LHSI Intern: Liver Fibrosis Research

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. Jessica Maiers

Department/Office: Medicine; Department of Medicine

Overview of the internship site: Liver cirrhosis is a global health burden leading to over 1 million deaths annually, and a key driver of cirrhosis is progressive fibrosis. Fibrosis is reversible if the injury is removed, but to date no approved therapeutics limit or reverse fibrosis. New strategies to target fibrosis are urgently needed. Chronic liver injury activates hepatic stellate cells (HSCs), which produce, secrete, and deposit vast amounts of matrix proteins, key among them procollagen I. Targeting procollagen I secretion or promoting HSC apoptosis are potential therapeutic strategies, but are as of yet unrealized. Prolonged secretion leads to cellular stress, but HSCs adapt to this stress through unclear mechanisms and continue to migrate, proliferate, and secrete fibrogenic proteins. My lab studies cellular stress responses including the Unfolded Protein Response to understand how HSCs adapt to the stress caused chronic secretion of fibrogenic proteins, We hope that by understanding how these stress responses permit fibrogenesis, we can develop anti-fibrotic strategies to benefit patients.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities: Students will be engaged in research through assisting lab personnel with experimental protocols, including Western Blots, qPCR, and cell culture. As the student progresses, there is potential to perform independent research.

Work Environment and Dress Code: The work is performed primarily in a lab setting; with dress code Pants, closed toed shoes

Hours per week: Maximum of 10 hours, scheduling is flexible within regular work hours

Project-specific qualifications: Qualities such as attention to detail and good notetaking will benefit students.

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 IUI undergraduate

·        minimum overall GPA of 2.0 

·        All majors welcome

To apply:

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