Summer Research Experience in Biological and Computational Sciences

This proposed Summer Research Program is a competing renewal of the JJ Vance Memorial Summer Internship in Biological and Computational Sciences at the John P. Hussman Institute for Human Genomics (HIHG). Part of HIHG’s mission is to train the next generation of researchers. For this reason, it has hosted, for the last five years, the JJ Vance Memorial Summer Internship in Biological and Computational Sciences (JJ Vance internship), a program that has offered rising seniors from Miami-area high schools a unique opportunity to be directly involved in scientific research. The program has been highly successful, receiving a total of 541 applications during the 5-year funding period from 94 different high schools in Miami-Dade and Broward Counties, for only 12-13 positions per year. Of the 63 selected interns during this time, 47% were Hispanic/Latino, 15% were African American, 30% were white non-Hispanic and 8% were Asian. Ninety-seven percent (97%) of students that have graduated from high school (two classes are still in high school) have attended college, and STEM majors represent 87% of the ex-interns’ college major fields of study with 20% currently attending additional graduate study. The programs’ design incorporates the student into ongoing working research groups led by faculty members at the HIHG, focusing on a hands-on and mentoring experience. We strive to create a passion for science, for research; to enable the student to experience not only the creativity of science but understand what career steps it takes to get them there. We offer both laboratory as well as a computer-based (bioinformatics, statistical genetics, data- management programming) experience.