Casady Senior Interns at Cornell Medical Center

Maddy Lu
A few years ago, Casady senior William Bankhead joined an online club called the Brainy Bunch; they met every month to analyze neuroscience papers together.
The Brainy Bunch meetings sparked William’s interest in anxiety and depression research. To further pursue this intriguing topic, he connected with the Cornell Medical Center Psychiatry Lab's Dr. Heidi Meyer. Dr. Meyer contacted her esteemed colleague Dr. Lee, head of the Psychiatry Department, about resources for the study of anxiety and depression.

Over spring break, William went to New York City for vacation and college visits. While in close proximity to Cornell, he also scheduled a meeting with Dr.Lee to discuss intern opportunities. They discussed Dr. Lee's need for student researchers to do the “tedious work'' involved in the labs. William sent him his transcript, CV, and resume and Dr. Le hired the ambitious Cyclone to be part of the internship.

Immediately after School ended, William went to New York. He worked in the lab for three weeks in person and continued to study for a few weeks online after he returned home. There were three to four other New York based college students on the internship team as well. Additionally, there were credentialed PhD researchers that contributed to the study. William had 2 supervisors: Piia Kohtaha, a neuropsychologist, and Jihye Kim, who received her MD from the Cornell Medical Center.

William stayed at a hotel near the medical center, and he walked there everyday. He learned a lot of neuroscience and lab techniques, including dissecting mouse brains and western blotting. His biggest takeaway was the collaboration aspect of the internship; he worked together daily with other people in the laboratory setting. Although each of them had their own individual projects, they still helped each other. William said he would 100% recommend this experience, especially because of the inspirational work environment.

“People interested in research should definitely contact professors from medical centers,” he said.
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Casady School is an independent, co-educational, college preparatory, Episcopal day school serving students in pre-k-12. Educating Mind, Body, and Spirit.
Casady School is a PreK-12, independent, college preparatory Episcopal day school committed to deeper-level learning. Casady School welcomes a student body that reflects the diversity of the world around us and therefore does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, nationality, or ethnic origin in administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship and loan programs, athletics, and other school-administered programs generally accorded or made available to students at the School.