Students Contribute to Research Through IFH’s Internship Program

Nine undergraduate and graduate students from across the country were selected from over 1,200 applicants to participate in the Rutgers Institute for Health’s Summer Research Internship Program. The 10-week program paired students up with faculty mentors to pursue a research project and receive valuable career guidance throughout the summer.

Students also participated in regular forums led by Rutgers Health faculty and research staff who discussed professional development tips and tools, as well as their research and career journeys. Forum leaders included Dr. Janet Alder Assistant Dean for Graduate Academic and Student Affairs at Rutgers School of Graduate Studies and Assistant Vice Chancellor for Postdoctoral Affairs at Rutgers Health; Stephanie Bergren and Francine Cartwright of the NJHealth Study; Dr. Benjamin Bates of the Center for Pharmacoepidemiology and Treatment Science; Dr. Tara Friebel-Klingner of the Rutgers Global Health Institute; Dr. Ethan Halm, Vice Chancellor for Population Health at Rutgers Health; and Drs. John Palatucci and Mandi Spishak-Thomas of the Center for State Health Policy.

Students presented their research and participated in a Q&A during a final seminar wrapping up the program.

Learn about our 2025 Interns:

Elyse Gans, Doctoral student at Lehigh University

Mentor: Elizabeth Stone, Center for Health Services Research

Project: Supported collection and analysis of qualitative interview data as part of an evaluation of New Jersey mental health initiatives, including crisis response services, 9-8-8, mental health first aid, and law enforcement diversion programs.

Anna Chupak, Doctoral student at University of South Carolina

Mentor: Yanping Jiang, Center for Population Behavioral Health

Project: Supported research projects examining neighborhood and interpersonal factors (e.g., social isolation) and their impact on physical and cognitive health among older adults.

Lauren Bauman, Master’s student at Yale University

Mentor: Jennifer Miles, Center for Health Services Research

Project: Supported projects broadly focused on increasing equitable access to evidence-based treatment for opioid use disorder in key settings: emergency departments, residential treatment programs, and community-based recovery homes. Work included coordinating, conducting, and analyzing qualitative interviews with key informants; collecting and analyzing survey data; literature review and manuscript preparation; and analyzing more complex health care administrative data (e.g., electronic health records, health care claims).

Jasmine Li, Master’s student at Yale University

Mentor: Min Hee Kim, Center for Health Services Research

Project: Supported a project using sociospatial inequality and public health infrastructure data linked with the national aging cohort to understand midlife geographic and individual pathways linking education and dementia. Engaged in data compilation/linkage, analyses, and writing papers.

Doris Mwambutsa, Master’s student at Rutgers University

Mentor: Vice Chancellor Ethan Halm, Rutgers Office of Population Health

Project: Supported various population health and health equity research projects aimed at improving outcomes for populations served by Rutgers and its clinical partners. Projects included: Implementing and evaluating interventions to enhance cancer screening and chronic disease management; Participating in the Office’s learning health system research projects; Contributing to and analyzing the Office’s population health education, communication, and community service-learning initiatives.

Varun Vekaria, Master’s student at Rutgers University

Mentor: Michelle Chen, Center for Healthy Aging Research

Project: Supported data analysis and literature review for studies in digital health and neuropsychology.

Safiyeh Tayebi, Doctoral student at Rutgers University

Mentor: Rutgers Global Health Institute faculty

Project:Supported research focusing on the surveillance of zoonotic diseases in high-risk environments by identifying emerging strains and transmission patterns and integrating epidemiological, environmental, and laboratory data for improved risk assessment and outbreak prediction.

Jaelyn Liu, Master’s student at University of Pennsylvania

Mentor: Ben Bates, Center for Pharmacoepidemiology and Treatment Science

Project: Leveraged a linkage between health system cancer registries and electronic health records to describe the characteristics, cancer treatments, healthcare utilization, and health outcomes of cancer survivors. Suppored identification of disparities in care and outcomes and summarized strategies that may be used to mitigate these disparities.

D’Naija Ammons, Bachelor’s student at Howard University

Mentor: Tara Friebel-Klingner, Rutgers Global Health Institute

Project: Supported investigation of breast and cervical cancer screening uptake and cancer diagnostic and treatment pathways in healthcare settings in both Botswana and Tanzania.