CRISSP: CHOP Research Institute Summer Scholars Program

CRISSP: CHOP Research Institute Summer Scholars Program

Tosin Adeyemi, Intern: Being in Philadelphia and in CRISSP for the summer is a really unique experience. It's definitely a busy, full summer. The research definitely keeps you busy, but there are also opportunities to relax and explore the city, so it's really exciting.

Jessica Eby, Intern: Don't be afraid to push yourself and to go outside of the box.

Matt Yuen, Intern: When I came into CRISSP, I didn't really know much about any career other than medicine, but through informational interviews with my faculty mentor, with other CRISSP mentors, and even with students at Penn right now, I was able to crystalize what I wanted in my own career path and see that there are more careers than just medicine.

Ian Krantz, MD, Attending Physician, Division of Genetics: What we're trying to do at CHOP is to make breakthroughs and discoveries that are going to change the lives of children, and future, find cures, find underlying answers for diagnoses, and the key part of that is inspiring the next generation of investigators and physicians to carry on that mission.

Alex Schmidt, Intern: CRISSP stood out from all the other internships because it really allowed you to see both the clinical and research side of things in the hospital, which isn't something that's really captured by most of the other internships.

Dr. Krantz: What CRISSP really allows us to do is find top caliber students from around the country, college students who are interested in research, possibly medicine, possibly basic science research, and gets them embedded into one of the world's leading pediatric care and research centers.

Jabari Brooks, Intern: As I said I'm interested in neuroscience, so now, not only understanding the basic science of it, but how it relates to diseases in children and the impact it has on real world I think is one of the big growth opportunities here as well that I've seen.

Wendy Reed Williams, PhD, Senior Director, Office of Academic Training and Outreach Programs: We have many, many different components that we combine into one program, so if you think about the opportunity to be fully immersed in a research group, an opportunity to be mentored by a world class scientist, opportunities to shadow in the clinic, opportunities to be part of an amazing campus that we share with University of Pennsylvania – opportunities like that. I think many programs may have pieces of those, but we combine all of them into an exceptional program.

Adeyemi: I really enjoyed how CRISSP is pediatric-focused in improving childhood health and wellness in the broadest sense of the term, from physical, to social, to emotional health.

Katie Leininger, Intern: You make so many connections with doctors and researchers and adults in the CHOP and Penn community. Living in the dorm and all of us navigating the city together this summer has been so fun.

Sandra Amaral, MD, MHS, Attending Physician, Division of Nephrology: CRISSP is supporting this cadre of students who are coming in and learning new things and bringing new perspectives.

Eby: I had a wonderful mentor, and one of the first things she taught me was "The question is, 'What is the question?'" She taught me how to make a really great research question, how to design a good study, and gave me this tool kit I can always go back to and transfer those skills wherever I go.

Dr. Krantz: Diversity is key. Being embedded in Philadelphia, which is one of the more diverse cities in the United States, underscores that.

Eby: It was really nice to be with a peer group who were all doing really interesting projects, and the fact that everyone was from different places was wonderful.

Dr. Amaral: At the end of the program, each student presents a research poster, which is a result of their independent research effort. I think it's also very rewarding for them because they walk away feeling very accomplished.

Noor Shaik, Intern: If you don't experience it, you won't know that you love it, and CRISSP allows you to experience all these things. Maybe you'll find what you're going to love to do.