What kinds of programs have you previously attended through Sanford PROMISE?
Mazzi: I have participated in the Sanford PROMISE summer camps since I was in sixth grade. I did one at the Washington Pavilion where we did very basic strawberry DNA experiments. Since then, I’ve gotten involved in the Teen Science Cafe program where we host monthly cafes where we bring in professionals from the healthcare sector, college professors, and whatever we are interested in. Students get a chance to do some hands-on activities and learn about careers. I am on the leadership team for [Teen Science Cafe], and I help plan all [the events]. Other than the camps, I have also participated in Biomedical Research Investigation Day where I learned about ciliopathies.
What are you studying in your internship in the de la Puente Lab?
Mazzi: I have studied a lot of different things under Amrita, who is wonderful. Her project specifically focuses on how ovarian cancer metastasizes to the omentum, which is a layer of abdominal fat. It really negatively impacts your prognosis if the ovarian cancer does metastasize there. So we are working to create an omentum model by essentially, compressing the tumor microenvironment onto a platform where we can model various things that are happening. I have helped Amrita do a lot of image analysis of differentiating these pre-adipocyte cells, which are pre-fat cells into real fat cells that have lipid droplets in them. Fat droplets indicate that they are fat cells, which is necessary to model the omentum because it is a fatty organ. So that is part of what I have done. I have also practiced cell culture technique. I had my own mini-batch of cancer cells that I went through the process of culturing, splitting the cells, that kind of thing. So those were some techniques that I learned.
What kinds of hands-on experience do high school students get when doing internships?
Amrita: I think it depends on the exact internship, and there’s such a wide variety. We try to make sure that all our students learn the basics of cell culture. I had never done cell culture until my PhD. It's a good technique to have under your belt and be familiar with. So that includes thawing cells, growing cells, feeding your cells, splitting cells, and freezing cells. If you are in a lab doing any sort of in vitro work, that is going to be the basis of all your experiments, so we like to make sure students know that. We, in this project, have done a lot of image analysis, which is not the most glamorous job but is important to science. A lot of science is not just doing experiments but is sitting down and analyzing your data. Students should learn to make measurements from the images that they take, as well as make graphs and put together visualizations of the data. Putting together PowerPoint presentations is also an important skill. I think another skill we like to have students see is microscopy. My project involves a lot of microscopy, so I had Mazzi come for a little session and look at it. She was shocked at how long it took to capture each image. It's roughly 10-20 minutes per image, so there’s a lot of downtime. I also think setting up experiments and learning how to keep a lab notebook are important. We will also be working on a couple of new techniques in the next few weeks using a viscometer to measure viscosity. But it depends on the project, like I said. I would say, overall, getting a taste of the research process is probably the biggest skill you can learn. That and documentation, as well as your public speaking as well as your ability to present the science.
What has been your favorite part of the internship experience?
Mazzi: My favorite part is probably getting consistent hands-on lab experience. I've been to the University of Santa Barbara California and the University of Connecticut and done their extended summer research programs. However, those are still only 3-5 weeks, so your hands-on time in the lab and ownership over a project is a lot less than what I have been getting here. The one-on-one guidance has also been wonderful. Following [Amrita’s] journey, she’s getting her MD/PhD, which has been really cool, and helping her through that is really neat. I think the mentorship is a huge aspect just because, as a high schooler, you don’t always get that one-on-one experience with someone who has spent a lot of time within the field of medical research.
How is doing an internship like this in high school beneficial to students?
Amrita: I think you get an experience that is nothing like what you see in school. In school, even in college, I never learned cell culture. It was only when starting to do my PhD work that I was like ‘oh this is how you do cell work’. I think thinking about the research experience, if you are ever interested in doing a PhD or a Masters, or even leading your own research, you need to know how to do the scientific process. No matter how many labs you do in undergrad or high school, you are never going to be given your own research project in the same way that you would if you were doing an internship like this. Not only do you learn specific skills, like cell culture, but you also learn how to think through the entire research process and see something from start to finish. You can see the beginning of generating a question, looking into some sort of health issue, and seeing what kind of techniques we would use to answer the question. I also think that a big part of science is failure, and so internships teach you the skills, teach you the process, and then help build resilience to the process of science which is often messy.
How has serving as a mentor impacted you?
Amrita: I think it has been really fun. Mazzi is the first student I’ve ever had at Sanford. I have learned that I need to prepare for it and make sure I have a plan for each day. I need to be prepared so I can be a better mentor and make the most of the time she has. It's been really fun to see her as an excellent student, learn and grow. I have also learned the importance of figuring out how different people learn and what tools are needed to make sure that my students are on the same page as me. Giving feedback, ensuring that she understands things, making sure I’m able to answer her questions, and going at an appropriate pace are all skills that I’m working on and learning. [These skills are] helpful for any scientist to know because mentorship is a big part of science, and you want to make sure that you have these skills to make the most of that student’s experience. The students can also be such an asset to you. It is such a symbiotic relationship where they can learn a lot, but you also get a lot for your project. I would have drowned if I had to do a ton of image analysis myself, so it was great to have someone who could help me in that aspect, and simultaneously teach that person. Being a mentor has taught me what being a good mentor can look like and how much it can be helpful when your students can learn and complete the tasks you give them.
Has your internship experience shaped the careers you see yourself possibly pursuing?
Mazzi: I think it’s definitely confirmed that I want to do research. I’m interested in majoring in chemical engineering with a biological emphasis so I still get a chemistry foundation with biology on top. Although that’s not necessarily what I am doing here, it's definitely more biomedical engineering focused, it still has reaffirmed that I love research and the trial and error and searching for a long-term goal process that comes with it. Whether I'll pursue academic research, research in a hospital setting, or industrial research, will be dependent on my college experience. However, the fact that I want to be involved with research has definitely been reaffirmed with my internship.
Would you recommend this internship to a friend?
Mazzi: Yes, of course. I have had a fantastic experience so far. I’ve already recommended it to fellow students who are looking at internships during their second semester of senior year. I think, especially if you are interested in research or even just a healthcare career in general, it provides a really good foundation for skills that you will probably need moving forward. I mean most people find themselves ending up in a lab during college, so having that foundation is really critical.
Interested in a Sanford Research internship like Mazzi? Talk to your high school counselor or internship coordinator to determine if you are eligible or reach out to the PROMISE Lab with questions. sanfordoutreach@sanfordhealth.org