Past Internships

The JJ Vance Memorial Summer Internship in Biological and Computational Sciences is a paid internship awarded to juniors in good standing from high schools in South Florida. The recipients of the internship will participate in an exciting, and challenging, eight-week research course at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. Students spent an intense and educational eight-weeks working alongside faculty, postdoctoral associates, graduate students, and staff in the labs, computing and analyzing data, and learning about genomics and genetics research. Here is a look at our past participants throughout the years:

2025
2024
2023
2021
Congratulations to the 2021 JJ Vance Interns! Back Row: Kathleen Ahrens, Aiden Kong, Diego Zalles, Karam Abilmouna
Front Row: Leah Ellison, Amanda Miyares, Kerryn Xu, Lara Gastelumendi, Jasming Senel, Dhilani Premaratne, Jamil Bouhenguel
2020
Sadly because of COVID-19 we had to cancel our 2020 JJ Vance internship, but we’d still like to honor our finalist!
Top row: Nicholas Horowitz, Frida Casas, George Sprinkle, Andres Sarmiento, Amira Mansuri, David Krajewski
Bottom Row: Laura Lolo, Javier Hurst, Tamara Dandreanatteo, Shea Stone, Nathalie Perez
Not pictured: Aneth Castaneda
2019
Congratulations to the 2019 JJ Vance summer Interns: Pictured L to R front row: Sarita Vargas, Linda Cao, Jocelyn Rivera, Riya Gandhi, Arike Coker, Kalindi Gosine and Daisy Hoover. Pictured L to R back row: Jean Laguerre, Ryan Ellison, Robert Csete, Benjamin Goldstein, Eduardo Ochoa and Alexander Valecillo
2018
Congratulations to the 2018 JJ Vance summer Interns (pictured above). Front row: Artesha Neloms-Miami Jackson Senior High School; Adetola Alonge-Miami Palmetto Senior High School; Rawan Eldabbas-Everglades High School; Nikole Guevara-Miami Coral Park Senior High School; Katherine Morales Pardo-Medical Academy for Science & Technology; Alexa Martinez-BioTECH@ Richmond Heights High School, Sarah Lantsman-Alonzo and Tracy Mourning Senior High Back row: Carolina Alvarez-Coral Gables Senior High School; Gabriel Gallardo-Belen Jesuit Preparatory School; Hadrian Gonzalez Castellanos-Jose Marti MAST 6-12 Academy; Leo Ratzan-Ransom Everglades School; Melissa Canales-TERRA Environmental Research Institute; Hank Ingham-Pine Crest School.
2017
James Acosta, MAST Academy; Elena Sotolongo, MAST Academy; Sydney Sariol, Carrollton School of the Sacred Heart; Evan Costa, MAST Academy; Adriana Isabella Moffat, Riviera Preparatory School; Jaylon Rosamilia, Ft. Lauderdale High School; Zoe Wynne, Ft. Lauderdale High School; Ryan Melchiorre, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School; Maria Meneses, Ft. Lauderdale High School; Celeste Hall, Lincoln Park Academy; Nicole Fernandez, McArthur High School; Christel Mera, College Academy at Broward College; and Gabriela Blandino, Archimedean Upper Conservatory.
2016
Congratulations to the 2016 JJ Vance summer Interns, Gloria Alfonso, School for Advanced Studies, Genesis Dias, Carrollton School of the Sacred Heart, Michael Dorsey, School for Advanced Studies, Ryan Guillen: Ransom Everglades, Lordean Gustinvil: Coral Reef Senior High School, Mayra Martinez, Archimedean Upper Conservatory, Regina Monteavaro, G. Holmes Braddock Senior High School, Nathalie Ramos, G. Holmes Braddock Senior High School, Warren Sapp, Fort Lauderdale Senior High School, Paola Valinski, Dr. Michael M. Krop Senior High School, Michael Wei: Robert Morgan Educational Center.
2015
From Left: Sedarah Knowles: Miami Central SHS, Bruny Garcia: Miami Springs SHS, Franklin Zhang: Nova HS, Linda Shahin:Archimedean Upper Conservatory, Jonathan Lee: Westminster Christian HS, Christopher Solano:TERRA Environmental Research Institute, Mariana Gomez: South Broward HS, Margherita Tonini: Miami Beach SHS, Luis Fornes: Archimedean Upper Conservatory, Mariam Farag: Dr. Michael Krop SHS, Carlotta Verita: Ransom Everglades, Ismael Mercier: G. Holmes Braddock SHS, Daniel Dager: Belen Jesuit, Jordan Ledgister: Pines Charter.
2014
2014 JJ Vance Memorial Summer Interns are, from left, Diana Milton, Alina Andrews, Jeffery Ferguson, Antonio Menarde, Julia Keyes, Blake Thomas, Camille Dulin, Giovanni Chiarella, Janel Weatherly, Dorothy Alexis, and Jewly Fleuristil.
2013
Loren Hernandez – American Senior, Michael Ivory – North Miami Senior High. Kevin Clark – Coral Reef Senior High, Sachin Parekh – Gulliver Preparatory School, Isabelle Csete – New World School of the Arts, Julie Luo – Miami Lakes Education Center, Kassala Collington – North Miami Beach Senior High, Briana Ramirez – Miami Jackson Senior High, Tiffanie Henriquez – North Miami Senior High.
2012
Pictured from left to right: Bowman Brown – Ransom Everglades School, Nalini Rao, Gulliver Preparatory School, Lauren Shahin, Archimedean academy, Francis Curiel, Archimedean academy , Tina Esfandiary, Felix Varela Senior High, Joany Lamur, Coral Reef Senior High , Emily Keyes , Ransom Everglades School, Alykhan Nurani, Ransom Everglades School, Richard Williams – Booker T. Washington High School
2011
From left to right: Guney Bademci, Ph.D., Shaun Brothers, Ph.D., Dale Hedges, Ph.D., Alexander Shahin, Neil Mehta, Kehinde Alonge, Albert Liu, Danny Arzu, David Green, Margaret Pericak-Vance, Ph.D., Matteo Kruijssen, Alyssa Civantos, Jeffery Vance, M.D., Ph.D., Gary Beecham, Ph.D., Derek Dykxhoorn, Ph.D., Aaron Uhlenberg
2010
2010 JJ Vance Summer Interns: (from left) Jose Devilla, Teresa Logue, Erika Cardona, Yates Brown, Adrian Sanchez-Roig, Logan Roberts and Taryn McNair
2009
2009 JJ Vance Summer Interns: (from left) Justin Paluch – Miami Country Day School, Arielle Kushman – Ransom Everglades, India McMillan – North Miami Beach High, Ashli Marie Wright – North Miami Senior High, Elizabeth Elmaleh – Miami Palmetto High School
2005
Nicole Hansen was a part of the team studying the genetics of Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) disease. With an interest in human genetics, Nicole was able to work in a real lab, on real world problems, using real DNA from study participants. “My internship has definitely helped me make career decisions. During my time in the lab, I really felt like I was doing something worthwhile and important.”
Mangala Iyengar participated in the search for the genes that cause autism at the Duke Center for Human Genetics. Both Mangala and Nicole worked in the lab alongside the research technicians and analysts and performed the full range of lab technician tasks, including PCR, running gels, and doing sequencing.
According to Mangala, “I’ve been thinking about going into biomedical research. Last year I worked in hematology, and this year I was fortunate enough to work here and study genetics. The best part of being a JJ Vance Intern was working with the post-docs. They were really cool about explaining things, including the theory behind PCR and not just its application.”
2004
Steve DeLong joined Duke Center for Human Genetics’s search for the genes that cause autism. Steve worked at the lab bench beside the research technicians and analysts. He performed the full range of lab technician tasks-doing PCR, running gels, and doing sequencing.
According to Steve, ” The best part of being a JJ Vance Intern was the realism. I was able to work in a real lab, on real world problems, using real DNA from study participants. At this point, I’m not sure what my career will be, but I am certain that it will involve science. After completing this internship, I feel like I have a head start on whatever career goals I end up pursuing.”
2003
Despite a summer of hard work in a busy genetics lab, interns Benjamin Piven and Maximilian Shafir enjoyed a great summer research experience.
Ben Piven spent the summer performing mutation screening and genotyping with the Alzheimer disease group. Ben played an important role in the Duke Center for Human Genetics search for the genes that causes Alzheimer disease by running SNPs (single-nucleotide polymorphisms) on chromosome 15.
Ben said, “My summer in the lab showed me what goes on in medical research and gave me the experience that I would need for a possible career in medicine. My project was very interesting and I learned a lot.”
Intern Max Shafir was assigned a possible Parkinson’s disease candidate gene, NR4A2, and asked to do mutation screenings of a specific family. Max screened eight individuals from the family of four generations and found a polymorphism in two individuals.
At summer’s end, Max said, “I would recommend this experience to everyone. I made wonderful friends here and learned a lot more then I thought I would have just by watching and listening to the people around me in the lab. I learned lab experience, techniques and good social skills. This was a very fun summer even though it was a lot of hard work. I would say this is one of the best internships you can have the privilege of doing.”
2002
Although each CHG intern is not required to bake a chromosome cake, the CHG staff will long remember JJ Vance Memorial Intern Kate Crandall for her superlative effort. During summer 2002, Kate performed genetic mutation screening for the CHG Neural Tube Defect Research Group. Before leaving for Yale University, the recent East Chapel Hill High graduate said, “It was an amazing summer experience and I learned so much.”
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill freshman Sukaina Ahmad gained valuable experience in autism mutation screening through her work with the CHG Genomics Research Lab. The East Chapel Hill High School graduate said that “the internship was challenging to me and taught me many things about genetics and working in a lab. I think the most useful skill I learned was learning how to communicate efficiently with other people.” By successfully completing her Parkinson disease mutation screening project, Chapel Hill High School senior Natalie Rubinstein achieved another step towards a career in science. Natalie said, “The internship was both challenging and stimulating. I found the project assigned to me engaging. The research group meetings and the talks on Parkinson disease helped me understand the larger context of the specific work I was doing.”