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Summer 2021 Internships: Tufts Institute for Global Obesity Research (TIGOR)

TIGOR Summer 2021 Internships
 
The Tufts Institute for Global Obesity Research (TIGOR) announces summer 2021 internship opportunities.
 
About TIGOR
TIGOR is a cross-university institute at Tufts to advance obesity science for reducing the prevalence of obesity in national and international populations. Obesity presents an unprecedented global crisis. It is not only a cause of premature death and serious health problems, including diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and stroke, but also an underlying driver of an even broader set of societal problems such as high rates of disability, inefficiency and absenteeism in the workforce, rising health care costs, stigmatization, and bullying. Obesity continues to disproportionately affect certain racial and ethnic groups—particularly Black Americans and Hispanics/Latinos—and individuals with low socioeconomic positions. Research directed towards supporting improvements in obesity prevention and treatment is urgently needed. TIGOR faculty conduct cutting-edge research to inform and scale effective interventions to reduce obesity in the US and worldwide. Our work will advance health equity for all and provide outstanding training for the next generation of researchers. Our team consists of over 40 faculty members along with graduate students from across Tufts University and Tufts Medical Center.
 
Internship Logistics
Given the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, 2021 summer internships can be remote.
 
In addition to numerous opportunities to advance one’s learning in a highly collaborative and dynamic environment, these are paid internships.
 
Current Internship Opportunities
TIGOR is currently accepting applications for three to four (3-4) full-time summer 2021 internships.
 
Interns will be mentored by TIGOR faculty and will be part of their research team and the TIGOR community. They will gain experience in research, data handling, research study coordination, and an understanding of the field. Additionally, there may be opportunities for conducting literature reviews and scientific writing, working on websites, social media, communications, and presentations. In addition to working with a particular mentor, TIGOR interns will have opportunities to interact with and learn from other TIGOR faculty through regularly scheduled activities such as “brown bag” lunches and networking events. Projects include:
 
Identifying Ways to Ensure Research Studies Represent Population Diversity
People of color are often underrepresented in research studies on health and nutrition. This internship will conduct a project to understand the diversity of reasons for low enrollment in research studies by people of color in different racial and ethnic groups, and identify ways to increase enrollment into an online registry on weight management (www.internationalweightcontrolregistry.org). The intern will conduct a literature review, and use social media to identify recruiting strategies, which will then be tested in the registry.

The CoCREATE Study (Child Outcomes in Community-setting Nutrition Research: Engagement, Attrition, and Treatment Effects)
Seeking an intern to assist with research support on a project which applies health equity theory to implementation science to improve the involvement of underrepresented children in nutrition research. This project combines study-, participant-, and environmental-level data from 8 community-based childhood nutrition interventions. The intern will assist in each of the following aspects of the project: manuscript preparation, including literature review, manuscript writing and data visualization; extracting data from publicly available surveillance datasets; creating, cleaning, and managing multiple databases; and attendance at weekly meetings. Experience in statistics and with software such as Stata, R or SAS, GIS, and Microsoft Office preferred.
 
Nutrition Intervention to Improve Health Outcomes of Vulnerable Patients with Lung Cancer
Seeking an intern to assist with research support on a project that evaluates the effect of a medically tailored meal intervention plus nutrition counseling on improving health outcomes of vulnerable patients with lung cancer. The intern would join an interdisciplinary team of researchers and assist in the following aspects of the project: monitoring study enrollment from four participating oncology clinics; monitoring biospecimen collection and research data collection; attending weekly project monitoring meetings, clinical team meetings, and data management team meetings; assisting with data cleaning and managing study databases; and conducting literature review. Prior training and experience in nutrition science and clinical research, or an interest in these areas is preferred.
 
We are committed to the recruitment of a diverse, inclusive group, and thus people of color, women, and members of other underrepresented groups are strongly encouraged to apply.
 
Qualifications
Applicants must be entering their sophomore, junior or senior year of an undergraduate program or must have recently graduated with an undergraduate degree. The internships are open to students with a variety of backgrounds, including in the sciences, engineering, humanities, and social sciences.
·       Interest in some aspect of obesity, including causes, treatment, and prevention
·       Interest in furthering skills related to research
·       Strong communication skills
·       Being well organized, with attention to detail
·       Ability to work independently and as part of a team
·       Familiarity with Microsoft Office suite is required
 
How to Apply
Please submit a cover letter and resume to TIGOR@tufts.edu by May 3rd 2021.
Please address the following questions in your cover letter, limiting your responses to no more than one (1) single-spaced page:
·     Why are you interested in interning with TIGOR?
·     What is your experience with or interest in health equity?
·     Do you have experience working on diversity or inclusion issues?
·     Which project are you interested in pursuing and why? You can select more than one.
·       What will make this a successful internship experience for you?
·       If this internship will be used to fulfill a degree requirement, or for course credit towards a degree, please submit the criteria necessary to meet the requirements.
·     What relevant experience/knowledge/interests do you bring to this internship?
·     What is your availability to work from June to August 2021?
 
 
 
Tufts University is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. Tufts University prides itself on creating a diverse, equitable, and inclusive community. See the University's Non-Discrimination statement and policy here https://oeo.tufts.edu/policies-procedures/non-discrimination/. Applicants can learn more about requesting reasonable accommodations at http://oeo.tufts.edu.