Unpaid Summer Internship – Immunology (Freire Lab) at J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI) in La Jolla, California

Job Description:

The J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI) is a dynamic non-profit research organization using science to impact the world. Our research groups focus on human genomic medicine, infectious disease, plant, microbial and environmental genomics, synthetic biology and biological energy, bioinformatics, and software engineering. We are looking for self-motivated, inquisitive minds to work with us in asking and finding the answers to questions that progress the field of genomics.

Our team is evaluating host immune response to SARS-CoV-2 infection, specifically in patients who have developed Long COVID. Our research utilizes immunological assays to measure inflammatory response as well as antibody response to the virus. We also utilize cell-based assays to measure cellular immune responses, such as a NETosis. Our goals are 1) to verify underlying mechanisms involved in disease progress, 2) analyze metadata to discover novel therapeutic/diagnostic targets, and 3) devise novel methodology to quantify cell-mediated immune response at a high-throughput scale.

The candidate will interact with members of the Infectious Diseases team in La Jolla, CA, and will assist in performing immunological assays that quantify the potency of clinical samples to induce antibody response and inflammatory marker response to SARS-CoV-2 virus. This is done via ELISA and Luminex multiplex kits. We could also cover cell-culture based assays that quantifies the potency of clinical samples to induce neutrophil activation. The candidate will be responsible for learning diverse in vitro assays to measure immune response and to discover molecules responsible for immunopathogenesis.

The candidate will learn:

Immunology emphasis on the inflammatory responses, basic cell culture techniques, immune-staining skills, high-throughput data analyses, biostatistics

Skills the intern will acquire:

• Diverse in vitro techniques, such as pipetting, cell culture, immune staining, and NETosis quantification


• Biostatistics to analyze big data sets generated from clinical samples.


• Data analyses and visualization software skills, such as Prism, Celigo, and Microsoft excel.

Requirements:

• Current high school or undergrad student


• Some Biology, Statistics or relevant experience


• Ability to work independently, while respecting the needs of a larger team


• A commitment to scientific discovery


• Strong written and verbal communication skills


• Full-time attendance (40 hours per week)

Work Environment
The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those a teammate encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• Moderate noise (i.e. business office with computers, phone, and printers, light traffic)


• Ability to work in a confined area.


• Ability to sit at a computer terminal for an extended period.


• Ability to stand and/or sit for an extended period, if working in the lab.

Physical Demands
The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to, stand, sit; talk, hear, and use hands and fingers to operate a computer and telephone keyboard reach, stoop kneel to install computer equipment


• Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision requirements due to computer and lab work


• Light to moderate lifting is required

J. Craig Venter Institute is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants are encouraged to apply and will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, or any other legally protected characteristic or status.

JCVI does not sponsor employment for intern positions.

JCVI does not provide relocation for intern positions.

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