Summer Program in the Neurological Sciences and Other Neuroscience Research Training and Funding Opportunities

If you need assistance please contact Mr. Tony Casco or Dr. Rita Devine.

From the Director
About the Program
Links to Information About the Students
Other Neuroscience Research Training and Funding Opportunities
Frequently Asked Questions
Information for the Incoming Class of 2012

Clinical and Basic Neuroscience Labs
Neuroscience at NIH
Investigators with Opportunities for Students
Other Summer Opportunities

Contact Information for Mr. Tony Casco
10 Center Drive/Room 5S208
Bethesda, MD 20892
Phone - 301-443-1910
Email - cascod@ninds.nih.gov

Contact Information for Dr. Rita Devine
10 Center Drive/Room 5S208
Bethesda, MD 20892
Phone - 301-594-9562
Fax - 301-480-9685
Email - Rita.Devine@nih.gov

From the Director

It is my pleasure to welcome you to this web site on the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke's Summer Program in the Neurological Sciences, a student research training program in brain and nervous system research. As one of 27 Institutes and Centers comprising the National Institutes of Health, NINDS has occupied a central position in the world of neuroscience for over 50 years. Our mission is to perform neuroscience research in order to reduce the burden borne by every age group, by every segment of society, and by people all over the world. To this end, the Institute supports and conducts research on the healthy and diseased brain, spinal cord, muscle, and peripheral nerves.

Hundreds of disorders afflict the nervous system. Common killers and disablers such as stroke, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, autism, and muscular dystrophy are well known. Other disorders we study may be known only to the patients and families affected, their doctors, and scientists who look to rare disorders for help in understanding the brain as well as treating more common diseases.

This is a time of accelerating progress and increasing hope in the battle against brain disease. Advances in understanding the nervous system are beginning to pay off in the form of treatments for previously intractable problems including spinal cord injury, acute stroke, multiple sclerosis, and Parkinson's disease. We are fortunate to have this first-rate research training program in the neurosciences which gives students the chance to learn and participate in hands-on clinical and basic neuroscience research with the hope that they will pursue careers in this burgeoning field.

Today's students are tomorrow's scientific investigators, conducting cutting-edge biomedical research that will lead to new ideas, theories, hypotheses, and treatments to help improve the health of the Nation.

Story C. Landis, Ph.D.
Director, NINDS

This web site provides links to key information for students selected for the Class of 2009 to 2010.

 About the Program

The Summer Program in the Neurological Sciences offers a unique opportunity for academically talented high school, undergraduate, graduate, and medical students to receive first-rate training in neuroscience research. Students get hands-on experience working with leading scientists in the Institute's Division of Intramural Research, the "in-house" research component of the NINDS. NINDS Labs are located in Bethesda, Rockville and Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

The NINDS purpose in awarding student internships is to provide students with a highly stimulating and rewarding summer research experience, with a view towards encouraging students to pursue advanced education and training in the biomedical sciences and future careers in scientific investigation, particularly basic and clinical research in the neurological sciences. Summer research training is designed to supplement and give practical meaning to students' academic course work. At the same time, students will make a valuable contribution to the NINDS research mission.

At the end of the summer, students participate in the NIH Summer Research Program Poster Day. Poster Day gives students the opportunity to present their summer research before the NIH scientific community. Students also participate in meetings and seminars in their individual laboratories. In addition, students attend formal lectures and symposia dealing with the newest advances in health research.

 Links to Information About the Students

What's New at NINDS

Alumni Reflect on Summer Research

How I Spent My Summer, by JT Stranix

Summer Research Experience, by Nathan Rowland

Summer Students at the NIH/NINDS, by Lucy Boyce Kennedy

My Summers at the NIH/NINDS, by Yixiao (Peter) Zou

2011 Exceptional Summer Student Award Winners

• Mark J. Amirtharaj
  High Beta Coherence between Motor Cortex and the Basal Ganglia Modulated by Ventral Medial Thalamus in a Rodent Model of Parkinson's Disease
  University of Maryland, College Park
  
• Bina B. Bansinath
  Targeting Retinal Ganglion Cells in Zebrafish Retina
  Cornell University
  
• Rachel M. Behrend
  Studying the Direct Connectivity Between Sensory Afferents and an Anatomically Identified Group of Relay Neurons in a Neonatal Mouse Spinal Cord
  Bryn Mawr College
  
• Bradley R. Carpenter
  NINDS Stem Cell Data Management System Functionality Upgrade
  Baylor University
  
• NooRi Chai
  Development of an Assay for Measuring CSF T Cell-specificity to Complex Antigens in Multiple Sclerosis
  Brown University
  
• Ian Chow
  Characterization of Oligomer Formation of the Z-disc Associated Alternatively Spliced Protein (ZASP), the Gene Product in a Degenerative Skeletal Muscle Disease
  Northwestern University
  
• Martin L. Dalefield
  Characterization of Dopaminergic Drugs with a D2-Receptor-ß-Arrestin BRET Assay
  Ohio State University
  
• Manori De Alwis
  Vascular Description of Small Perivenular Lesions in Multiple Sclerosis
  Cornell University
  
• Vindhya Ekanayake
  Self-generated Stigma and Illness Attributions in Motor Conversion Disorder Patients
  Purdue University
  
• Eric Emmons
  Using Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation to Measure the Effects of Reward on Primary Motor Cortex Excitability
  St. Olaf College
  
• Brittany L. Heckel
  Crossmodal Effects of Exposure to Auditory Sequences on the Performance of Motor Sequences
  Georgetown University
  
• Austin Hou
  Molecular Organization and Structure of the Postsynaptic Density Examined Through Electron-Microscopic Tomography
  Montgomery Blair High School
  
• Jerry Y. Liu
  Characterizing the Role of SMN Protein in Cytoskeletal Dynamics
  Dartmouth College
  
• Danielle Locust
  The Investigation of HHV6A Intranasal Infection in the Common Marmoset
  University of Colorado, Denver
  
• David Moosavi
  Resting State Connectivity in Parkinson's Disease
  Santa Monica College
  
• Bowen Qiu
  Protocol for Establishing Relationships among Regulatory Enhancers Based on Shared Sequence Elements
  Columbia University
  
• Theodore L. Roth
  Meningeal Compression Induces a Highly Dynamic Microglial Injury Response
  Stanford University
  
• Sahar Shahamatdar
  In Search of Adult Neural Stem Cells: A Novel Method to Identify Their True Phenotype
  Brown University
  
• Rachel Sullivan
  Neurochemical Assessment of Interactions between Alpha-synuclein and Catecholamines in Rat Pheochromocytoma PC-12 Cells
  Medical College of Wisconsin
  
• Elizabeth M. Sweeney
  Modeling Early Blood-Brain-Barrier Permeability Changes in the Normal-Appearing White Matter of a Marmoset Model of MS
  Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
  
• Sarah Yang
  Novel Interactions of Proteins Involved in Hereditary Spastic Paraplegias
  University of Maryland, College Park
  

 Frequently Asked Questions

For general questions, please visit: https://www.training.nih.gov/resources/faqs/summer_interns

What are Some Key Features of the Program?

• Training and conducting cutting-edge clinical and basic research which will include career mentoring from leading neuroscience investigators;
• Learning new technology, scientific investigation skills, gaining experience in presenting scientific results, learning ethics in biomedical research and the use of information technology for biomedical research;
  
• Attending formal lectures and symposia dealing with the newest advances in health research;
  
• Participating in the NIH's Annual Research Poster Day for Summer Students, a scientific exhibition that allows students an opportunity to discuss their research projects informally with peers and members of the NIH scientific community;
  
• Obtaining key credentials that will help when competing for graduate school, medical school, predoc and postdoc fellowships, and tenure-track positions;
  
• Networking and exchanging information and ideas with other NIH research trainees and investigators; and
  
• Participating in journal clubs, lab seminars, and meetings in individual research labs.

  Information for the Incoming Class

This web site provides links to key information for students selected for the Class of 2012.

Neuroscience at the NIH
Clinical Trials at NIH
Director's Seminar Series
National Library of Medicine
Neurobiology Interest Group
NIH Intramural Research News
NIH Library Online
NIH Research Training Opportunities
Online Journals
Science Education at the NIH
Wednesday Afternoon Lectures
Laboratory Safety Training
2011 NIH Summer Research Program Handbook (PDF)
Guidelines for Conduct of Research

Please send comments, suggestions or questions about this web site to Mr. Tony Casco.