Summer Undergraduate Research Internship; SURI

About the Internship

The Pacific Northwest Research Institute (PNRI) Summer Undergraduate Research Internship (SURI) is a research‑intensive, nine‑week program for undergraduate students who have an interest in pursuing a career in the biomedical sciences and who have completed at least one year of study at a university or college. Interns will work on a research project within the laboratory of their primary mentor and will present their work as a short talk at our annual Intern Research Symposium.

As a group, interns will participate in additional scientific, career development, and social activities.

Students who identify as African American, Hispanic, Native American, Southeast Asian, Native Alaskan or Native Pacific Islander, or who are from low‑income homes, are first in their family to attend college, or attend two‑year colleges or small liberal arts institutions without broad research facilities are strongly encouraged to apply.

The Carvalho Lab applies state‑of‑the‑art molecular sequencing technologies to investigate the genome of individuals with rare diseases. Our goal is to investigate disease‑specific genomic alterations to understand how they contribute to disease expression and the mechanisms underlying DNA variation formation. Students will learn human genetics and analysis of next‑generation sequencing data in the context of diseases. Potential projects will allow interns to learn and use various technologies and methodologies to study the structure of the genome.

The Dudley Lab studies how naturally occurring genetic variation leads to the diverse phenotypic traits we see on the planet. As an undergraduate intern in our lab, you will use a combination of classic microbiology, modern genomics, and high‑throughput robotics to discover which mutations in human genes could cause disease. Potential projects will focus on genes that cause rare childhood diseases in which rapid diagnosis can positively impact patient outcomes.

The McLaughlin Lab studies genome evolution with a particular interest in the evolutionary arms race between our genomes and pathogens such as viruses and transposons. As an undergraduate intern in our lab, you will use a combination of molecular and computational biology to explore how our innate immune genes evolve to stop pathogens and the diseases that result when our immune system falters.

Potential projects will focus on studying new genes that contribute to our ability to prevent disease and how pathogen replication could drive autoimmune disease.

The Metzger Lab studies a transmissible cancer in clams in which the cancer cells themselves jump from animal to animal through the environment. As an undergraduate intern in our lab, you will use a combination of experimental and computational techniques to grow clam cancer cells in the lab, analyze cancer genomes, and detect cancer‑specific DNA in seawater. Potential projects will focus on understanding how cancer can evolve and how host animals can become resistant to it.

• Conduct scientific research in a biomedical research lab
• Participate in scientific seminars, journal clubs, and career development activities
• Interact with scientists from a variety of disciplines, including genetics, evolutionary biology, biomedical engineering, medicine, and computational biology
• Learn about a wide range of career options in life‑science research, industry, and medicine
• Present the results of your research to peers and colleagues

• Must be a current college student, entering their second or later year in 2025.
• Must have a strong interest in life sciences, medicine, math, or engineering.
• Must be able to commit 30 hours per week for a minimum of nine (9) consecutive weeks between Monday, June 9 and Friday, August 15, 2025. Specific dates will be determined with consideration to each student’s academic calendar and their host lab’s availability.

• Applications are accepted from January 17, 2025 to February 28, 2025 and will be reviewed upon receipt, with interviews conducted via Zoom in early March 2025.
• Submit the following items via…