Summer Internship Program in Precision Medicine Creates a Win-Win for Students and Local Company
Jeeva Informatics, George Mason University and United National Diversity Coalition of America collaborate on successful internship program for 25 students.
September 12, 2018
Technologies such as cloud, bigdata, nosql databases, mobile apps, wearable sensors, and healthcare data interoperability are buzz words to many, but they are technologies that are propelling the healthcare-IT field forward into new frontiers. The possibilities these technologies bring can aide in patient engagement, data aggregation, integration and analytics for precision medicine. This is the cutting-edge space that Jeeva Informatics, a local company, operates in. It’s also a very attractive field for students who are eager to get work experience in the emerging technologies of the future.
“Recent advances in digital health and bigdata technologies offer enormous opportunity to bring efficiencies to the process of clinical research and development and improve the overall patient experience. We are committed to bringing innovative products and solutions to study sponsors,” says Harsha Rajasimha, PhD, Founder and CEO of Jeeva Informatics.
At the beginning of the 2018 Summer, Jeeva Informatics announced that they would offer a summer internship program in precision medicine, digital health and data science, and worked with Professor Ancha Baranova of GMU, who also co-directs the rare diseases systems biology initiative with Rajasimha, to get the word out. “The overwhelming response we got was totally unexpected,” said an excited Rajasimha. “Between George Mason University, Robbinsville, NJ area and the United National Diversity Coalition of America (UNDCA), we received 25 candidates and we signed up all of them for the Jeeva summer internship program.”
Co-founder and executive director of UNDCA, Mr. Rajesh Gooty said “We focus on turning youth into leaders for career & life success through mentorship, establishing connections, and exposing youth to industry opportunities early on that mentors provide first hand in a dynamic work environment. Our mantra is ‘Leaders Create Leaders’ & are fully satisfied with the value we provided to the community with our partnership with Jeeva under the able leadership of Rajasimha.”
The summer interns came in at various academic levels from 10th grade to doctoral candidates and many of the incoming interns said they are leaning towards a medical career. The program inspired them to think of Medicine in the context of OMICS and healthcare data. So most of them started off learning basic concepts of precision medicine, genomics, exposure health, architectural design choices, tools choices and healthcare data formats. However, by the end of Summer, the interns were advanced enough to help produce Jeeva’s first prototype platform. The program was so successful that the company is already receiving applications for the summer of 2019. Visit the Jeeva internship program page for more information.
“Towards the end of 12 weeks program, what these interns were able to produce as product prototypes far exceeded our expectations,” says Rajasimha. “We are thrilled to carry forward the momentum to move the prototypes into full-scale production development with real-world use cases such as allergy, asthma, autism, pain and rare undiagnosed diseases. Jeeva is seeking conversation with clinical investigators in the federal government and industry.”
As the internship program concludes next week, Jeeva has partnered with BioBuzz Media to launch the Digital OMICS Innovators Meetup series. The inaugural event, an Executive Forum on Digital Innovations in Precision Medicine, will be held on September 20th at Johns Hopkins University Montgomery County Campus. During the event, some of the Jeeva interns will receive a special recognition for their outstanding contributions this Summer.
The main program of the event will feature a panel of five of the region’s top HealthTech CXOs moderated by Rajasimha. “We are fortunate to be in the BioHealth Capital Region and to have the support of the region’s economic development organizations such as BioHealth Innovation Inc. and FCEDA. I have seen first-hand, the power of community engagement and how this can open up new possibilities for all. We are thankful to our Meetup sponsors including Synergy BIS and BioIT” said a grateful Rajasimha.
Registration for the meetup is now open, seating is limited. We look forward to seeing scientists, clinicians, students, job seekers, investors and professionals enthusiastic about these topics.
Please RSVP at https://www.meetup.com/Beltway-Precision-Medicine-OMICS-Data-Science-HealthIT/events/253827646/.
For more on Jeeva visit their website https://www.jeevadx.com/
Author:
Chris Frew
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Over the past 11 years, Chris has grown BioBuzz into a respected brand that is recognized for its community building, networking events and news stories about the local biotech industry. In addition, he runs a Recruiting and Marketing Agency that helps companies attract top talent through a blended model that combines employer branding and marketing services together with a high powered recruiting solution.
