Student Research Opportunities

CINID member labs support students who wish to gain research experiences as part of their training. These experiences can be gained through volunteering, summer projects and rotations. Many projects result in presentations and/or authorship on publications.

Our center, with the assistance from the Office of Medical Student Research Opportunities, welcomes research training inquiries from EVMS students including those affiliated with the EVMS Research Society. 

Research areas are described below. . Please contact individual labs or METRO (MEdical sTudent Research Opportunities) for availability.

• The Drug Addiction Research Laboratory provides opportunities in both molecular and system levels (behavioral tests) to examine interactions between drugs of abuse and neuroimmune signaling.  Students can learn about the neurobiological mechanisms underlying the development of drug addiction through a variety of in vitro and in vivo techniques including cell culture, WBs, qRT-PCR, immunostaining, and self-administration mouse models. Contact: Minglei Guo, PhD    
• The Dobrian Laboratory offers opportunities in metabolic and vascular areas. Students will learn in vivo and in vitro experimental approaches to answer questions that focus on mechanistic contribution of vascular dysfunction to liver disease, insulin resistance of adipose tissue and pancreatic islet functional demise. Contact: Anca Dana Dobrian PhD, FAHA
• The Musto Laboratory, together with collaborators, provides a learning environment where students can explore the physiopathology of brain diseases using in vitro and in vivo experimental models of epilepsy and brain tumors and applying techniques including behavioral tests, in vivo imaging, single neuron and neuronal circuitry analysis of the brain using silicon probes and histological and biochemical analysis of brain tissue. Contact: Alberto E. Musto, MD, PhD, FAES
• The Sleep Research Laboratory provides opportunities in behavioral and systems neuroscience that examine interactions between sleep, stress, neuroinflammation and learning and memory. Students can learn about sleep research in animal models, data analysis and a variety of neuroscience techniques. Contact: Larry D. Sanford, PhD or Laurie L. Wellman, PhD.
• The Space Neuroscience Lab offers opportunities in behavioral neuroscience that examine how exposure to radiation (both clinical and simulated deep space) impacts various aspects of executive function, and the psychological status of rats. Contact Richard A. Britten, PhD.

Current Trainees

• Jovanna Fazzini, EVMS M1
• Shelia Hall, Graduate student working jointly with Hargsoon Yoon, PhD, at Norfolk State University
• Edward Si, EVMS M1
• Samuel Stephenson, EVMS M2

Past Trainees