LHSI Intern: Research Assistant: Healthy Sleep for Kids

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 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: Dr. Sarah Honaker

Department/Office: Medicine; Pediatrics

The Healthy Sleep for Kids research laboratory focuses on ways to identify and treat children with sleep disorders. We currently have several ongoing projects that the intern can learn about and from, however we are looking for 1 or 2 interns to work on specific projects. These are two separate projects, mention the one you're interested in as part of your application description for why you selected this site.

Intern Position 1: The DREAM IT study stands for Designing Realistic Management of Insomnia for Teens. We will be conducting a randomized controlled trial to test a teen insomnia intervention and will need help with data collection, organization, and analysis. The study is conducted virtually over Zoom, and an LHSI intern may be asked to help with actigraphy (wristwatches that record sleep data), scheduling and reminders, and REDCap data management.    

Intern Position 2: The SHH study is a collaboration between Dr. Honaker and reserachers at Purdue University.  This study examines infant sleep and growth in Black and Latinx families. Data collection is complete but we are seeking a bilingual (Spanish/English) student to help with data analysis. We have cultural interviews with mothers conducted in Spanish and will need to code these data into themes. We also have video observations of parents putting their child to bed and will need bilingual coders to help code these interactions.

This lab offers an excellent opportunity for those interested in attending graduate school in the health sciences (i.e., medical school; psychology; public health) or otherwise pursuing careers in research. 

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

Duties include: 1) attending weekly lab meetings and project meetings (which are conducted virtually), and 2) initializing and maintaining sleep trackers used by study participants, 3) scoring sleep data from sleep trackers (actigraphs), and 4) using REDCap to enter and organize data. Hours are flexible. 

For position 1: Work hours will be divided between the laboratory space (HITS Building; 410 W. 10th St) and remotely. 

For position 2: Work hours will be primarily remote, although the intern will have access to a shared laboratory space in the HITS building. 

Interns may have opportunities for authorship on manuscripts and or presentations at national/international meetings.

Work Environment and Dress Code: A lot of our work can be done virtually so students can dress comfortably and casually. We still encourage students to conduct themselves in a professional manner, but there is no set dress code.

Project-specific qualifications: This lab has no prerequisites, but we do hope to work with interns who have the following qualities: attention to detail, independence, and strong communication skills.

Hours per week: Flexible based on student needs (10 maximum), Lab meetings are typically on Fridays 10-11am; other hours 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 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.