Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) partner together to offer distinctive internship opportunities for OHSU trainees to participate in highly-customized research experiences. Our aim is to generate, interpret, and integrate multidimensional omics and imaging data with clinical results to gain mechanistic understanding of disease and develop innovative therapies. We work with trainees who have a focus or thesis within this realm to provide internships that are crafted to specifically meet their unique research aspirations.
PMedIC has helped trainees create internships for a variety of experiences, often focusing on integrative omics. Sometimes, a student has an established data set or banked biosamples and is searching for an opportunity to analyze them with PNNL's advanced equipment, capabilities, and expertise. Other times, trainees develop a strong research proposal in collaboration with their mentor and we're able to assist in matching the student with a PNNL research expert to move the project forward. We often help trainees answer important biological questions using imaging and computer science as they pursue their research topics. The opportunity to intern with at a national laboratory, working in state-of-the-art facilities, and being mentored by world-class experts is rare. We want to help OHSU trainees gain access to this opportunity, designing experiences to connect with their individual research goals.
Each internship takes a customized approach to research and the intern’s experience. We offer hybrid and in-person internships, depending on the needs of the intern and purpose of the research project. If you are an intern hoping to gain more experience with instrumentation, you'll spend a larger portion of time on the PNNL-Richland campus. Located just a little under four hours from the OHSU campus, interns on-site at PNNL have the opportunity to use equipment that may not be available anywhere else, gaining training that is critical to their future as a researcher. Other trainees may have projects that are focused more on the analysis portion of the project, allowing them to complete more of the internship remotely.
The parameters for the focus, modality, and length of internship are designed in collaboration with our PMedIC team and with prospective interns to make sure it delivers the distinctive PMedIC internship value for which we're known.
Ready to connect with us about an internship? We'd love to make that happen. All internships must be initiated with the full-support of your mentor, so it is critical that you have those conversations prior to reaching out to us to begin this process. To prepare for the conversation, please email us with the following information:
Josh Adkins, Ph.D. - PMedIC Co-Director
Jamie Lo, Ph.D - PMedIC Co-Director
Laura R. Erker, Ph.D. - Director of Strategic Partnerships
PNNL is a different kind of national lab. They advance the frontiers of knowledge, taking on some of the world’s greatest science and technology challenges. Distinctive strengths in chemistry, Earth sciences, biology, and data science are central to PNNL's scientific discovery mission. They have 19 core capabilities recognized by the DOE. Each one is a powerful combination of expertise, state-of-the-art equipment, and mission-ready facilities. Core capabilities represent a collective set of skills and a body of world-leading scientific and engineering work.