CIRP REU ALUMNI STORIES
CHOP REU Training Testimonial - Faye Joseph - Summer 2025
CHOP Mentor(s): Akiva S. Cohen, PhD
"My name is Faye Joseph, and I have had the privilege of participating in the Injury Science REU internship program at CHOP. I was honestly a little nervous coming in, as I had never done something like this before. Once I got here, I realized immediately that this was not a place of intimidation and stress, but instead a space where growth is facilitated and kindness is the standard.Throughout my…
CHOP REU Training Testimonial - Kasey Stammen - Summer 2025
CHOP Mentor(s): Valentina Graci, PhD
"The CIRP REU program provided me with an all-encompassing experience in clinical injury prevention research. This opportunity helped me grow my research skills and narrow down my future career goals. From speaking with emergency department physicians to running data collection in an orthopedic clinic, my time during the summer was spent across all aspects of pediatric injury prevention research.…
CHOP REU Training Testimonial - Kennedy Bynoe - Summer 2025
CHOP Mentor(s): Elizabeth Walshe, PhD
"The Injury Science REU program at CIRP exceeded every expectation I had. As a member of Dr. Elizabeth Walshe’s Neuroscience of Driving Research team, I contributed to the DRIVER study, a longitudinal project examining the impact of driver education on teen crash risk. My work included supporting participant recruitment through outreach calls, building and managing surveys in REDCap, and pulling r…
CHOP REU Training Testimonial - Sophia Marchetta - Summer 2025
CHOP Mentor(s): Jalaj Maheshwari, MSE
"I had a very positive experience at the REU because I worked on an interesting project with a supportive team and a fun cohort. I didn’t expect the number and quality of seminars (shoutout for bringing in the food), but it was a pleasant surprise that added a lot of value to my summer. It was more than just a job, I learned so much about everything that’s out there, as well as the world of…
CHOP REU Training Testimonial - Eva Hunter - Summer 2024
CHOP Mentor(s): Elizabeth Walshe, PhD
Research Experiences for Undergraduates Student (Summer 2024)"The Injury Science REU program at CIRP strengthened my presence as a researcher, academic, and professional. My work with Dr. Elizabeth Walshe’s Neuroscience of Driving Research team exposed me to the inner workings of a large scale longitudinal study. This summer, I contributed to the development of the DRIVER study, which aims to inve…
CHOP REU Training Testimonial - Anjali Vijan - Summer 2024
CHOP Mentor(s): Elizabeth Walshe, PhD
Research Experiences for Undergraduates Student (Summer 2024)"Throughout my time with the Neuroscience of Driving Research team, I gained a lot of experience contributing to a longitudinal randomized control study focused on teen driver safety, specifically in the data collection process. I gained hands-on experience in preparing for data collection by training and executing procedures such as usi…
CHOP REU Training Testimonial - Chidinma Okereke - Summer 2024
CHOP Mentor(s): Akiva S. Cohen, PhD; Leah Gaetz, MSW
Research Experiences for Undergraduates Student (Summer 2024) "This summer, I had the amazing opportunity to participate in research at CIRP with the Minds Matter Concussion Program under the mentorship of my PI, Akiva Cohen, PhD and Leah Gaetz, MSW. I also worked alongside graduate students in the Cohen lab—Samuelle Delcy, Anthony Farrugia, and Catherine Ubri—who all contributed to making my…
CHOP REU Training Testimonial - Gabriel Vazquez - Summer 2024
CHOP Mentor(s): Lauren O’Malley, MPH; Emma Sartin, PhD, CPST
Research Experiences for Undergraduates Student (Summer 2024)“This internship has taught me about research and was able to give me a stronger understanding of what I want to do in the future. I am a first-generation college student coming from a poor Latino family. Having an opportunity to be here means so much because I know so many people from my background do not have an opportunity like this.…
CHOP REU Training Testimonial - Janet Le - Summer 2024
CHOP Mentor(s): Valentina Graci, PhD
Research Experiences for Undergraduates Student (Summer 2024)"During my time here at CIRP, I was able to apply my technical skills to clinical research in the field of injury biomechanics and automotive safety. I worked with my mentor, Dr. Valentina Graci, on two projects. The first project was developing a coupling system between the occupant compartment and the centrifuge arm on an AEB (Automate…
CHOP REU Training Testimonial - Jasnoor Saini - Summer 2024
CHOP Mentor(s): Jalaj Maheshwari, MSE
Research Experiences for Undergraduates Student (Summer 2024)"This summer during my CIRP REU internship, I focused on independently developing a parametric child booster seat generation tool. This software, now utilized by my mentor Jalaj Maheshwari, MSE and other CHOP research engineers, creates simplified booster seat models for use in computational car crash test simulations, helping to analyze…