Summer Research Experience in Neurobiology at the Jackson Laboratory

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT The Jackson Laboratory (JAX) proposes to renew the existing Summer Research Experience in Neurobiology to continue supporting a focused neurobiology cohort within the existing JAX Summer Student Program, an internationally recognized research education program for undergraduates. Under the proposed renewal, six undergraduate students will conduct neurobiology research in the labs of 11 NIH-funded neuroscientists who lead cutting-edge, collaborative research programs in Alzheimer’s disease, peripheral neuropathies, motor neuron degeneration, synaptic development, retinal disease, epilepsy, addiction, Rett syndrome, stroke and sensory disorders. The 10-week residential internship will provide each participant with a summer salary plus funds to support research supplies and travel to national meetings to present their findings. The proposed program will offer an intense research internship in neurobiology with a focus on the laboratory mouse as an investigative tool to probe the basic mechanisms of human biology and disease. Students will be integrated into their mentor’s laboratory team and will collaborate with their mentor on experimental design and result interpretation during regular meetings. As the summer progresses, students will gain more independence in managing their day-to-day work of conducting experiments alongside their mentors. The defined research education curriculum will include asynchronous online learning modules, as well as workshops on the programming language R, animal care and use procedures, ethical conduct of research within historical and modern scientific contexts, and science communication. JAX institutional commitment includes student access to intellectual and research resources such as on-campus courses and conferences, state-of-the-art instrumentation and bioinformatics databases, dedicated program direction by JAX Genomic Education, and a staffed on-campus Living Learning Community. The neurobiology cohort will join the Summer Student Program, which is supported by institutional funds, private foundations, and federal grants and has well-established administrative procedures for recruitment and selection, mentor training and support, and program design, management, and evaluation. The program will identify participants, including students from underrepresented groups in biomedicine, through national recruitment efforts and focused outreach to minority-serving institutions. JAX offers a stimulating environment in which curious, motivated, talented students from diverse backgrounds can learn the fundamentals of scientific inquiry, contribute to real research progress, and make great strides in intellectual and personal growth as researchers.