Dear UMGCCC colleagues,
Many of you are familiar with, or have served as mentors for, the NCI-funded Nathan Schnaper Intern Program in Translational Cancer Research (NSIP) that I direct (www.umm.edu/nsip) through the UMGCCC. Each summer, the program recruits 20 undergraduate interns from a national pool of over 120 high caliber applicants for a 10-week program that integrates research, clinical and educational experiences. The credentials of the 2020 accepted interns continues this tradition of outstanding NSIP cohorts. Typically, the research component is done in UMGCCC laboratories; however, it is unlikely that research labs will be fully operational by the slated NSIP start date at the end of May. Accordingly, I am seeking non-wet bench research opportunities for this summer’s interns including those that could be done, in part, remotely (e.g. statistical, epidemiology or patient data analyses). NCI requires interns to work 40h/weeks for 10 weeks with significant in-person preceptor/mentor contact (this will likely be relaxed but not eliminated this summer). Interns can work on multiple projects led by different investigators to achieve the 30-35 hours of research that, along with 5-10h for educational modules will total 40 hours/week. The internships are paid positions and you will have the opportunity to review the applications and interview the applicant before agreeing to mentor. Start/end dates are flexible, and you will receive a $1,000 resources allowance to offset any intern-related training or expenses.
At this point, please let me know if you will be available to serve as a NSIP mentor this summer and provide a 2-3 sentence description of the proposed project (this can change). I will then offer this opportunity to the intern class and determine the number who are interested in this option (those seeking a wet-bench experience would be able to defer their acceptance until next summer).
I sincerely appreciate your help in these unusual circumstances and hope that it will lead to a larger role for Population Science in future NSIP projects- indeed, this is a proposed new component of the NSIP competitive renewal submitted in January.
Best wishes,
Bret
Bret A. Hassel, Ph.D.
Professor of Microbiology and Immunology
Director, MMI Graduate Program
University of Maryland School of Medicine
Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum Cancer Center
Director Nathan Schnaper Intern Program
Mailbox: 685 W Baltimore St. HSF1-380
Office: 660 West Redwood St. HH-348
Baltimore MD 21201
office: 410-328-2344; cell: 443-850-5239