Mamaroneck Grad Chosen for Respected Science Internship
Bar Harbor, Maine—Dino Monzidelis, Mamaroneck High School class of 2005, has been selected to participate in this year’s installment of The Jackson Laboratory’s Summer Student Program. The prestigious program draws high school and undergraduate students to the coast of Maine for an intensive, hands-on learning experience. For ten weeks, Dino will study development of reproductive cells under the guidance of a staff scientist.
During the growth of sperm cells, an accumulation of certain proteins forms around the sex (X and Y) chromosomes. Dino’s research, in Mary Ann Handel, Ph.D.’s laboratory, will try to uncover the modifications these proteins make to the chromosomes. His findings may help elucidate the causes of male infertility.
Dino is a rising senior at Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania. There, he is majoring in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. He plans to attend medical school after graduating, and his training at The Jackson Lab will prepare him well. “I want to do research alongside medicine,” he explains. “It’s easier to learn to make something for science, in vitro, before applying it to clinical, human trials.”
Monzidelis joins 28 other college and high school students in this summer research opportunity. Their individual projects vary from genomics to development to bioinformatics. Participants reside at Highseas, a nearby century-old mansion, and revel in the many opportunities that Mount Desert Island offers. Weekend camping trips, spontaneous hikes throughout Acadia National Park and a white water rafting adventure complement their time spent uncovering new data in the lab. Dino especially looks forward to spotting a moose.
Since its inception in 1924, the Summer Student Program has led many students into the world of professional research. Eighty-percent of the program’s more than 2,200 alumni have gone on to successful careers in medicine or biomedical research. Two particular program graduates, Drs. David Baltimore and Howard Temin, received the 1975 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. The summer interns are an integral part of the Jackson Laboratory’s operation, providing fresh perspectives and keen enthusiasm.
The Jackson Laboratory (www.jax.org) is a nonprofit biomedical research institution and National Cancer Institute-designated Cancer Center based in Bar Harbor, Maine. Its mission is to discover the genetic basis for preventing, treating and curing human diseases, and to enable research and education for the global biomedical community.
Contact: Joyce Peterson, 207-288-6058
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Email: news@jax.org
