The Center for Reproductive Medicine is a joint research program of the Cleveland Clinic Glickman Urological & Kidney Institute (rated as No. 2 in the country by the US News and World Report) and the Ob/Gyn & Women's Health Institute (rated as No. 6 in the country). Our Center is rated as a leading center of excellence at the world-class Cleveland Clinic, which is recognized by U.S. News & World Report as one of the nation's best hospitals, ranked as No. 4 in the country. Over the past 17 years our Center has trained more than 200 pre-med/ medical students, physicians, scientists and biologists from all over the world.

The Center's summer internship offers an opportunity for students interested in gaining a research experience in human fertility and reproductive biology and the opportunity to working with world-renowned scientists and researchers. Members of our staff publish frequently in our field's most respected journals, are invited guest speakers at important scientific/ medical meetings and courses around the world and are active in the leading professional societies in the exciting field of human reproductive medicine.

The Center for Reproductive Medicine at Cleveland Clinic has an exciting summer internship opportunity for highly motivated, academically oriented medical or undergraduate students interested in a career in medicine.
 
Our environment of academic and clinical collaboration offers an unsurpassed experience for students that include:

• Experiencing a state-of-the-art research environment
   
• Training in the art and science of conducting basic and clinical research
   
• Mentoring by renowned researchers at a world-class medical institution
   
• Developing a solid foundation for a research or clinical track career in medicine
   

The program's goal is to encourage students to consider a career in medicine, whether in the reproductive sciences or another specialty of their choosing. To this end, we have designed the summer internship to offer students a wide range of high quality experiences. During this eight-week program, participants will:

• Work alongside reproductive scientists and clinicians on interesting research projects in a real laboratory setting
   
• Interact with reproductive endocrinologists, gynecologists, male infertility specialists and urologists and observe them in clinics or surgery
   
• Participate in the writing of research articles, systematic reviews and/ or invited book chapters in the field of reproductive endocrinology, assisted reproduction and/ or male & female infertility
   
• Participate in daily lectures, research meetings and group discussions
   

Students will develop an understanding of how reproductive research is conducted. Participants will also learn how to:

• Present research results in departmental meetings
   
• Prepare and present PowerPoint talks at research conferences
   
• Perform various data compilation and analysis techniques
   
• Hone their public speaking skills
   

Who can apply?

Undergraduate, graduate, medical students and residents.

How to apply:

Our selection procedure for summer internship positions is highly competitive. Twenty students were selected to participate in our program in the summer of 2008. Interested applicants should submit the following:

• Recent curriculum vitae/resume
• At least two recent letters of recommendation from advisors, teachers, or persons who have a firsthand knowledge of the candidate. The following is not acceptable: LORs sent as an e-mail and not printed on official letterhead, not carrying a signature, letters written more than 6-8 weeks before the date of submission. What is acceptable: LORs submitted via e-mail as scanned files either directly by the referee or a candidate
• Address and telephone number for a personal interview
• A 500-word personal statement
• Proof of medical insurance
• A letter stating that the participant has the necessary funding to support him/herself for the during the 8-week program (the internship is unfunded and no financial support is available)
• An application processing fee of USD 100.00 in the form of a money order or certified bank check only - payable to "2008 Internship in Reproductive Medicine". This fee is nonrefundable.
• A nonrefundable course fee of USD 750.00 will be required from candidates accepted for the internship. This fee may be submitted as a money order or certified bank check (no personal checks) made payable to "2008 Internship in Reproductive Medicine"

Where to submit:

Program Director
Center for Reproductive Medicine
Glickman Urological & Kidney Institute and
  Ob-Gyn and Women's Health Institute
Cleveland Clinic
9500 Euclid Ave., Desk A19.1
Cleveland, OH 44195 USA
Tel: (216) 444-9485; Fax: (216) 445-6049
E-mail: agarwaa@ccf.org

Other Important Information:

• Applicants must be US citizens or permanent residents. A candidate who is not a US citizen or green card holder may be appointed as an Observer. Read our requirements for Observership in Reproductive Biology.
• Research work conducted during the internship may qualify for undergraduate course credit(s). Interested participants should check with their academic advisers.
• Successful completion of internship results in the award of a Certificate of Research Training from our Center for Reproductive Medicine.
• Summer Interns Resource Kit

Research and Clinical Laboratories occupy over 2500 square feet of workspace with state-of-the-art instruments and facilities for advanced research in the pathophysiology of male and female reproductive dysfunction and research in the field of erectile dysfunction. Instruments include: computer assisted semen analyzers, luminometer for oxidative stress measurements, equipment for western blot, culture room equipped with a sterile hood, several incubators, microscopes, and a Narishige micromanipulator fitted on an inverted phase-contrast microscope, spectrophotometers, ELISA plate reader, centrifuges, liquid nitrogen storage tanks, programmable freezers, cold room, etc. The laboratory has ready access to over a dozen specialized core laboratories within the Cleveland Clinic Research Institute. These include: molecular biotechnology, flow cytometry, gene expression, transgenic/knockout facilities, etc. For more information on these core laboratories, please visit: http://www.lerner.ccf.org/services.

The office space for Fellows is equipped with over 2 dozen computers with laser printers, scanners, copiers, and all the necessary software programs. All computers in the Center are connected to the Cleveland Clinic's network system that provides direct access to most online journals related to the field of medicine, urology, reproductive medicine, andrology, etc. A large collection of scientific journals, electronic journals/books, and other databases are available through our newly modernized Cleveland Clinic Alumni Library. A team of statisticians working in the Department of Quantitative Health Sciences provide research support to the Fellows. The Arts and Graphics Department supports the preparation of research posters and lecture slides for presentations at national meetings.
 
Click here for a virtual 360° tour of the Center for Reproductive Medicine

• Dr. Adi Mehta (Staff in Endocrinology and Metabolic Diseases)
   
• Dr. Ahmed Ragheb (Fellow in Male Infertility)
   
• Dr. Ahmet Erdemir (Director, Biomedical Engineering Core)
   
• Dr. Amr Kader (Fellow in OB/GYN)
   
• Dr. Amiya Banerjee (Section Head, Virology)
   
• Dr. Anthony Thomas (Staff in Bioethics)
   
• Aparna Thiyagarajan, MS (Research Fellow, Andrology)
   
• Dr. Ashok Agarwal (Staff in Urology and Director, Center for Reproductive Medicine)
   
• Dr. Ali Ahmady (Lab Director, MacDonald Fertility and IVF Program)
   
• Dr. Alan Lichtin (Staff, Taussig Cancer Institute)
   
• Dr. Belinda Willard (Director, Proteomics Core)
   
• Dr. Brian Davis (Director, Medical Device Solutions)
   
• Bridget Gorman (Administrator, Dept of Urology)
   
• Dr. Charles Modlin (Staff, Transplantation Center)
   
• Dr. Courtenay Moore (Staff in Urology)
   
• Dr. Daniel Shoskes (Staff in Urology)
   
• Dinah Chen (Summer Intern 2008)
   
• Dr. Donald Evenson (President and Director, SCSA Diagnostic Inc.)
   
• Dr. Edmund Sabanegh (Staff in Urology and Chief, Center for Male Fertility)
   
• Dr. Ehab Barakat (Research Fellow in Gyn)
   
• Dr. Eric Klein (Chairman, Glickman Urological and Kidney Institute)
   
• Dr. Earl Poptic (Manager, Hybridoma Core)
   
• Dr. Holly Thacker (Director, Center for Specialized Women's Health)
   
• Dr. James Goldfarb (Director, Beachwood Fertility Center)
   
• Jeff Hammel, MS (Senior Biostatistician)
   
• Dr. Jeffrey Goldberg (Staff in OB/GYN)
   
• Dr. Jennifer Hunt (Staff in Anatomic Pathology)*
   
• Dr. Jianbo Li (Senior Biostatistician, Department of Quantitative Health Sciences)*
   
• Dr. Jim Posillico (President and CEO, Molecular Biometrics, LLC)
   
• Dr. John Kefer (Chief Resident, Urology)
   
• Dr. Judy Drazba (Director, Imaging Core Facility)
   
• Kelly Athayde, MS (Embryologist)
   
• Dr. Karl Drogo Montague (Director, Center for GU Reconstruction)
   
• Katherine O'Flynn O'Brien (Summer Intern 2008)
   
• Dr. Kristina Sole (Associate staff, Ob/Gyn)
   
• Dr. Linda Bradley (Staff in OB/GYN)
   
• Lauren Metterle (Summer Intern 2008)
   
• Leslie Greenhalgh (IVF Nurse, Ob/Gyn)
   
• Dr. Lillian Gonsalves (Vice chair, Psychology and Psychiatry)
   
• Dr. Manjula Gupta (Staff in Clinical Pathology)
   
• Dr. Margaret McKenzie (Staff in OB/GYN)*
   
• Dr. Marjan Attaran (Staff in OB/GYN)
   
• Dr. Maria Siemionow (Section Head, Plastic Surgery Research)
   
• Dr. Maciej Zborowski (Staff, Biomedical Engineering)
   
• Dr. Monish Aron (Staff in Urology)*
   
• Dr. Peter Zsolt Nagy (Director, Reproductive Biology Associates, Atlanta)
   
• Dr. Pieter Faber (Manager, Genomic Core)
   
• Dr. Rakesh Sharma (Coordinator, Center for Reproductive Medicine)
   
• Dr. Renliang Zhang (Manager, Mass Spectrometry Core)
   
• Dr. Reda Mahfouz (Fellow in Andrology)
   
• Dr. Rima Dada (Associate Professor, AIIMS, India)
   
• Dr. Sajal Gupta (Staff in Urology and Supervisor, Andrology Lab)
   
• Dr. Satya Yadav (Staff in Lerner Research Institute)
   
• Dr. Sheryl Kingsberg (Chief, Division of Behavioral Medicine)
   
• Dr. Sijo Parekattil (Director, Male Infertility, University of Florida)
   
• Dr. Stanley Hazen (Section Head, Preventive Cardiology)
   
• Dr. Stephen Jones (Chairman, Regional Urology)
   
• Suzanne Pare (IVF Nurse, OB/GYN)
   
• Sylvia Morrison (Director of Marketing)
   
• Dr. Tommaso Falcone (Chairman, OB/GYN and Women's Health Institute)
   
• Dr. Thomas Powell (Staff, Glickman Urology)
   
• Vaishali Kale, MS (Research Fellow, Andrology)
   
• Dr. William Hurd (Director, Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility, University Hospital)
   
• Jodith Janes (Medical Librarian)
   
• Amy Moore (Manager, Scientific Publications)
   
• Cathy Shemo (In charge, Flow Cytometry Core, Lerner Research Institute)
   
• Lynn Novelli (Medical Editor)
   

The summer interns gave 10 minute presentations on the final day of the 2008 Summer Internship program held on July 25, 2008. The presentations started from 8 AM in the morning to 4 PM. The reception dinner started from 6 PM onwards and included presentations from guest speakers, award ceremony and dinner at the Intercontinental Hotel at Cleveland Clinic.