MAP Portal: Nationwide Programs

The Johns Hopkins Unviversity Center Scholars Program

Online application is not currently available, please contact the coordinator for an application.

Overview

The Center Scholars Program, developed by Center for Talented Youth (CTY) and The Johns Hopkins Center for Excellence in Genome Science's (CEGS) Dr. Andrew Feinberg, provides an opportunity for CTY-qualified, underrepresented minority students to study genomics and participate in a graduate level research experience. The program is fully funded. Please see the CTY website (www.cty.jhu.edu) for specific program dates.

  • Genetics Course: Session 1 or Session 2
  • Genomics Course: CTY Session 2 only
  • Internship: Runs concurrently with CTY sessions 1 and 2

Eligible students apply first to the CTY course work component, followed by the laboratory internship component. The entire program can stretch over two or more summers.

Eligibility

Eligible candidates are American citizens/permanent residents who, by reason of their culture, class, race, ethnicity, background, would bring diversity to undergraduate or graduate study in the genomic sciences. The program especially encourages applications from African Americans, Hispanic/Latino Americans, Native Americans, Pacific Islanders, and others whose backgrounds and experiences would bring diversity to the field upon graduation from high school and matriculation in an undergraduate institution.

Stipend and Housing

Students participating in the Center Scholars Program are fully funded during their stay.

CTY Component: Students attending CTY summer programs received tuition and fees, books and supplies, as well as travel to and from the campus.

Laboratory Internship Component: The Center Scholars Program will provide students with summer housing, meals, and travel to and from the Johns Hopkins campus. Additionally, all participants enrolled in the internship component of the program will receive a $2,100 stipend.

Host Laboratories

Host Laboratories for the Center Scholars Programs are typically faculty associated with the McKusick-Nathans Institute of Genetic Medicine or Epigenetics Center at the Institute of Basic Biomedical Science, both housed at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. Previous laboratory hosts include:

Dr. Andy Feinberg: Dr. Feinberg did his undergraduate studies at Yale and received his M.D. at Johns Hopkins. He carried out postdoctoral research in developmental biology at UCSD, and in molecular biology at Johns Hopkins, and subsequently was a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator at the University of Michigan. Since 1994, he has been the King Fahd Professor of Medicine, Molecular Biology and Genetics, and Oncology at Johns Hopkins. He and his colleagues identified altered methylation in human cancer, human imprinted genes and loss of imprinting in cancer, and the molecular basis of Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome. He has developed several molecular methods, including random priming. Recently, his group has been studying the epigenetics of human complex traits in general, in a Center of Excellence in Genome Sciences (CEGS) awarded by the Genome Research Institute of the NIH.

Dr. James Potash: Dr. Potash is co-director of the Mood Disorders Program and the director of the George Browne Psychiatric Genetics Laboratory. His research focuses on the genetic basis of major depression, psychotic bipolar disorder and the epigenetics of mood disorders. The lab uses SNP genotyping, DNA resequencing and gene expression studies to define genetic variations involved in susceptibility to mood disorders.

Dr. Jef Boeke: Dr. Boeke is the founding director of the HiT Center. A yeast geneticist by training, he and his colleagues are building a map of all gene-gene interactions in the simple brewer's yeast cell. The data from this massive genome-wide experiment will help identify the functions of the proteins encoded by yeast and the pathways in which they participate. This project will identify possible gene-gene interactions underlying human health and disease, because yeast, though it is a microorganism, is surprisingly similar to humans in important ways. The laboratory is also developing retrotransposons as powerful tools for the functional analysis of genes and genomes.

2 Students were assigned here:

  1. Dr. Sarven Sabunciyan: The goal of this proposal is to determine if gene expression is alered in the cerebellum of individuals suffering from bipolar disorder and/or schizophrenia. The specific aims of the project are: 1) to validate microarray results obtained from a previous study which compared gen expression in the cerebellum between cases and controls; 2) to replicate our findings from aim1 in a second, unrelated set. The student will learn RNA purification from tissue, cDNA synthesis, gel electrophoresis, PCR, real time quantitative PCR, taqman assays.
  2. Dr. Kathleen Murphy: The student will analyze the genetics of complete hydatidiform mole (CHM) which are abnormal products of conception. Analysis will include: isolation of DNA, PCR amplification of short tandem repeat (STR) loci, capillary electrophoresis of PCR products, and comparison of maternal and CHM genotypes.

Principal Investigators (PI)

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Last Reviewed: April 11, 2012