STEM Education

Oluwatomi Oladunni, STEM summer intern, with Assistant Investigator Erica Cai, PhD

Future STEM leaders

One of the primary goals of the Indiana Biosciences Research Institute (IBRI) is to grow the biomedical community by being a catalyst for innovation and supporting STEM education. By focusing on high school and undergraduate students in the IBRI neighborhood, the organization hopes to create a pipeline for young Hoosiers to gain the knowledge and skills needed to stay in Indiana and pursue scientific careers.

In 2023, the IBRI will also launch its own college internship program.

Tam Tran, Pike High School student with Senior Staff Scientist Mustapha Moussaif, PhD.

Indiana CTSI Project SEED/STEM

Each summer the IBRI hosts approximately five interns from neighboring high schools who are interested in pursuing college careers in STEM.

For eight weeks they work in IBRI labs, learn from IBRI assistant investigators and become part of the IBRI team. 2022 was the first year, since the pandemic began, that students participating in the Indiana CTSI’s (Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute) Indianapolis Project SEED/STEM at the IBRI were able to give poster presentations to their peers, mentors, family and friends.

Image of Herron High School in Indianapolis

Herron High School campus in Indianapolis.

Herron Classical Schools Internship

For the second time, the IBRI partnered with Herron Classical Schools to host two high school seniors for the full school year in its labs.

Mya Suber, who worked in the Flak Lab, arrived at the IBRI interested in environmental science, but open to exploring the biomedical field and the IBRI’s diabetes research. As the internship came to a close Suber said, “I loved assisting my lab team members. They are all so passionate about what they do. I want to go into research because of this experience.”

Giovanna Wunaki worked with team members in the Kalwat Lab and the Cai Lab to learn foundational skills like pipetting and to be introduced to scientific equipment that wasn’t available at her school. Wunaki said, “The IBRI provided me with an advantage to learn that has prepared me to further my academic career at Purdue University.

Providence Cristo Rey High School Sophomore Kaleel Mumford and his mentor, Lisa Soard.

Providence Cristo Rey High School (PCRHS) Corporate Work Study

The IBRI was introduced to the PCRHS Corporate Work Study program in 2021 by its IT partner, BlackInk IT. This is when the IBRI first met freshman PCRHS student Kaleel Mumford. During his first year at the IBRI, he helped enter data into the back end of the IBRI website, making the new site possible. He worked with the projection systems in the IBRI conference rooms and learned how to keep data and networks secure.

Back at the IBRI as a sophomore, Mumford has explored the Institute’s advertising campaigns, learned how to use CSS (Cascading Style Sheets), a rule-based coding language, and continued to build upon his IT experience. Mumford said, “[Working at the IBRI has been] a good experience that has helped me to get ahead and learn how to program.”

IBRI Summer College Internship Program

The IBRI has designed an internship program for college students to obtain applied learning experience that will complement and extend their traditional education. These experiences will help the students explore potential career opportunities and assist in clarifying personal and educational goals.

Students in the IBRI internship program can choose to explore medicinal chemistry, computational chemistry, bioinformatics, cellular pharmacology, induced pluripotent stem cell technologies, disease pathogenesis, as well as competitive intelligence and finance.

Advance Research

Give Now

2022 Annual Report

Financials