LHSI Intern: Neuroscience of decision-making and addiction

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 2025 and end in May 2026 and are paid $13/hour for up to 10 hours per week. Work-study is accepted but not required.  

Supervisor: Christopher Lapish 

Department/Office: Medicine; Anatomy, Cell Biology, and Physiology 

Overview of the internship site: Have you ever wondered how drugs alter brain function, or why people struggling with substance abuse tend to make bad decisions? Our lab studies the neuroscience of substance abuse by examining brain function in rat models. Our goal is to understand how brain cells carry out decision-making and how this process is altered in addiction. If we can achieve this goal we think that we can identify new treatments for this disease. 

Website for more information: www.lapishlab.com 

Essential Duties and Responsibilities: Typical duties for this task involve behavioral neuroscience experiments, which involves handling rats. In addition, this position would requiring microscopy work to quantify brain anatomy. 

Work Environment and Dress Code: The work is performed primarily in a lab setting with dress code casual 

Project-specific qualifications: The only prerequisite is a positive attitude and the willingness to learn. 

Hours per week: 10; Hours are flexible, but should be consistent 

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 2025)   

Current full time IU Indianapolis undergraduate 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.