The intern will contribute to an OHSU gene therapy research project by manipulating a safe virus to develop novel therapeutics. Gene therapy is a promising approach to treat various inherited and acquired human diseases that are difficult to treat with conventional therapies. A wide variety of viruses have been used as gene delivery vectors. Of these, adeno-associated virus (AAV) shows particular promise due to its non-pathogenic nature. The mentor's laboratory studies the biology of AAV, engineering it to develop new gene therapy approaches for targeting human diseases. The intern will participate in an ongoing gene therapy research project: Molecular engineering of viral genome and coat proteins to create new AAV vectors with the most desirable biological properties in each clinical application. In addition to learning and applying basic and advanced molecular biology, students will contribute to the production of gene therapy viral vectors and assessment of the vectors in cultured cells and experimental animals. The intern will also have an opportunity to learn computer programming (Python), bioinformatics/biostatistical concepts, large-scale data analysis, and artificial intelligence (AI)-based approaches to design novel protein molecules with new functions.
The mentor's approach includes working directly with students as they are members of the mentor's lab and are expected to be prepared and eager to learn. This is a full-time, in-person internship, with the expectation that the interns will each work at least 300 hours over the course of the summer.
Students must be minimum age specified by June 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, students who are neurodivergent, and those who speak a primary language other than English.
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.