Name: Syalomee Pradhan
Class Year: 2024
Major: Biology
Minor: Computer Science
Hometown: Somerville, MA
Internship Organization: ElevateBio
Job Title: Intern, Immunotherapy
Location: Waltham, MA
What鈥檚 happening at your internship? We would love to hear what kind of work you are doing!
This summer, I am conducting research as a part of the immunotherapy team at ElevateBio. We are working closely with the cellular engineering team to genetically modify CAR T cells and TCR T cells to fight specific tumors.
Why did you apply for this internship?
I applied for this internship because I knew the opportunity to work in a wet lab and explore the field of cancer research and cell therapy would provide a meaningful experience for someone with my interests and goals.
What is most rewarding about your internship?
The most rewarding thing about this internship is contributing to the success of cancer research. As industrial scientists, we conduct research with the goal of clinical application and having an immediate impact on cancer patients. For example, ElevateBio is partnering with Boston Children鈥檚 Hospital and Mass General Hospital to develop widespread access to gene therapies on a commercial level. I鈥檓 excited to be a part of the push forward for streamlined treatment options and to gain the skills I need to be successful in this field.
Can you talk about the skills you are learning and why they are important to you?
A major skill that I learned was how to culture primary T cells and adherent and suspension tumor cell lines in a biosafety cabinet using aseptic technique. Currently, I am maintaining a number of T Cell and tumor cell lines and banking them in our research and testing cell banks. I鈥檝e also learned how to use instruments such as Fortessa, MSD, XCelligence, Celigo, Incucyte, and Z-Movi to run assays such as tetramer expression, cytokine release, cytotoxicity, cell counting, impedance, and avidity respectively. I鈥檓 shadowing my mentors to gain knowledge of industry standard analysis software such as the Benchling documentation platform, Prism GraphPad, FlowJo, and Discovery Workbench. In my final two weeks, my goal is to independently run the analysis software for the respective assays and use my statistical knowledge to present meaningful insights about the experiments.
Prior to this internship, I had worked in a 鈥渄ry lab鈥, or computational lab, in an academic setting. The academics I worked with researched projects of their interest, applied for grants to fund them, and published their findings. However, at ElevateBio, I worked with industrial scientists who had more structure in their workdays and tight deadlines that were in line with the business goals of the company. While both academia and industry work towards the same goal, in industry, there is a commercial focus and the research is done with scalability and manufacturing in mind whereas in academia, the research is more for the sake of learning and discovery. I鈥檓 not sure which path I want to pursue yet, but I know that I want to continue to pursue a career in biotechnology.
Visit the Summer Internship Stories page to read more about student internship experiences.