The OHSU Parkinson Center and the VA Parkinson’s Disease Research, Education, and Clinical Center (PADRECC), work in close collaboration to serve people whose lives are impacted by a movement disorder. Both organizations are internationally recognized for research capabilities and contributions from basic science to the latest clinical interventions. OHSU is currently designated as a Center of Excellence with the Parkinson’s Foundation, the Lewy Body Dementia Association, the Huntington’s Disease Society of America, and the CurePSP organization. This internship is located at the VA Hospital, but the mentors are also affiliated with OHSU.
PADRECC believes science is the process of taking knowledge, thinking critically about it, and applying it to real world problems in thoughtful and creative ways. PADRECC also believes that hypotheses must be productively refined through discussion with people with different backgrounds and perspectives.
The mentors conduct research to better understand who develops neurodegenerative movement disorders in order to better devise strategies to treat or prevent them. The primary project of the internship will be to perform the first non-industry sponsored review of the effectiveness of a peripheral nerve stimulator to treat tremor using the center's database. The secondary project will be to analyze brain and gut tissue from patients with essential tremor (the most common movement disorder) to better understand who might be at risk of developing Parkinson's disease.
Over the course of the summer, the intern will review the lab's medical record database and record relevant data in an organized manner, learn and perform appropriate statistical analyses on the data, learn and apply the skills of immunohistochemistry and real-time quaking induced conversion (RTQuIC) on human tissue specimens, and optionally learn and apply bioinformatics on big data sets.
The mentors would expect the intern to complete a defined project on evaluating the effectiveness of a peripheral nerve stimulator in the treatment of tremor, which would then be ready to be published in abstract and/or manuscript form. The mentors would also expect their other activities to substantially advance the progress in our lab.
Per VA federal regulations, applicants must be at least 16 years of age. Students must be minimum age specified by May 15. These age requirements are strictly enforced by the mentoring organization, and there are no exceptions. Applicants should be aware that on-site parking may be limited and/or unavailable throughout the summer; interns may be required to rely on public transit or alternative transportation.
We strongly encourage students to apply who are from one or more systemically and historically excluded group, including but not limited to, non-cis-gendered students, girls, BIPOC, first-generation college bound students, low-income/low-resourced students, students with disabilities, who are neurodivergent, and those who speak a primary language other than English.
This internship will be taking place in-person, as permitted by Federal/State/Local/OHSU/VA guidelines. The trainee is welcome to attend the entirety of the internship experience in-person, but there may be days or partial days where data analysis can be completed off-site. To reduce the risks of coronavirus exposure, mentors and interns will act in accordance with applicable COVID guidelines and procedures. Selected applicants will be required to review and sign a waiver agreement.
If you have any questions about the application, website technical issues and/or this position description, please contact Saturday Academy at ase@saturdayacademy.org. Do not contact the mentor directly. Contacting the mentor directly is grounds for disqualification of your ASE application.
Some coding experience with SQL or statistical experience with R or MatLab or SPSS would be a benefit but not a requirement. Excel management highly desired. The selected intern must wear lab-appropriate clothing (closed-toed shoes, long pants/skirts for full coverage).
Please note, the intern will be required to complete a security/background check. Medical clearance may be required, and may take 4-6 weeks to process. If required, you will need to provide your personal health records. Students must be minimum age specified by May 15.