Neuroscience internships show high schoolers a future filled with scientific research

This summer,  the Explorations in Neuroscience Internship Program  at The Ohio State University College of Medicine matched 12 high school-age interns from across the country with host neuroscience laboratories to let them each engage in an authentic research project under the guidance of a dedicated laboratory bench mentor. One high school intern reported that the experience made them more excited and prepared to look for research experiences in college and pursue the field of neuroscience. In addition to laboratory research, interns participated in professional development activities, including: 

• Weekly sessions on scientific literacy and professional development workshops.
• Weekly networking sessions with the broader Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center neuroscience community, including undergraduate students, medical students and graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, research staff members and research faculty members.
• Site visits to on-campus resources and facilities, including The Ohio State University College of Arts and Sciences’ Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Brain Imaging, The Ohio State University Veterinary Medical Center’s Large Animal Veterinary Facility, the BE W.I.S.E. Initiative,  The Ohio State University College of Engineering’s ElectroScience Laboratory, and the College of Medicine’s Anatomy Laboratory. 

The eight-week program culminated with a poster session from the students showcasing the research they worked on with these faculty members, who served as their mentors: 

• Candice Askwith, PhD, associate professor of Neuroscience, “Differential Regulation of Ependymal Ciliary Beat Frequency by Neuromodulators and Neurotransmitters.”
• Angela Filous, PhD, assistant professor of Neurology, “Characterization of Pneumonia on Astrocytic Morphology After Spinal Cord Injury.” 
• Jie Gao, PhD, assistant professor of Neuroscience, “Peripheral Infection Triggers Post-Transcriptional Reduction of Trem2.” 
• Daniel Gallego Perez, PhD, professor in the departments of Biomedical Engineering and General Surgery, “Vasculogenic Tissue Nanotransfection to Improve Recovery After Peripheral Nerve Injury.” 
• Erica Glasper, PhD, associate professor of Neuroscience, “Evaluating AI-Driven Segmentation for Automated Analysis of Microglial Morphology Following Endotoxic Challenge.” 
• Martin Haesemeyer, PhD, assistant professor of Neuroscience, “SSRIs Modulate Thermoregulatory Behaviors.” 
• Ashley Ingiosi, PhD, assistant professor of Neuroscience, “Star Trekking: Mitochondrial Migration Within Astrocytes as a Mechanism for Sleep Homeostasis.” 
• Olga Kokiko-Cochran, PhD, associate professor of Neuroscience, “Post-Injury Sleep Fragmentation Influences Glial Activation and Cognition 7 Days After Traumatic Brain Injury in an Alzheimer’s Disease Mouse Model.”
• Dana McTigue, PhD, professor of Neuroscience and vice dean for Research, “Spinal Cord Injury Induces Iron Dysregulation and Contributes to MASH in a Clinically Relevant Model.”
• Giles Plant, PhD, professor of Neuroscience, “Validating GFP Expression in the Brain After CSF Injection” and “Characterizing the Astrocyte, Microglial, and Neuronal Responses to Cervical Hemicontusion Spinal Cord Injury.”
• Sabhya Rana, PhD, assistant professor of Neuroscience, “Characterization of Intrapleurally-Injected Fluorescent CTB Binding to Respiratory Motor Neurons with Tissue Clearing.”

The 12 interns were accepted from a total of 272 applicants and came from Texas, California, New York and Ohio, including the home cities of Columbus, Dayton, Eaton, Lewis Center, Mason, New Albany and Pickerington.