Cancer Institute

This dynamic, impactful summer internship focuses on oncology clinical research. Interns will contribute to initiatives that expand patient access to new cancer treatments through National Cancer Institute clinical trials, while also supporting investigator-initiated research projects that address critical questions in cancer care and outcomes. Students will assist in efforts to improve patient recruitment and retention in clinical trials, with a focus on access for rural populations. Activities may include outreach strategy development, data analysis of recruitment trends and collaboration with clinical teams to identify barriers to trial participation. Students will be embedded in research teams working on studies ranging from cancer prevention, symptom control and quality of life, and cancer survivorship. Students may contribute to protocol development, literature reviews, data collection and analysis, and manuscript preparation. Students will have the opportunity to shadow oncology investigators, research coordinators, data managers and administrators, gaining insight into the full spectrum of cancer research operations. At the end of the internship, students will present their summer project and findings to peers and faculty at a research symposium. This position will be hybrid, with in-person activities at Geisinger Medical Center in Danville, Pa., and remote work.

Center for Pharmacy Innovation and Outcomes (CPIO)

The CPIO offers undergraduate students a chance to engage in research aimed at improving medication use and optimizing pharmacy services in a learning health system. Students will work closely with mentors on projects that apply mixed methods — either qualitative or quantitative — aligned with CPIO’s mission and their mentor’s expertise. Past student projects have included developing natural language processing tools to extract cannabis use data from electronic health records, evaluating the impact of policy changes on methadone-involved overdoses, analyzing characteristics of educational materials prescribed to patients and assessing the effectiveness of a mail-order pharmacy pricing tool. Students will gain hands-on experience in study design, data collection and analysis, and scientific communication, culminating in a presentation at the summer-end symposium. Exceptional students may have opportunities to contribute to publications. This remote internship is ideal for students interested in health services research, population health and the intersection of pharmacy and public health.

Clinical Genome Resource (ClinGen)

This research program funded by the National Human Genome Research Institute supports central resources to define the clinical relevance of genes and variants for use in precision medicine and research (clinicalgenome.org). Students will have the opportunity to interact with clinicians, clinical genetic testing laboratory staff, researchers and genetic counselors from around the world as they support efforts to evaluate gene-disease validity, dosage sensitivity and/or variant pathogenicity. Since ClinGen is a project within the Department of Developmental Medicine, students can take part in other learning opportunities, including lectures, observations and case conferences. This opportunity may be either hybrid with an in-person component at the Department of Developmental Medicine in Danville, Pa., or fully remote.

Computational Biology Laboratory

Project 1: Cannabinoid-Disease Alignment: AI-Powered Inference of CBD’s Therapeutic Potential

This project uses AI and biomedical databases to evaluate how cannabidiol (CBD) interacts with disease mechanisms at the protein level. Students will assist with literature review, data annotation, and structured query development. Some beginner-level programming may be used, but the focus is on biomedical reasoning and data interpretation. Ideal candidates will have interest in bioinformatics or biomedical research. 

Project 2: Predictive Drug Repurposing: Mapping Protein Targets for Medical Marijuana

This project applies AI and bioinformatics tools to identify drug repurposing opportunities involving cannabinoids. Students will help automate data integration and enhance the Pharmacorank tool using Python. Programming will range from beginner to intermediate level. Ideal candidates will have interest or experience in computational biology, biomedical informatics, and coding. 

Both projects will be in-person at the Medical Sciences Building in Scranton, Pa.

Department of Developmental Medicine

Students will participate in ongoing and novel research projects that align with the Department of Developmental Medicine’s innovative approach to investigating the causes and treatment of neurodevelopmental disorders. Research is conducted across a variety of disciplines including genetics, neuroscience, psychology, developmental medicine, and high-performance computing. Opportunities to shadow our clinicians, including psychologists, behavior analysts, genetic counselors, developmental pediatricians and speech-language pathologists are also provided. This position will be hybrid or remote.

Department of Genomic Health

The Department of Genomic Health leverages expertise in implementation science, molecular and functional genomics, bioinformatics, behavioral science and outcomes measurement in a variety of genomics focused research. Students will work with the genomics team, including MDs, PhDs and genetic counselors, to develop a summer project in genomics. Opportunities exist within Geisinger’s research-based population genomic screening program, the MyCode Genomic Screening and Counseling Program, where numerous research and operational projects focus on returning medically actionable results to participants in a biobank. Students will have the option to job shadow genetic counselors. This position will be mostly remote but may require occasional on-site participation.

Department of Genomic Health: T. Mirshahi Lab

Students will work with scientists using computational approaches and some lab-based techniques to investigate the role of gene expression, cell signaling and genetic variation in health and disease. The research leverages detailed genetic data from over 232,000 clinic patients and their clinical traits from electronic health records (EHR). Current projects incorporate deep learning for image analysis to improve clinical phenotyping, large language models to extract additional insights from EHRs and AI/ML methods to predict clinical outcomes and ways to improve them. Students with a strong computational background are encouraged to apply. Each student will be assigned a project and will provide a summary report at the end of the summer. This position will be 4 days in-person at the Weis Center for Research in Danville, Pa., and 1 day remote.

Department of Genomic Health: Uyenlinh Mirshahi Lab

We study the contribution of genomics on rare and common disorders, aiming to uncover mechanisms and identify individuals at risk of disease. Using the MyCode cohort, our major goals are to apply our findings to improve disease surveillance, care quality and outcomes, all of which are critical aspects of precision medicine.

Projects include:

•  Population-level studies on monogenic endocrine disorders to inform genetic screening.
•  Type 1 diabetes research bridging childhood and adult-onset cases, integrating genetic risk scores to refine classification and improve management.

We welcome students with skills in bioinformatics, programming, big data analysis, or a strong interest in translational genomics and precision medicine. This position may be hybrid with occasional in-person participation at the Weis Center for Research, Danville, Pa.

Department of Genomic Health; Carruth Lab

Students will be assigned to work on a project related to heritable cardiovascular disease. Using computational methods, the student will assess genetic data for >230,000 Geisinger patients and associated clinical data from electronic health records. The student may also assist in the processing and analysis of advanced cardiac imaging data and associate measured features with the presence or absence of qualifying gene variants. An end-of-project report will be provided by the students upon completion. This position may be remote or hybrid.

Population Health Sciences; Justice Lab

Students will choose from several ongoing studies to develop a summer project in genetic epidemiology and bioinformatics. The studies leverage data from >176,000 patients to explore the intersection of genetics, other biomarkers, environmental exposures, and cardiometabolic diseases and risk factors. Major goals of the Justice Lab team include identifying novel genetic risk factors, understanding biological pathways for disease development and progression, and improving disease prediction for earlier intervention. This position will consider in-person, remote or hybrid.

Department of Population Health Sciences & Department of Urology: Garg Lab

The missions of the Garg lab are to: 1) design age-friendly, goal-aligned care for older adults with bladder cancer, and 2) enhance urologic care for rural patients. Students will have an opportunity to select from several projects that could leverage multiple types of research skills. Examples include adapting a shared decision-making tool for older adults with bladder cancer by analyzing qualitative interview and focus group data, working on a scoping review of shared decision-making in bladder cancer, reviewing electronic health records to assess trends in palliative care use, compiling and analyzing survey-based geriatric assessment data from the urology clinic, or data analysis using large databases like SEER or NHATS. We seek students with strong writing and communication skills, excitement about learning new things and an interest in improving care for older adults. Statistical and programming skills are a plus. There is also an opportunity for shadowing in the urology clinic and in the operating room for those who are interested. This position is hybrid with one to two days per week in-person attendance at Geisinger Medical Center in Danville, Pa.