LHSI Intern: Research Assistant, Autism Health Services 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. Rebecca McNally Keehn 

Department/Office: Medicine and Riley Hospital for Children; Pediatrics 

Overview of the internship site: The Health Equity through Autism Research (HEART) Lab focuses on reducing autism and neurodevelopmental health disparities through the development and evaluation of innovative models of care both within the US and globally. Our team of scientists, healthcare clinicians, caregivers of children with neurodevelopmental disabilities, autistic advocates, and learners are passionate about applying cutting-edge research methods to solve real-world healthcare problems and improve the lives of children, their families, and the healthcare clinicians and systems that care for them. The community – whether rural Indiana or resource-constrained regions of Africa – is our living laboratory and the principles of inclusion, respect, mutual learning and benefit, and equitable partnership guide our scientific collaborations.

Research assistants are part of our vibrant cross-institution local and global health services research team and have the opportunity to gain clinical and experimental 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 the lives of young children with autism and their. Our areas of research focus include:

• Understanding disparities in autism diagnosis to drive new methods for improving healthcare access and equity
• Building capacity of primary care to improve equitable access to autism evaluation at the earliest actionable point
• Using participatory methods to optimize primary care training in early autism evaluation
• Cultural adaptation of autism evaluation tools for use in resource-constrained communities
• Development of autism evaluation models for children from minoritized racial, ethnic, and language backgrounds
• Integration of clinical and biobehavioral approaches to advance early autism diagnosis

Website for more information: https://medicine.iu.edu/expertise/indiana-health/access-to-care/autism/care/ 

Essential Duties and Responsibilities: Tasks may include, but are not limited to, conducting literature reviews, data entry and management, medical record chart abstraction, supporting the research team in preparation for research evaluations, qualitative data analysis, and gaining experience with scientific writing through preparing tables/figures, citation management, and editing manuscripts. 

Work Environment and Dress Code: The work is performed primarily in an office setting; dress code is business casual.

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

Project-specific qualifications: Good communication skills, attention to detail, and ability to work independently and as part of a team. Some experience or interest in working with autistic individuals 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 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 go.iu.edu/lhsi 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.