Summer Translational Cardiovascular Science Institute (STCSI)
ATTENTION: Registration for the 2021 STSCI program is closed. The 2022 STCSI program will not be offered in the summer of 2022, but please check back in late January 2023 for more information about future programs.
The Penn State Summer Translational Cardiovascular Science Institute is supported by the College of Engineering and the College of Health and Human Development. Sponsored by the American Heart Association, the STCSI is available to undergraduate students with a demonstrated interest in cardiovascular science who have completed more than 60 credits and have a grade point average of 3.25 or greater.
Priority selection will be given to students who have contacted a potential mentor from faculty members participating in the STCSI, but who have not yet started research projects, and to students with long-term (more than two years) commitments to their mentors’ laboratories. Penn State students are required two additional semesters in the lab after the completion of the STCSI summer program. For non-Penn State students, the student can work with a mentor at their home institution, but the training plan and outside activities must, in spirit, be similar to those at Penn State.
The STCSI will fund up to 10 undergraduate students to conduct research related to cardiovascular disease, focusing in particular on the cellular mechanisms of cardiovascular disease pathology, the determinants of cardiovascular disease risk across the lifespan, and the development of cardiovascular device technology to address disease.
Stipend: A stipend of $4,000 will be provided for each student.
In addition to conducting research, students will be required to attend seminars related to professional development and a weekly seminar series throughout the summer that will focus on four main areas: Non-Penn State students will be able to view the seminars remotely.
- understanding cardiovascular disease risk incidence and assessment from infancy to old age
- identifying the mechanisms that underlie cardiovascular pathophysiology using human and animal models
- understanding behavioral intervention research strategies to positively affect cardiovascular disease risk
- identifying core technologies and novel applications of nano-scale biotechnology to better understand cardiovascular disease biology and development of novel therapeutic interventions
Who Should Apply
The program is open to undergraduate students at Penn State and from other institutions across the nation who have completed more than 60 academic credits and have a grade point average of 3.25 or greater. Priority is given to students who demonstrate a strong interest in cardiovascular science and those that have been accepted as trainees in participating faculty research labs.
Faculty Research
Contact Information
- Keefe Manning, Ph.D.
Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Surgery
kbm10@psu.edu - Lacy Alexander, Ph.D.
Professor of Kinesiology
lma191@psu.edu
