LHSI Intern: Autism Evaluation Research

Program Summary:    

This internship is offered as a part of the Life-Health Sciences Internship Program (LHSI). This program connects 125 IU Indianapolis undergraduates per year with internships on campus with faculty and staff in a variety of health and science related campus areas/programs. All LHSI internships start in August 2026 and end in May 2027 and are paid $14/hour for up to 10 hours per week. Work-study is accepted but not required.  

Supervisor: Dr. Ashley McGinn 

Department/Office: Medicine Pediatrics 

Overview of the internship site: Our team is interested in understanding how children with and without autism understand feelings and relationships. Dr. Ashley McGinn is a Licensed Psychologist within the Division of Developmental Medicine at Riley Hospital for Children and Assistant Professor of Clinical Pediatrics within the Indiana University School of Medicine. Dr. McGinn provides diagnostic evaluations for children with suspected neurodevelopmental disabilities as well as evidenced-based treatment to improve parent-child relationships.  Dr. McGinn is a certified Within Agency Trainer for PCIT International and a rostered PCIT Toddlers clinician.  Dr. McGinn’s research interests include improving accessibility of patient education resources for neurodevelopmental disorders. Dr. McGinn is also interested in qualitative research to better understand differences in social/emotional understanding between children with autism and neurotypical peers. Dr. McGinn hopes to use this research to develop resources for clinicians to improve autism understanding and evaluations.   

Dr. Natalie Peters is a Clinical Psychologist in the Division of Developmental Medicine at Riley Hospital for Children and Assistant Professor of Clinical Pediatrics at Indiana University School of Medicine. Dr. Peters provides comprehensive psychological evaluations for children with suspected neurodevelopmental and related disabilities. She has a strong interest in supporting families and children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and intellectual disability. Dr. Peters is a certified Parent Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) therapist. Dr. Peter’s research currently focuses on studying children with and without autism’s understanding and insight into social/emotional relationships.    

Research assistants are part of a cross-institution research team and have the opportunity to gain clinical, quantitative, and qualitative research experience. Students working on our team will have the opportunity to be involved in all aspects of these research efforts which ultimately aim to improve our understanding of children with autism and/or behavior challenges. 

Website for more information:  

Essential Duties and Responsibilities: Tasks may include, but are not limited to, consenting research participants, conducting literature reviews, data entry and management, data transcription and coding, and gaining experience with scientific writing through preparing tables/figures, citation management, and writing/editing manuscripts. 

Work Environment and Dress Code: The work is performed primarily in an office setting with dress code: business causal when in office; most work will be completed remotely. 

Project-specific qualifications: Project-specific qualifications: Strong written communication skills, attention to detail, and ability to work independently and as part of a team. Some interest in autism diagnostic measures, parent training, and/or qualitative analysis methods is preferred. 

Hours per week: 7-9; flexible within regular work hours 

By the end of the LHSI program, you will: 

Carefully consider, explore, and articulate your career goals, including an analysis of how you arrived at that path and what steps you need to take next. (Community Contributor, Communicator) 

Understand your role and strengths on a professional team and analyze who you would like to become as a professional. (Communicator) 

Gain and strengthen skills relevant to next steps after graduation, such as communication, collaboration, teamwork, analysis/synthesis/evaluation, independence, confronting/challenging failure, problem-solving and perseverance, and constructive criticism. (Problem Solver, Communicator) 

Convey ideas and knowledge effectively through an ePortfolio and presentation of your internship work. (Problem Solver, Communicator) 

Set and meet your own additional learning goals identified with your supervisor. 

LHSI Qualifications    

must be graduating May 2028 or after (usually a current freshman or sophomore in Spring 2026)   

Current full time IU Indianapolis undergraduate in 2026-27 

minimum overall GPA of 2.0   

All majors welcome 

To apply: 

LHSI accepts 125 interns per year. All available sites are listed in Handshake and will start with the position title “LHSI Intern.” Complete the application for LHSI at go.iu.edu/lhsi and list 3-4 internship sites on that application. You will meet with at least 2 of these if selected for interviews.