- Agency
- Western Gulf Center of Excellence for Vector-Borne Diseases and Texas Department of State Health Services
- Location
- Austin, TX
- Job Category
- Center of Excellence Vector Biology Internships, Internships
- Salary
- $11/hr, plus a $700 monthly housing stipend
- Last Date to Apply
- March 26, 2020
- Website
- https://entojobs.tamu.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/79/2020/03/DSHS-Internship-2020.pdf
- Description
- The CDC Western Gulf Center of Excellence for Vector-Borne Disease is seeking applications for a student intern to work at the Arborvirus-Entomology Laboratory at the Texas Department of State Health Services in Austin, Tx. The primary objective of the Arbovirus-Entomology Laboratory is to coordinate mosquito surveillance efforts throughout Texas in order to detect the presence of arboviruses in mosquito populations prior to the development of human disease. Mosquito specimens are collected by various city and county health departments and submitted to the Laboratory for species identification and arbovirus testing. Testing is conducted using multiplex real-time RT-PCR assays, which target human pathogens of public health importance in Texas: West Nile, St. Louis encephalitis, Eastern and Western equine encephalitis, Zika, chikungunya, and dengue viruses. In addition to molecular testing, cell culture-based surveillance testing is conducted on a proportion (~20%) of submitted mosquitoes in order to screen for newly emerging arboviruses. When an arbovirus-positive mosquito pool is detected, laboratory personnel notify the agency that submitted the specimens so that appropriate mosquito control measures can be initiated based on the virus detected. In addition, the Arbovirus-Entomology Laboratory provides insecticide resistance testing services to local jurisdictions that are experiencing mosquito control failure. This internship will provide students the opportunity to experience working in a state public health laboratory. Daily activities will include assisting with mosquito check-in, data entry, mosquito identification, molecular testing, mosquito colony maintenance, and insecticide resistance testing. Students will gain laboratory and epidemiology experience. This is an 11-week, paid internship that offers hands-on experience in vector-borne disease public health practice. The selected candidate will be compensated at $11/hr, plus a $700 monthly housing stipend. Interested students can send a completed application and CV to Caroline Weldon (caweldon@utmb.edu) by March 26th, 2020.
- Job Number
- 159
- Contact Person
- Caroline Weldon
- Contact eMail
- caweldon@utmb.edu