ATRI Student Summer
Research Program

Applications are currently closed.

Program Dates: June 16, 2025 – August 8, 2025

The Alzheimer’s Therapeutic Research Institute (ATRI) Summer Research Program at the University of Southern California’s Alzheimer’s Therapeutic Research Institute (ATRI) is an eight-week, full-time, in-person, immersive, mentor-guided, summer research training program. Students accepted to the program will work closely with and learn from an internationally renowned, multi-disciplinary team of scientists, researchers, and staff members at ATRI. In addition, students will participate in AD clinical trials focused lecture series, workshops, and team meetings to develop competencies in AD clinical trials research and trials operations, professionalism, effective science communication and presentation skills.

The overarching goal of the program is to increase the number of highly motivated students who are interested in considering a career in Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) clinical trials.

Students have the opportunity to gain direct experience through the following program tracks.
Class of 2024
UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS TRACK
This track is open to undergraduate students, in their Junior and Senior years only. Students will engage in AD clinical trials research under the supervision of a faculty member, learning how to develop and investigate a specific research question in the field of Biostatistics or Recruitment & Retention Science.
GRADUATE STUDENTS TRACK
This track is open to graduate students only. This track aims to introduce graduate students to career opportunities in AD clinical trials operations and further their professional experience. Students will be asked to complete a summer project with their assigned mentor in one of the following functional areas: Biostatistics, Clinical Operations, Informatics & Data Management, and Recruitment, Engagement & Retention.
MEDICAL SCHOOL STUDENTS TRACK
This track is open to USC Keck School of Medicine students only, who have completed year 1 of the medical school curriculum. Students will be given the opportunity to engage in mentored research in the field of Alzheimer’s Disease, under the supervision of the Director of Medical Safety at ATRI.
Program Dates: June 16, 2025 – August 8, 2025

Program Details

Monday, June 17, 2024 – Friday, August 9, 2024.
Curriculum/Schedule & Logistics
Students of both tracks will be fully integrated into the ATRI network and community, via meetings and other relevant activities. Both tracks will attend all faculty seminars, ATRI Lunch Seminars, and workshops by guest speakers.

Students in both tracks will receive an hourly compensation of $20.00.

Application Process & Program Requirements

Program Requirements

  • Must be legally authorized to work in the United States.
  • Must be currently enrolled in an undergraduate or graduate program in the United States or at the USC Keck School of Medicine as a medical school student.
  • Additional eligibility criteria for each field of study and section of interest are listed in the application portal.
  • In-person attendance is required for the entirety of the program.
  • Students must comply to San Diego County’s COVID-19 and general safety and health regulations.

Submitting an Application

  • Only complete applications will be reviewed.
  • A complete application will require the following attachments:
  • We recommend having these attachments ready before starting an application.
  • Applications will not be reviewed until after the application deadline has passed.
  • Admission decisions will be released in March 2025.

Application Tips

  • Please review all the section descriptions and eligibility criteria carefully before selecting your section of interest.
  • You can apply to only one section of interest. Please do not submit multiple applications.
  • The application will not save partially completed sections and will not allow you to make any corrections once submitted.

Please direct all questions regarding the Program to the Program Coordinator, Maggie Mastrolorenzo, at mastrolo@usc.edu.

Alumni

Class of 2024

Runhan Chen
MS NYU '25
Section: Data Management
Project: Beyond Numbers: A Comprehensive
Analysis and Visualization of MIND Study
Enrollment Data
LinkedIn
Annie Sun
MS UCLA '25
Section: Biostatistics
Project: Building the Infrastructure for Final
Analyses of an AD Randomized Clinical Trial: A
Framework for the MIND Study
LinkedIn
Zihang Yu
MS University of Washington ‘25
Section: Biostatistics
Project: Building the Infrastructure for Final
Analyses of an AD Randomized Clinical Trial: A
Framework for the MIND Study
LinkedIn
Jason Lavoe
BS Boston College '25
Section: Recruitment, Engagement, and Retention
Project: Cognitive Clicks: Enhancing Online
Efficacy Through Website Evaluation
LinkedIn
Christian Navarro
BS UCSB '25
Section: Biostatistics
Project: Can the Type of Trial Site Affect the
Conduct of a Preclinical Randomized Controlled
Trial?
LinkedIn
Zara Kotadiya
BS University of Virginia '26
Section: Biostatistics
Project: Can the Type of Trial Site Affect the
Conduct of a Preclinical Randomized Controlled
Trial?
LinkedIn

Class of 2023

Khary Lewis II
MS USC '24
Section: Recruitment & Retention
Project: Identifying Recruitment Strategies for
Hospice-eligible Population Utilizing Personas
and Multi-Media Strategies.
LinkedIn
Sri Manvith Vaddeboyina
MS USC '24
Section: Data Management (Clinical Research Informatics/Imaging Informatics)
Project: Data Visualization of Clinical Study
Management Activities
LinkedIn
Naga Harshita Marupaka
MS USC '24
Section: Clinical Research Informatics/Imaging Informatics
Project: Machine Learning – Speech Recognition
for Cognitive Sciences
LinkedIn
Winnie Mei
MS University of Washington ’24
Section: Biostatistics
Project: Data Standardization and Statistical
Visualization for Study Oversight and
Management
LinkedIn
Akash Patel
PharmD
Section: Clinical Operations
Project: Operationalizing Study Management
through Site Performance Metrics,
Risk Mitigation, and Clinical Trials Training
LinkedIn
Youlan (Cassie) Shen
MSPH Columbia ’24
Section: Biostatistics
Project: Data Standardization and Statistical
Visualization for Study Oversight
and Management
LinkedIn
Seda Shirinian
MPH UCLA ’24
Section: Recruitment, Engagement, and Retention
Project: Increasing Recruitment of
Underrepresented Groups Through Webpage
Optimization
LinkedIn

Class of 2022

Silvestre Cortes
BS UCSD ‘23
Section: Recruitment, Engagement, and Retention
Project: Site Metrics Database & APT Webstudy
Newsletter
LinkedIn
Zhuolun Huang
MS Columbia ’23
Section: Biostatistics
Project: Data-Driven Approach to Clinical Trial
Recruitment (DART) Recruitment Reports
LinkedIn
Nikhil Nagarapu
MS USC ‘23
Section: Clinical Research Informatics/Imaging Informatics
Project: Optical Character Recognition (OCR) for
Case Report Forms
LinkedIn
Jiayi Nie
MS USC ’23
Section: Biostatistics
Project: Interactive Web-based Visualization
Platform for AHEAD 3-45 Enrollment Data
LinkedIn
Ashok Reddy
BS UCLA ‘23
Section: Recruitment, Engagement, and Retention
Project: Designing and Canvasing for a
Comprehensive Vendor Database
LinkedIn
Momtaza Sayd
MS SDSU ’24
Section: Biostatistics
Project: Development of Study Recruitment
Metrics Database
LinkedIn
Nina Suh-Toma
BS UCSD ‘22
Section: Recruitment, Engagement, and Retention
Project: Designing an Evidence-based Digital
Campaign for the Alzheimer’s Prevention Trial
(APT) Webstudy
LinkedIn
Sanjana Vasireddy
MS USC ‘23
Section: Clinical Monitoring
Project: Clinical Monitoring Metrics
LinkedIn