Contact: Phil Hearn
STARKVILLE, Miss.--Mississippi State biological engineering major Katherine E. Sinele of Flora is among 16 students from across the country selected to participate in a prestigious summer intern program sponsored by the National Institutes of Health.
A senior concentrating in biomedical engineering studies, Sinele was chosen from among 135 applicants from 59 colleges and universities to participate in the 2005 Biomedical Engineering Summer Internship Program.
"The Intern Selection Committee, composed of eight engineers and scientists at NIH, agreed that your application was among the best submitted," BESIP program director Robert J. Lutz said in notifying Sinele of her selection to participate in the 10-week program.
Sinele and the 15 other interns will work at NIH's Bethesda, Md., headquarters June 6-Aug. 12.
"I'm looking forward to the wonderful opportunity to work with NIH this summer," said Sinele. "The education and guidance I've received at MSU have allowed me to continue pursuing my dream of helping others through my research."
A Madison Central High School graduate, Sinele is the outgoing secretary of the MSU Student Association. She is a President's Scholar and the daughter of Raymond and Beverly Sinele.
"The agricultural and engineering department at MSU has a history of producing exceptional graduates in biomedical and biological engineering," said Kirk Schulz, dean of the Bagley College of Engineering. "The college is proud of Katherine's achievement, and this national distinction is a tribute to both her and the ABE department."
BESIP participants must conduct a project during their internship, choosing from a list of 28 possible topics covering a wide variety of biomedical disciplines. Each intern is matched with a professional bioengineer/scientist who mentors their summer work. Participants also must prepare written and oral reports on their project at the program's conclusion.
"An additional, great value of BESIP comes from other aspects of the overall program--such as exposure to biomedical research at a world-class facility, the scientific lecture program prepared for the interns, and the sense of community and esprit de corps developed by living with other bioengineering interns for the summer," said Lutz, acting chief of drug delivery and kinetics resources for NIH's Division of Bioengineering and Physical Sciences in Bethesda.
William D. Batchelor, MSU biological engineering department head, called Sinele's selection for the internship "another example of the quality of students we are honored to have in our program."
Jerry Gilbert, a former department head who now is MSU's associate provost for academic affairs, said Sinele "has the potential to be an outstanding biomedical scientist or engineer. She is motivated by a desire and a passion to serve humankind through biomedical engineering to improve our quality of life and health care."
NEWS EDITORS/DIRECTORS: For more information, contact Sinele at kes55@msstate.edu; or Julie Lemons of the Bagley College at (662) 325-8098 or jlemons@engr.msstate.edu.