Monica Lefebvre to spend nine weeks studying with acclaimed scientists.
04.06.2009
LONGMEADOW, Mass.—Monica Lefebvre ’10 of Feeding Hills has recently been accepted into the Harvard-MIT Bioinformatics Summer Program, based at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge and at Harvard-affiliated institutions in Boston. This highly competitive, paid internship is offered to only a select number of students each summer and immerses participants in a rich environment supported by cutting-edge research facilities and expert mentors.
“I’ve always been passionate about science and research, and I’m thrilled to have this opportunity to perform hands-on research related to genetics and the application of information technology to molecular biology,” said Lefebvre. “This internship will allow me to work with acclaimed scientists from around the world, and it is truly a dream come true.”
Lefebvre follows in the footsteps of Kristen Ott ’08, also of Feeding Hills, MA, who is a doctoral candidate at Boston University’s Program in Genetics and a previous Harvard-MIT Bioinformatics Summer Program intern. After viewing Ott’s internship presentation, Lefebvre was inspired to apply for the internship. “When she told us about her experience, I knew this was an opportunity I did not want to miss, and I began the intensive application process,” said Lefebvre.
The internship introduces students to the integration of quantitative and biomedical sciences, providing them with broad knowledge of clinical relevancy as well as specific skills in the information science of genomics. The program combines lectures, clinical case studies and a mentored research project to expose students fully to the exciting world of genomic research. Participants learn skills fundamental to the task of extracting information from the huge amount of data produced by the international Human Genome Project by working with the various tools and databases now available.
As part of the Summer Institute, students also receive guidance through individual tutorials and workshops on preparing and presenting research findings. At the end of the summer, students present their work to the Bioinformatics mentors at a conference. In addition, summer students discuss responsible and ethical ways to conduct research.
“Bay Path has definitely prepared me for this experience,” said Lefebvre, who plans to give a presentation to the Bay Path community following her experience. “I’ve grown a lot as a student, and I’m extremely thankful to Dr. Gina Semprebon and the faculty for this scientific research opportunity. They’re always supportive—my own personal cheering section—and encourage me to pursue my dreams.”
About Bay Path College
Bay Path is a four-year private college with an enrollment of more than 1,700 students at its Longmeadow campus and satellite campuses in Sturbridge/Charlton (MA) and Burlington (MA). The College offers undergraduate degrees for women; graduate degrees for men and women; and Bay Path Online, the College’s online center offering graduate degrees and certificates. For more information on Bay Path College, visit http://www.baypath.edu.
About the Harvard-MIT Summer Institute in Bioinformatics
The Summer Institute in Bioinformatics offers a hands-on research experience for outstanding undergraduate college students considering a career in biomedical engineering and medical science. The Summer Institute in Bioinformatics is sponsored by the National Institutes of Health and is offered as a collaboration between the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology (HST) and the i2b2 National Center Center for Biocomputing. For more about this program, see: http://hst.mit.edu/.
