Epstein Family ATRI
Student Summer Research Program
Program Director: Rema Raman, PhD
Program Administrator: Maggie Mastrolorenzo, BS
Program Application Dates: January 5 – January 31, 2026
Program Dates: Monday, June 15, 2026 – Friday, August 7, 2026
Class of 2025
About the Program
The Epstein Family Alzheimer’s Therapeutic Research Institute (ATRI) Summer Research Program at the University of Southern California’s Epstein Family Alzheimer’s Therapeutic Research Institute (ATRI) is an eight-week, full-time, in-person, immersive, mentor-guided summer research training program.
Students accepted to the program will work closely with and learn from an internationally renowned, multi-disciplinary team of scientists, researchers, and staff members at the Epstein Family ATRI.
In addition, students will participate in AD clinical trials focused lecture series, workshops, and team meetings to develop competencies in AD clinical trials research and trials operations, professionalism, effective science communication and presentation skills.
The overarching goal of the program is to increase the number of highly motivated students who are interested in considering a career in Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) clinical trials.
All accepted students will receive a compensation of $25.00/hr and be expected to work 40 hrs/week. Students have the opportunity to gain direct experience through the following program tracks.
UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS TRACK
This track is open to undergraduate students, in their Junior and Senior years only. Students will engage in AD clinical trials research under the supervision of a faculty member, learning how to develop and investigate a specific research question. Opportunities are open with the following teams:
- Biostatistics
- Recruitment & Retention Science
- Translational Neuroscience and Basic Science (Wet Labs) with the Neuroscience Translational Research Division
GRADUATE STUDENTS TRACK
This track is open to graduate students only. This track aims to introduce graduate students to career opportunities in AD clinical trials operations and further their professional experience. Students will be asked to complete a summer project with their assigned mentor in one of the following functional areas:
- Biostatistics
- Clinical Operations
- Data Management
- Informatics
- Neuroscience Translational Research Division (Wet-Lab)
Application Process & Program Requirements
Program Requirements
- Must be legally authorized to work in the United States.
- Must be currently enrolled in an undergraduate or graduate program in the United States
- Students graduating in June 2026, not enrolled for a Fall 2026 term, are not eligible for the program.
- Additional eligibility criteria for each field of study and section of interest are listed in the application portal.
- In-person attendance is required for the entirety of the program.
- Students must comply with San Diego County’s COVID-19 and general safety and health regulations.
Submitting an Application
- Only complete applications will be reviewed.
- A complete application will require the following attachments:
- Personal Statement (download prompt here).
- Resume/CV
- We recommend having these attachments ready before starting an application.
- Applications will not be reviewed until after the application deadline has passed.
- Admission decisions will be released in March 2026.
Application Tips
- Please review all the section descriptions and eligibility criteria carefully before selecting your section of interest.
- You can apply to only one section of interest. Please do not submit multiple applications.
- The application will not save partially completed sections and will not allow you to make any corrections once submitted.
- If your circumstances have changed and you wish to withdraw your application, please notify the Program Coordinator as soon as possible.
Housing
- The Epstein Family ATRI does not provide housing or living stipends to students for this Program.
- Students will be responsible for their own housing arrangements.
- Accepted students will be given resources about housing options in San Diego.
Please direct all questions regarding the Program to the Program Coordinator, Maggie Mastrolorenzo, at mastrolo@usc.edu.
Alumni
Arnav Bhathia
BS ‘25, Santa Clara University
Section: Biostatistics
Project: Characterizing Enrollment Patterns in Screening Data in a Preclinical Alzheimer’s Disease Trial
Johanna Jansen
BS ‘26, University of California, Santa Barbara
Section: Biostatistics
Project: Characterizing Enrollment Patterns in Screening Data in a Preclinical Alzheimer’s Disease Trial
Peike Li
MS ‘26, UCLA
Section: Biostatistics
Project: Using a Risk-Based Monitoring Approach (RBM) to Monitor Site Performance in Clinical Trials
Romina Foroudi
BS ‘26, University of Washington
Section: Recruitment, Engagement, and Retention
Project: Evaluation of Transportation Use for Alzheimer’s Clinical Studies
Asim Wahab
BS ‘25, University of California, Berkeley
Section: Recruitment, Engagement, and Retention
Project: Evaluation of Transportation Use for Alzheimer’s Clinical Studies
Adam Glasser
BS ‘27, University of Southern California
Section: Recruitment, Engagement, and Retention
Project: Relationship of Plasma Biomarkers to Alzheimer’s Disease Neuropatholog in Transgenic Mice
Srinath Begudem
MS ‘25, University of Southern California
Section: Data Management
Project: Optimizing Clinical Big Data Reporting: A Performance Comparison of CSV, Parquet
Runhan Chen
MS NYU ’25
Section: Data Managment
Project: Beyond Numbers: A Comprehensiv Analysis and Visualization of MIND Study Enrollment Data
Annie Sun
MS UCLA ’25
Section: Biostatistics
Project: Building the Infrastructure for Final Analyses of an AD Randomized Clinical Trial: A Framework for the MIND Study
Zihang Yu
MS University of Washington ‘25
Section: Biostatistics
Project: Building the Infrastructure for Final Analyses of an AD Randomized Clinical Trial: A Framework for the MIND Study
Jason Lavoe
BS Boston College ’25
Section: Recruitment, Engagement, and Retention
Project: Cognitive Clicks: Enhancing Online Efficacy Through Website Evaluation
Christian Navarro
BS UCSB ’25
Section: Biostatistics
Project: Can the Type of Trial Site Affect the Conduct of a Preclinical Randomized Controlled Trial?
Zara Kotadiya
BS University of Virginia ’26
Section: Biostatistics
Project: Can the Type of Trial Site Affect the Conduct of a Preclinical Randomized Controlled Trial?
Khary Lewis II
MS USC ’24
Section: Recruitment & Retention
Project: Identifying Recruitment Strategies for Hospice-eligible Population Utilizing Personas and Multi-Media Strategies
Sri Manvith Vaddeboyina
MS USC ’24
Section: Data Management (Clinical Research Informatics/Imaging Informatics)
Project: Data Visualization of Clinical Study
Management Activities
Naga Harshita Marupaka
MS USC ’24
Section: Clinical Research Informatics/Imaging Informatics
Project: Machine Learning –Speech Recognition for Cognitive Sciences
Winnie Mei
MS University of Washington ’24
Section: Biostatistics
Project: Data Standardization and Statistical Visualization for Study Oversight and Management
Akash Patel
PharmD
Section: Clinical Operations
Project: Operationalizin Study Management through Site Performance Metrics, Risk Mitigation, and Clinical Trials Training
Youlan (Cassie) Shen
MSPH Columbia ’24
Section: Biostatistics
Project: Data Standardizatio and Statistical Visualization for Study Oversight and Management
Seda Shirinian
MPH UCLA ’24
Section: Recruitment, Engagement, and Retention
Project: Increasing Recruitment of Underrepresented Groups Through Webpage Optimization
Silvestre Cortes
BS UCSD ‘23
Section: Recruitment, Engagement, and Retention
Project: Site Metrics Database & APT Webstudy Newsletter
Zhuolun Huang
MS Columbia ’23
Section: Biostatistics
Project: Data-Driven Approach to Clinical Trial Recruitment (DART) Recruitment Reports
Nikhil Nagarapu
MS USC ‘23
Section: Clinical Research Informatics/Imaging Informatics
Project: Optical Character Recognition (OCR) for Case Report Forms
Jiayi Nie
MS USC ’23
Section: Biostatistics
Project: Interactive Web-based Visualization Platform for AHEAD 3-45 Enrollment Data
Ashok Reddy
BS UCLA ‘23
Section: Recruitment, Engagement, and Retention
Project: Designing and Canvasing for a Comprehensive Vendor Database
Momtaza Sayd
MS SDSU ’24
Section: Biostatistics
Project: Development of Study Recruitment Metrics Database
