LHSI Intern: Research Assistant, neurodevelopmental disorders

Program Summary:  

This internship is offered as a part of the Life-Health Sciences Internship Program (LHSI). This program connects 125 IUI 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 2024 and end in May 2025 and are paid $13/hour for up to 10 hours per week. Work-study is accepted but not required. IU Indianapolis students will be eligible for 2025-26. 

Supervisor: Dr. Eva Kurtz Nelson

Department/Office: Riley Hospital for Children; Division of Developmental Medicine

Overview of the internship site: The Division of Developmental Medicine at Riley Hospital is committed to improving the clinical care of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and other neurodevelopmental disorders (NDD). We have developed a clinical research registry and database that offers all of our patients the opportunity to participate in clinical NDD research. When patients arrive for appointments, they are asked if we can use their de-identified clinical data for research. We enter data from these appointments into a secure Redcap database. These appointments are often interdisciplinary, including psychology testing, speech testing, and visits with our pediatricians. Interns will have the opportunity to observe clinicians, learn more about clinical data, and expand their knowledge of autism and NDDs. Dr. Eva Kurtz-Nelson is a clinical psychologist and NDD researcher with interests in clinical research phenotyping and rare genetic disorders associated with NDDs.

Website for more information: https://medicine.iu.edu/pediatrics/specialties/child-development

Essential Duties and Responsibilities: Individuals who will be a part of this project will primarily help with data management and entry. Currently, our clinician's and staff help with uploading the necessary data into a secure research database (REDCap). The LHSI Intern will help with processing the data forms that are uploaded and entering the scores from testing.

Work Environment and Dress Code: The work is performed primarily with dress code business casual

Hours per week: flexible based on student needs (10 maximum), scheduling is flexible within regular work hours

Project-specific qualifications: The ideal candidate will demonstrate the ability to work independently; however, regularly scheduled supervision and training with the current Research Manager will occur. Further, the candidate will have excellent attention to detail and demonstrate the ability to multitask effectively. Lastly, the ability to perform repetitive tasks with a high degree of accuracy is preferred.

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 2027 or after (usually a current freshman or sophomore in Spring 2024) 

·        Current full-time IUI undergraduate, full time IU Indianapolis in 2025-26  

·        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.