Offered by the SUNY Neuroscience Research Institute (SUNY NRI) at SUNY Old Westbury, the Summer Science Early Laboratory Skills Training Program (SELSTP) provides High School Students with an opportunity to learn both the principles and applications of neuroscience laboratory techniques as they relate to: environmental neurotoxicology, developmental neuropathology, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, dementia, frontoexecutive disorders and syndromes, learning and memory, anxiety, fear learning and post-traumatic stress disorders, gerontology and aging processes, attentional processes of visual eye tracking, emotional facial recognition and galvanic sweat response correlates of emotional arousal, autobiographical memory, etc. under the direct mentorship of experienced neuroscience faculty. Students will gain invaluable early laboratory skills and foundational knowledge with hands-on research experience to conduct research along-side faculty.
The SELSTP provides students with the following opportunities:
- Gain an early start in learning about neuroscience research within a College level environment.
- Understand the methodology and experimental design of neuroscience laboratory studies.
- Obtain hands-on applied learning skills to acquire neuroscience laboratory techniques.
- Exposure to Faculty direct supervision and training along with College student’s peer-to-peer technical skills training.
- Appreciate a range of different models to approach a single research question, while applying such knowledge in translational research.
Who is the SELSTP Designed for?
High School Students in grades 11 & 12 who are at least 17 years of age or older, who would like gain early laboratory experience working in a neuroscience laboratory under the direct supervision of experienced faculty research scientists. Please understand that space is limited and we request that applicants only apply to one laboratory per summer.
How to Apply to the SELSTP?
Please submit the following required application materials via email to one faculty research scientist from the list below that you would like to work with in the summer. If an application is missing materials, it will be filed as incomplete and the applicant will not be considered for the summer program.
- Completed Application form
- Copy of most recent high school transcript
- Copy of most recent Resume/Curriculum vitae (CV)
- 2 Letters of recommendation from current science teachers/instructors who can speak of the student’s knowledge and interest in doing science
- 2 forms of personal identification (i.e., NYS Drivers’ License or NYS-non Driver ID Care and an official high school ID)
- A completed parent consent form to attend the SELSTP
SELSTP Schedule, Pick-up and Drop-off Info
Each faculty research scientist will review and inform the applicant of their laboratory program daily start and end times 2-weeks prior to the program beginning.
Campus Map
SELSTP Faculty Research Scientists, Their Laboratory Descriptions, and Email Addresses:
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Cadet Lab: Dr. Patrick Cadet’s laboratory focuses on genetic, molecular, and cellular programs related to neuroprotection, neurodegeneration, and neuropathological states of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, and dementia via the central nervous systems endogenous opiate pathways.
Email: cadetp@oldwestbury.edu
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Zhu Lab: Dr. Wei Zhu’s laboratory focuses on developing novel drugs as therapies for a wide-range of developmental neuropathologies and aging disorders to ameliorate human central nervous system diseases via the endogenous opiate and other pathways.
Email: zhuw@oldwestbury.edu
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Neuwirth Lab: Dr. Lorenz S. Neuwirth’s lab focuses on the effects of environmental neurotoxicants on the developing brain and later life behavioral consequences such as frontoexecutive dysfunctions, anxiety- and autism-like phenotypes, learning and memory problems, decision making, odor discrimination, and behavioral psychopharmacology applications for translational biomedicine.
Email: neuwirthl@oldwestbury.edu
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Mukherji Lab: Dr. B. Runi Mukherji’s lab focuses on the cognitive perceptions and attitudes of young adults on aging and how their perceptions shift when exposed to aging/geriatric suit simulation devices.
Email: mukherjib@oldwestbury.edu
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Park Lab: Dr. Lillian H. Park’s lab focuses on the cognitive processes underlying attention, emotion, and autobiographical storage and retrieval memory of the self and how it differs from the autobiographical memory created by others. (Dr. Park is currently not accepting any students into her lab.)
Email: parkl@oldwestbury.edu -
Benau Lab: Dr. Erik Benau’s lab focuses on the interaction of cognition and emotion.
Email: benaue@oldwestbury.edu
SELSTP Timeline:
- Application submission period begins March 1st and ends on April 30th of each calendar year.
- May 15th: Applicants will be notified of their acceptance.
- There are no costs to be incurred by applicants accepted into the SELSTP.
- The SELSTP runs from the last week of June to the first week of August (i.e., 6-weeks every summer). Please note that based on faculty research scientist availability, the SELSTP may run from a range of 4-6 weeks. Please reach out to each faculty research scientist for specific availability and details prior to applying.
Program Details:
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Each faculty research scientist will request an in-person meeting to review with their accepted applicant the details of the summer SELSTP at least 2-weeks prior to the start date.