Ready for research? Four stories from undergraduate interns

Where: Room 507-LG045, Grafton Campus, 22 Park Avenue

Are you keen to help build knowledge that will make a positive difference to people’s health? Want to get paid while you do it?

Find out what clinical research is all about from four third year MBChB students currently interning at the Liggins Institute. This seminar is your chance to hear what they’ve discovered, find out what an internship involves, and get the details on how to apply.

Interns are paid for casual work during the semester and full-time work during the summer breaks.

Sarah Latus has been working on two projects, both in the preterm birth space. She is currently the primary investigator for a project looking at the outcomes for patients who have had a transabdominal cervical cerclage at Auckland City Hospital over the last 15 years. She has also been involved in eligibility screening and data collection for a study investigating outcomes, management, and antenatal antibiotic usage in patients who experienced preterm premature rupture of membranes.

"This internship has allowed me to appreciate how a career in both clinical medicine and research complement each other so well. It is such a privilege to be able to learn from and collaborate with so many experienced researchers and clinicians. I have learnt so much about the research process within the first year of my internship and cannot wait to further my growth and development in the perinatal research space."

Ariba Iqbal has finished working on a systematic review looking at postpartum recommendations in guidelines for women with gestational diabetes. She is currently involved with the write-up of the HINT2 trial, which investigated computer-determined insulin dosage in the management of neonatal hyperglycaemia.

“I have thoroughly enjoyed my clinical internship so far, and would highly recommend this to students who are interested in research. Not only have I developed valuable research skills and my passion for fetal and child health, but the inspiration to pursue a career that involves both clinical medicine and research, like many of the Liggins team.”

Tai Haehae has been working with the Carosika Collaborative, a national transdisciplinary group made up of health professionals and consumers, focusing on improving and providing equitable outcomes for babies born pre-term across all of Aotearoa. He has also provided help for the C*STEROID trial, a trial looking at the efficacy of antenatal corticosteroid administration for improving neonatal outcomes for mothers who have a C-section.

Tai has now just begun his own literature review, investigating whether a repeat cervical cerclage is an effective procedure in reducing the rates of a pre-term birth.

Tamim Rezai has been involved in several research projects since joining the Liggins Institute. One of them, titled "Advancing Interleukin 1 Receptor Antagonist to Prevent Inflammatory Disease in Preterm Infants – Phase 1 Study," investigates the immune response of preterm neonates to anakinra, an interleukin 1 receptor antagonist. Currently, he is working on another project called "The Impact of Short Chain Fatty Acids on Regulatory T Cells in Term and Premature Neonates," which explores how short chain fatty acids, produced by gut microbiota, influence regulatory T cells in neonates.

In addition to these projects, he is designing his own study to examine the combined in vitro effects of anakinra and short chain fatty acids on peripheral blood mononuclear cells in neonates.

This seminar is hosted by Distinguished Professor Dame Jane Harding.

Eager to apply for an Undergraduate Clinical Research Internship now? Find all the details here.

Host or Publisher Liggins Institute