High School Programs

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High School Programs

Biomedical Research Internship for Minority Students
The BRIMS program offers an outstanding science training opportunity for Cincinnati area graduating high school seniors and college freshmen. The program is designed to involve minority students traditionally underrepresented in biomedical careers in cutting-edge scientific research conducted in an academic medical center to stimulate their interest in pursuing biomedical research careers.
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Program Details

This nine‐week program from June 4 to August 5, 2013 offers a chance to learn, explore, and gain hands‐on experience in a Children’s Hospital Medical Center research laboratory environment for up to 5 minority students each summer. Each BRIMS intern will be paired with a research mentor to pursue a 9-week full time basic science, or clinical biomedical research project during the summer. All interns will give a 5-minute Powerpoint presentation of their research project to the group and will be encouraged to present a poster at the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Capstone poster competition at the end of the program. Two of the students in the program won honorable mention recognition last summer!
In addition to participating in SURF activities, BRIMS interns participate in weekly networking luncheons and shadowing opportunities with minority faculty in several areas of the hospital from surgery to administration. This program is open to high achieving graduating high school seniors and college freshmen from the Cincinnati tri-state area only. Participants may earn up to $2,880 ($8/hr) based on the number of hours they work in the laboratory. The BRIMS program is sponsored by the Charlotte R Schmidlapp Center for Career Development and the Center for Clinical and Translational Science and Training at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital.
Students with outside funding (ie MARC awards) are also eligible to participate in the program. Please contact Dr Cindy Bachurski directly about participating with outside funding.

Selection Criteria

The BRIMS program is highly competitive. Students must be an identified minority underrepresented in biomedical science careers: African American, Hispanic, Pacific Islander or American Indian.
This program targets high achieving students as they graduate from high school or finish the first year of college and have taken multiple science courses (rising Freshmen or Sophomores). A formula using high school class rank, GPA, ACT or SAT scores (if available), number of science classes taken, leadership in extracurricular activities and recommendations is used to narrow the applications to 8-10 finalists. From those, the top five will be matched with mentors based on their personal essays and interviews. All applicants must submit a one-page personal essay describing their career goals and what kind of research they are interested in doing at Cincinnati Children's.
Nicole Rojas presenting her poster. She worked with Dr Ron Waclaw in the Division of Experimental Hematology and Cancer Biology in the summer of 2012.

Nicole receiving an honorable mention award for her poster presentation at the Capstone event. She graduated from William Mason HS and is now an engineering student at the University of Michigan.

Rosario Alarcon Cabrera running a PCR gel. Rosario worked in the Division of Allergy Research studying the role of the public smoking ban in Cincinnati on the incidence of asthma.

Mosep Okonny received an honorable mention award for her poster presentation at the Capstone event. She graduated from Mt Healthy High School and worked in Dr Rulang Jiang’s lab studying craniofacial abnormalities in mouse models. She also shadowed dental residents last summer.

Steven Janes graduated from Anderson HS and is now attending the Ohio State University as a Materials Sciences and Engineering major. He worked with Dr Julio Aliberti on a cerebral malaria project. Dr Aliberti has mentored students every summer since the beginning of the BRIMS program.

Adam Miller at work in Lee Grimes' lab. Adam worked in the Division of Experimental Hematology studying cellular pathways associated with leukemia prevention.

Essanna Gray with her poster. She worked with Dr Aliberti in the Division of Molecular Immunology to study regulation of the immune response to tuberculosis. Essanna presented her poster at the National ABRCMS meeting in St Louis and won a prize. Congratulations Essanna!

Candace Clark discussing her poster with Dr Sawtell. Candace worked in Dr Julio Aliberti’s lab studying the immune response to Toxoplasma infection. She was sponsored by the CTSA.

Some 2010 BRIMS students taking a break at the Capstone Poster Competition: Olivia, Hope, and Alexandra

Felicia Rinaldi with her poster. She worked with Dr Masato Nakafuku in the Division of Developmental Biology on neural stem cell differentiation in the developing brain.

Karmela Dalisay presenting her poster. Karmela worked with Dr. Chiou-Fen Chuang studying the role of potassium channels in neuron cell fate in the round worm C elegans.

Raymmond Hall with his poster. He worked with Dr Robert Hinton in the Division of Cardiology studying TGF beta signaling in the aortic valves of transgenic mouse models of heart disease.

Arnie Strauss presenting Alexandra Burnett's certificate in 2010. Alex worked with Dr Lionel Chow in the Cancer and Blood Diseases Institute studying a mouse model of brain cancer.

Arnie Strauss presenting Olivia Jordan's certificate in 2010. Olivia worked with Monica Mitchell PhD, in the Division of Clinical Psychology doing health disparities and community based research.

Arnie Strauss presenting Michelle Mugwambi's certificate in 2011. Michele worked with Dr. Zaza Kuchua studying heart disease in transgenic mouse models.

Application process

Applications for the Biomedical Research Internship for Minority Students are now being accepted. All application materials are due by April 1, 2013.
Please compile and send the following information to Wanda Downton:
Completed Application form including list of extracurricular activities and leadership positions held, and essay
Official Transcript and two (2) letters of recommendation should be mailed in sealed envelopes or emailed directly by your school and references to the address below. At least one letter of recommendation should be from a science teacher.
All application materials must be submitted by mail or email by
April 1, 2013 to:
Ms. Wanda Downton
Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center
3333 Burnet Avenue, MLC 7007
Cincinnati, OH, 45229
Contact Us

If you have questions about the program or the application process, please contact:

Wanda Downton
513-636-9281
Wanda.Downton@cchmc.org
Cindy Bachurski
513-636-8918
Cindy.Bachurski@cchmc.org

3333 Burnet Avenue, Cincinnati, Ohio 45229-3026 | 1-513-636-4200 | 1-800-344-2462 | TTY:1-513-636-4900

New to Cincinnati Children’s or live outside of the tri-state area? 1-877-881-8479

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