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College of Public Health* Summer Undergraduate Research Program The College of Public Health will participate in the Summer Undergraduate Research Program at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. Selected students will be employed during the summer months for a 10 week period at full-time status (40 hours per work week), the dates to be determined by the supervisor in consultation with the student. A stipend of $3,000 will be provided to each student for their 10 week course of work. Interested students should apply by March 1. Notification of selection will be made by April 30. The College of Public Health has a wide array of programs and projects in which students may be interested. Below, please find short descriptions for each of the opportunities available for the summer of 2009. Applications for the summer internship should be submitted through the university’s application process which can be found at http://www.unmc.edu/dept/summerresearch. Be sure to include the name of the Department, Center, or Program for which you are applying on the application. For general information or application assistance, please contact Debra Baer at 402-559-4325 or dbaer@unmc.edu
Department of Epidemiology Dr. Watanabe-Galloway is Assistant Professor of Department of Epidemiology. Her research team conducts a variety of research activities in the areas of health disparities, cancer epidemiology, and psychiatric services research. An intern will participate in research activities for Northern Plains Comprehensive Cancer Control Program (NPCCCP) and Northern Plains Tribal Cancer Data Improvement Initiative (NPTCDI). NPCCCP and NPTCDI are operated by Aberdeen Area Tribal Chairmen’s Health Board (AATCHB), which serves 18 tribal communities in the four-state region. Dr. Watanabe-Galloway is Principal Investigator (PI) and Co-PI of these two programs. The intern will have an opportunity to gain skills and knowledge in areas of cancer health disparities research and interact with researchers from nationally known Native American cancer research organizations. In addition to these two cancer projects, the intern may participate in other cancer and mental health research studies Dr. Watanabe-Galloway conducts. At the beginning of the internship, the intern will meet with Dr. Watanabe-Galloway to develop an internship plan which outlines the internship goals and research and educational activities. Examples of tasks assigned to the summer intern in the past include: literature search/review, data entry and management, report editing/writing, and participation in research meetings/conferences. Throughout the internship period, the intern will have a bi-weekly mentoring session with Dr. Watanabe-Galloway to obtain feedback and advice on a regular basis. For information about the NPTCDI and NPCCCP, visit AATCHB’s website www.aatchb.org. Also, applicants may contact Ms. Cate Malone, who worked as an intern for Dr. Watanabe-Galloway in the summer of 2008. After the completion of the summer internship, Ms. Malone began working as an undergraduate research assistant for Dr. Watanabe-Galloway. She is planning to apply for MPH program after graduation from University of Nebraska Omaha in May 2009. For more information, contact Dr. Watanabe-Galloway (swatanabe@unmc.edu or 402-559-5387)
Department of Epidemiology Summer Undergraduate Research Program Intern will work with the Department of Epidemiology faculty (Dr. Lina Lander) in collaboration with Douglas County Health Department Epidemiologist (Dr. Anne O’Keefe) on preparing grant applications, conducting literature reviews on various topics, and writing reports and manuscripts. Examples of potential projects may include assessment of occupational health surveillance in Nebraska, evaluation of a workplace wellness database, data analysis and manuscript write-up on lacerations in meatpacking industry, assistance with preparation of cancer disparities report, and others. Intern’s individual interests will be taken into consideration when selecting summer projects. For more information, contact Dr. Lina Lander (llander@unmc.edu or 402-559-9402)
Department of Health Promotion, Social and Behavioral Health In a joint project with the Olson Center for Women’s Health, the Department of Health Promotion, Social and Behavioral Health will offer a 10-week summer internship in ethics, women’s rights, and access to care. The student intern will investigate the barriers women face in seeking contraception in Nebraska, particularly in the context of the notoriously high sexually transmitted infection rates in the state. The student may have the opportunity to make suggestions for policy or system changes that would increase women’s access to contraception. In addition, the student intern will spend some time shadowing members of the Ethics Consultation Service to learn about how a clinical ethics service works at a 700+ bed institution. The student may assist faculty members on other related projects, such as the Pregnancy Testing Policy for the Institutional Review Board (IRB), the project on contraceptive choice in research, and issues surrounding the provision of emergency contraception. For more information, contact: Dr. Toby Schonfeld (tschonfeld@unmc.edu or 402-559-2921)
Department of Health Promotion, Social and Behavioral Health This is a literature review with content analysis and comparison: To identify environmental concerns and ethics principles expressed in a survey of ethics codes and position statements of the approximately 50 environmental health professions. This work has been partially conducted. To compare these themes with concerns and ethics principles identified in essays and position statements of the field of environmental ethics. Our hypothesis is that the environmental health professions and the field of environmental ethics significantly diverge in their concerns and principles. Possible routes to reconciliation will be considered. It is expected that most of the work will involve drawing connections between long term human health and the health of the environment. For more information, contact Dr. Andrew Jameton (ajameton@unmc.edu or 402-559-4680)
Department of Environmental, Agricultural and Occupational Health This is a pilot study to evaluate the impact of home environmental exposures on the potential for the development of infectious complications in solid organ transplant (SOT) patients. The Undergraduate Research Program participant will assist in conducting home walk through evaluation using the NIOSH health hazard evaluation model to identify potential environmental health hazards (chemical, biological, and physical) for those about to undergo a transplant procedure. This will allow the identification of potential exposure pathways in the home environment that could impact post operative home care. We anticipate that since hospitals actively work to reduce environmental hazards (fungal infections) that the patients’ home may be the most likely source of exposure. This study should provide the researchers with pilot data necessary to develop a pre-transplant environmental health education program, including a home inspection for environmental hazards toward the goal of reducing community acquired infections in SOT patients. For more information, contact Dr. Shawn Gibbs (sgibbs@unmc.edu or 402-559-4789).
Department of Biostatistics We have exciting opportunities for motivated interns with strong quantitative skills (Calc, LinAlg, Stats) to apply biostatistics to real-world research studies in two areas: public health and biomedicine. This learning experience will focus on the statistical analysis of on-going research projects conducted at UNMC. Interns will have an opportunity to enhance their computer and statistical data analysis skills while working under the direction of a professional biostatistician. Our on-going research projects are collaborative efforts with investigators from almost every public health and biomedical area, e.g. epidemiology, health policy research, exercise science, psychology, oncology, endocrinology, geriatrics, genetics, and pharmacology. Interns will:
Center for Biopreparedness Education The Center for Biopreparedness Education (CBE) is a unique organization affiliated with the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) College of Public Health. It was founded by Nebraska Health and Human Services and the two infectious disease divisions at UNMC and Creighton University Medical Center. The CBE has applied technological advances to biopreparedness and pandemic influenza preparedness. Students interested in biopreparedness, pandemic influenza preparedness or all hazards preparedness and training with the Center for Biopreparedness Education may select one of the following internship opportunities:
Summer Internship in Environmental Lung Disease with Dr. Wyatt This is an NIH-supported study that examines the impact of alcohol consumption on inhalation injury of the lungs. Innate lung defense from inhaled toxins and particles involves the orchestrated beating of the cilia lining the airways of the lungs. This project uses cellular and mouse models to determine the molecular and biochemical basis for the regulation of cilia beating. Combination exposures of cigarette smoke, organic dust and alcohol will be evaluated within the context of lung function and inflammation with regard to the chronic diseases of the lungs such as bronchitis, asthma and emphysema. For more information, contact Dr. Todd Wyatt (twyatt@unmc.edu or 402-559-8834). | ||
