Jessica Policastro - Summer 2006 This summer Jessica Policastro will be taking part in the Summer Undergraduate Laboratory Internship (SULI) program at Brookhaven National Laboratory in Upton, New York.  The national program, which was established by the U.S. Department of Energy, is a ten week program in which participants are associated with members of the scientific and professional staff to complete research in a wide array of scientific fields.  Jessica will be completing neuroscience research with a scientist at the laboratory, in which she will be manipulating rats’ brains with methamphetamine and assessing specific effects it has on them.  She will make a poster of the research she takes part in and offer a presentation of the results verbally or in writing, and her work may appear in a contribution to a scientific journal or BNL report. Phil Loscombe - Summer 2006 I just thought I’d drop you a line and update you on my situation here at NIH in Rockville. My experience in the Laboratory of Pathology has been amazing so far. I have learned so many new techniques like in situs, western blots, migration assays, adhesion assays,  microangiography, and more. Dr. Ramchandran was impressed with my digital imaging abilities. All my training with the sheep brain has come in handy. I am even in charge of taking care of all the cell lines and tissue culture work. I’ve been a busy man, working about 10-14 hours a day, 6 days a week, but all my hard work is paying off. Within my 8 weeks here, I have made some great discoveries in regards to our Robo4 study and my PI has included me as second author in a paper that has just been submitted to the Journal of Experimental Medicine. Just to give you a brief background about my specific research, roundabout receptors are a class of guidance molecules that function in both the neural and vascular system by interaction with slit proteins. There are four members in this family of which, Robo4 is the only member expressed in zebrafish embryonic vasculature. Robo4 is also predominantly expressed in tumor vessels. To determine whether Robo combinatorial signaling code has a role in vascular guidance similar to axon guidance, I am investigating the signaling interplay from Robo receptors in a cell culture model system. To culminate my internship, I am presenting my findings at a symposium on August 3rd, followed by a poster presentation of all my summer research. I am very excited and I now realize all the dedication that is required to be a scientist. After speaking with my PI, I am now strongly considering M.D./Ph.D. programs. I can’t wait to start back at Scranton with this direction and I look forward to telling you all about my experience. Brentt Swetter - Summer 2006 Penn State, Hershey Medical Center Amanda Celi - Summer 2005 Sol DeJesus - Summer 2005 Lyndsey Schneider - Summer 2004 Penn State, main campus Kunal Patel - Summer 2003 Penn Stateo Hershey Medical Center Dario Englot - Summers 2002 & 2001 University of Texas, Austin