Translational Genetics and Genomics Summer Intern Program is a Success

By Linda Costine

The Translational Genetics and Genomics Program (TGG) was very busy this summer with their inaugural Undergraduate Internship Program. This spring, eight CMI-collaborative research projects were funded for undergraduate students majoring in Genetics. These TGG research awards paid $5000 to each student with an additional $4500 for supplies.

These interns began their research on May 9, 2016 and they met every two weeks throughout the summer preparing to present their data. The first meeting provided training that included basic information in poster design and presentation development. At each subsequent meeting, three to four students presented their research and were evaluated. At the final meeting on July 20, students had the chance to practice with a poster question and answer period in preparation for the Undergraduate Summer Research Symposium hosted on August 2, 2016. These summer interns had a second opportunity to showcase their posters on August 30 at the CMI Member Event Poster Competition in the Talley Center.

Overall, this program was very well received and there are plans in progress to continue this model within the TGG as well as expand it to the other programs of the CMI.