Name: Amuthini Arivazhagan
Class Year: 2025
Major: Neuroscience and Data Science
Hometown: Ellicott City, Md.
Internship Organization: Temple University
Internship Title: Research Assistant
Location: Philadelphia, Pa.
What's happening at your internship? We would love to hear what kind of work you are doing!
I am a research assistant in the Memory, Epigenetics & Addiction Lab at Temple University, under the direction of Dr. Mathieu Wimmer. Alongside other undergraduates, I help conduct various experiments using rodent models. My responsibilities include daily caretaking of the rats involved in the experiments, such as handling them, changing their bedding and food, and regularly weighing them. Additionally, I am working on a project that measures pain in rats through machine learning. I am training to use different software that can track their movements and categorize them on a pain scale.
Why did you apply for this internship?
After spending a year working in a Behavioral Neuroscience lab studying memory in rodent models, I realized I wanted to broaden my interests and learn more about how addiction and pain are studied in neuroscience. This led me to reach out to Dr. Wimmer to join his lab. I had read papers from the Wimmer lab that examined how parental drug exposure affects vulnerability to addiction in future generations, and I was eager to contribute to this impactful research.
It has been a rewarding experience, allowing me to develop hands-on skills in conducting behavioral tasks and fostering a profound appreciation for working with animals. Surprisingly, the rats are also incredibly cute!
What has been your favorite part of this internship?
Unexpectedly, my favorite part has been working with the rats. Although I had previous experience in a rodent lab, this was the first time I handled rats directly. It has been a rewarding experience, allowing me to develop hands-on skills in conducting behavioral tasks and fostering a profound appreciation for working with animals. Surprisingly, the rats are also incredibly cute!
What has been the biggest challenge you have faced at your internship?
My biggest challenge has been acclimating to a new environment outside Bryn Mawr. The Wimmer lab consists of a diverse mix of undergraduates, master's students, Ph.D. students, and postdocs, so it took some time to familiarize myself with the lab environment and culture and get to know my colleagues. Fortunately, everyone in the lab has been incredibly kind and helpful, and I have had the amazing opportunity to train under such a talented cohort of people.
Through the Career and Civic Engagement Center Beyond Bryn Mawr Summer Internship Program, Bryn Mawr students pursue opportunities in fields such as nonprofits, government and law, health care, research, sciences, business, and the arts. Thanks to the generosity of our alumnae/i and donors, over 150 students across all academic departments are funded to pursue unpaid internships or research experiences in the U.S. and abroad each year.