EPSTEIN FAMILY ATRI Student Summer Research Program

Program Application Dates: January 5 – January 31, 2026 | Apply here.

Program Dates: Monday, June 15, 2026 – Friday, August 7, 2026.

The Epstein Family Alzheimer’s Therapeutic Research Institute (ATRI) Summer Research Program at the University of Southern California’s Epstein Family 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 the Epstein Family 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.

All accepted students will receive a compensation of $25.00/hr and be expected to work 40 hrs/week. 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. Opportunities are open with the following teams:

Biostatistics
Recruitment & Retention Science
Translational Neuroscience and Basic Science (Wet Labs) with the Neuroscience Translational Research Division.

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
Data Management
Informatics
Neuroscience Translational Research Division (Wet-Lab)

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

Applications are currently closed. Interested students are welcome to contact us for future program dates and/or opportunities.

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
- Students graduating in June 2026, not enrolled for a Fall 2026 term, are not eligible for the program.
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 with 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:
- Personal Statement (download prompt here).
- Resume/CV
- 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 2026.

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.
If your circumstances have changed and you wish to withdraw your application, please notify the Program Coordinator as soon as possible.

Housing

The Epstein Family ATRI does not provide housing or living stipends to students for this Program.
Students will be responsible for their own housing arrangements.
Accepted students will be given resources about housing options in San Diego.

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

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:
  - Personal Statement (download prompt here).
  - Resume/CV
- 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

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

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

Jason Lavoe

BS Boston College '25
Section: Recruitment, Engagement, and Retention

Project: Cognitive Clicks: Enhancing Online
Efficacy Through Website Evaluation

Christian Navarro

BS UCSB '25
Section: Biostatistics

Project: Can the Type of Trial Site Affect the
Conduct of a Preclinical Randomized Controlled
Trial?

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?

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.

Sri Manvith Vaddeboyina

MS USC '24
Section: Data Management (Clinical Research Informatics/Imaging Informatics)

Project: Data Visualization of Clinical Study
Management Activities

Naga Harshita Marupaka

MS USC '24
Section: Clinical Research Informatics/Imaging Informatics

Project: Machine Learning – Speech Recognition
for Cognitive Sciences

Winnie Mei

MS University of Washington ’24
Section: Biostatistics

Project: Data Standardization and Statistical
Visualization for Study Oversight and
Management

Akash Patel

PharmD
Section: Clinical Operations

Project: Operationalizing Study Management
through Site Performance Metrics,
Risk Mitigation, and Clinical Trials Training

Youlan (Cassie) Shen

MSPH Columbia ’24
Section: Biostatistics

Project: Data Standardization and Statistical
Visualization for Study Oversight
and Management

Seda Shirinian

MPH UCLA ’24
Section: Recruitment, Engagement, and Retention

Project: Increasing Recruitment of
Underrepresented Groups Through Webpage
Optimization

Class of 2022

Silvestre Cortes

BS UCSD ‘23
Section: Recruitment, Engagement, and Retention

Project: Site Metrics Database & APT Webstudy
Newsletter

Zhuolun Huang

MS Columbia ’23
Section: Biostatistics

Project: Data-Driven Approach to Clinical Trial
Recruitment (DART) Recruitment Reports

Nikhil Nagarapu

MS USC ‘23
Section: Clinical Research Informatics/Imaging Informatics

Project: Optical Character Recognition (OCR) for
Case Report Forms

Jiayi Nie

MS USC ’23
Section: Biostatistics

Project: Interactive Web-based Visualization
Platform for AHEAD 3-45 Enrollment Data

Ashok Reddy

BS UCLA ‘23
Section: Recruitment, Engagement, and Retention

Project: Designing and Canvasing for a
Comprehensive Vendor Database

Momtaza Sayd

MS SDSU ’24
Section: Biostatistics

Project: Development of Study Recruitment
Metrics Database

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

Sanjana Vasireddy

MS USC ‘23
Section: Clinical Monitoring

Project: Clinical Monitoring Metrics