Each summer, Johns Hopkins Institute for NanoBioTechnology (INBT) has funding to support several summer research internships abroad. The International Research Experience for Students (IRES) program, funded by the National Science Foundation, provides support for students to work with researchers at The Inter-University MircroElectronics Centre (IMEC) in Leuven, Belgium. Students work at IMEC’s world-class microfabrication facility and learn to design, fabricate and test a wide range of biomedical devices.

Internships can last two to three months, although they can be much shorter depending on the project. They include travel expenses, accommodation and a stipend. The IRES program is open to Johns Hopkins undergraduate and graduate students.

Students are selected through discussions with and recommendation from their advisers. Interns selected must also have a research project that is mutually of interest to investigators at both Johns Hopkins and IMEC. Interested students should contact INBT’s Academic Program Administrator Ashanti Edwards (ashanti@jhu.edu) to being the process of applying for upcoming internships.

During the summer of 2012 five students from Johns Hopkins conducted research at IMEC. They included the following:

Gregg Duncan is a doctoral student in the lab of Michael Bevan, associate professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering. Duncan used dark field microscopy to quantify nanoparticle-cell interactions.

Colin Paul is a doctoral student in the lab of Konstantinos Konstantopoulos, professor and chair of the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. Paul brought cell migration devices fabricated in the Konstantopoulos lab to IMEC to perform proof-of-concept experiments with Nicolas Barbera (see below).

Nicolas Barbera is a rising senior working in the Konstantopoulos lab. Barbera gained skills in fluorescence microscopy, dark field microscopy and hyperspectral imaging.

Sarah Friedrich is a doctoral student from the laboratory of Andre Levchenko, professor of biomedical engineering. Friedrich worked on a platform that could expose cells to both chemical and topographical stimulation at the same time.

Peter Nelson is a rising sophomore working in the lab of Jordan Green, assistant professor of biomedical engineering. Nelson worked developing on a polymer-nanoparticle with the ability to apply hyperthermia (heat) and chemotherapy treatments.

Story by Mary Spiro