMBiology ’02) and Liz Jenkins (CMBiology ’04) did internships with Ms. Gettig.
Henry Gewurz, M.D.
Department of Immunology and Microbiology, Rush Medical School, Chicago, IL 60612
Focus: Innate immunity, inflammation, and the acute phase response