Internship

Summer High School Research Internship Program

Overview:

The intern(s) will have the opportunity to learn from a multidisciplinary team that consists of research scientists, clinicians, a nurse practitioner and researchers in the BrainSPORT program. Dr. Christopher Giza leads the UCLA Steve Tisch BrainSPORT Concussion Program. He served as Vice-Chair for the California State Athletic Commission, traveled to Afghanistan in 2011 as a civilian advisor to the Department of Defense and Co-Chaired the American Academy of Neurology’s committee, which developed an evidence-based Practice Guideline for Management of Sports Concussions in 2013. Dr. Giza served as the UCLA's principal investigator for the NCAA/DoD CARE Consortium research project, the largest national longitudinal concussion study of its kind. He is currently a Professor of Pediatric Neurology and Neurosurgery at the David Geffen School of Medicine and Mattel Children’s Hospital, UCLA. The BrainSPORT Team, including Drs. Giza and Choe, are currently working hard on the largest and most comprehensive study of adolescents with persistent post-concussion symptoms. The study is called CARE4Kids: Endophenotypes of Persistent Post Concussion Symptoms and involves neuroimaging, blood sampling, autonomic nervous system testing, and cognitive assessment. Other projects are underway and applicants are encouraged to read through our webpage to gain a deeper understanding of our program prior to applying.

The intern(s) will work directly with BrainSPORT Study staff to recruit patients, enter research data, and conduct study protocols. They will have the opportunity to attend weekly Traumatic Brain Injury lab meetings with the BrainSPORT team, gaining valuable insight of the daily operations of clinical research.

Responsibilities:

Assist in research data collection and entry for study participants. Students will work directly with other interns, UCLA undergraduate and graduate medical students who work in the UCLA BrainSPORT program. A culminating project on a research topic of interest will be presented at the end of the internship.

Time Frame:

Dates are TBD and to be agreed upon with the supervisors at BrainSPORT, but interns should expect to be available from early-June to late-August. Work will likely be three to four half-days per week, for approximately 16 hours per week.

Eligibility:

Rising juniors, with the intent that one may be a mentor for a rising junior next year – please apply especially if you are interested in extending internship into the academic year