Remember when you said you wanted to make a difference? Here is your chance.

Overview of Department & Mentor

Research in the Bottini Laboratory focuses on the study of Protein Tyrosine Phosphatases (PTPs), a family of enzymes that regulate cellular signaling by removing phosphate groups from tyrosine residues, with a specific interest in their role in the pathology of autoimmune disease. Our approach is to integrate aspects of PTP biology ranging from the study of tissue samples from patients to the development and use of animal and cellular models, all the way to protein structure determination, analysis of its relationship to function and the design of strategies for therapeutic intervention. To achieve this goal, we rely on a broad range of technical capabilities available in-house as well as established collaborations with academic and biopharmaceutical labs. Over the last several years, our lab has trained undergraduate interns and master students and successfully made them an important part of our research.

Role Summary & Objectives

We are recruiting one highly motivated Research Interns interested in a long-term commitment to the lab to work on PTPs function in Fibroblast-like synoviocytes (FLS) by using bulk, single cell mRNA sequencing or spatial technology platforms. The students will be full participant in the research activities of the Bottini Laboratory under supervision and their work is expected to result in or provide a major contribution to a manuscript submitted to a peer-reviewed journal. The projects will generally involve the acquisition of skills for primary cell isolation, cells staining, flow cytometry, cell sorting, etc) and basic molecular and cell biology will then be applied in order to validate the results in a cellular context, including molecular cloning, site-directed mutagenesis, cell culture, and in vitro assays. Depending on the direction the work takes and the intern’s interests and aptitudes, other techniques will be applied, such as more advanced cell-based methodology in use in the lab (CRISPR/Cas9, microscopy, gene knock-out/knock-down, migration assays, histology etc.).

The intern will interact daily with the direct supervisor and present/discuss his/her results with the PI approximately every week. A more formal presentation will be held each academic quarter to assess performance and discuss future directions. Over time, the intern is expected to become progressively more independent, however both direct supervisor and PI, along with other lab members with the specific expertise needed will be available to supervise and guide their work over the entire length of the student’s stay. Finally, the intern will be closely involved in the preparation of a manuscript related to the work performed.

Role Activities & Timeline

On the first 1-2 weeks the intern will be briefed on the background and the objectives of the assigned project, given a chance to ask questions and discuss preferences and expectations, and familiarize him/herself with the setup of the lab. Following this, and depending on completion of all the mandated training, he/she will begin training and performing experiments. The focus in the early weeks will be on training and gaining a deeper understanding of the FLS cellular biology and the technical aspects of the project, however there is no specific timeline for the end of the training period. Rather, the intern will start performing experiments and analyzing data as soon as feasible and allowed to progress at his/her own pace, and will be trained on new techniques as required regardless of the time frame. In this phase, priority will be given to the intern’s growth rather than the progress of the work, however a result-oriented attitude will be emphasized from the beginning. There will be a performance evaluation in the form of a presentation at 4 months, at which point the student is expected to have a good grasp of the objectives of the work, the strategies, and the tools to achieve them, the strengths and limitations of the techniques used. A tentative timeline (depending on the length of stay in the lab) is as follows:

• Week 1: Lab orientation and overview of the work.
• Week 2: Start of hands-on training and experiments.
• Week 5: First presentation to and under guidance from the direct supervisor.
• Week 11-12: Formal presentation of the work done to the mentor and performance evaluation. Grading, if applicable.
• Once a quarter thereafter: Formal presentation, grading.
• Months 4-12: Focus on experiments that will help define the direction of the work in more detail. Formulation of an experimental plan for a feasible pathway to a manuscript.
• Months 10-20: Focus on proposed plan.
• Months 18-24: manuscript preparation and submission.

Required Education & Experience

• Must be 18 years of age or older.
• Must have a HS Diploma or GED.
• Must reside in the greater Los Angeles area or surrounding cities while conducting all activities related to the intern appointment.
• INTERNS: Those participating for academic credit must receive academic credit for the duration of the internship.

Preferred Education & Experience

• Interest in pursuing an education or career in bioinformatics strongly preferred.