JAX welcomes summer students to Maine, Connecticut, and New York City

Thirty-nine curious, high-achieving students have arrived on JAX’s campuses in Bar Harbor, Maine, Farmington, Conn., and New York, N.Y. to pursue 10 weeks of hands-on research within The Jackson Laboratory’s scientific community — one expanded and strengthened by JAX’s union with The New York Stem Cell Foundation (NYSCF) last fall.

Their summer experience will blend science and adventure as they learn to work with a lab team, strengthen their professional skills, and build camaraderie outside the lab. At the end of the summer, they culminate their experience by formally presenting their research.

This year’s class — a first look

Participants in this year’s Summer Student Program (SSP), JAX’s signature summer research experience, represent 20 different states and 32 educational institutions. Their work over the summer will engage 28 faculty-led laboratories at JAX and introduce them to a broad range of milestones and achievements that comprise a career in science. Four members of the SSP class of 2026 are graduates of the Biomedical Data Science in Context program, and have returned to JAX to continue their training through the SSP.

In New York, seven JAX-NYSCF Collaborative Summer Science interns will tackle a similar research schedule with scientific directors Daniel Paull, Valentina Fossati and other lead scientists at the JAX-NYSCF Collaborative, following the same calendar the SSP but without the residential element.

The SSP and the JAX-NYSCF summer internship both bring talented college-aged students to JAX to pursue biomedical discoveries under the guidance of a faculty mentor. They develop an independent research project focused on the biology of major human health challenges such as genetic resistance to triple-negative breast cancer, the inheritance of Alzheimer’s disease from one generation to the next, and the processes by which the brain repairs itself after a stroke.

Wide-ranging interests and shared passion for science

The incoming students are sailors, poets, avid explorers, artists, hospital volunteers and valedictorians, many of whom were drawn to JAX through personal connections to cancer, Alzheimer’s disease and other health challenges. Among the students are an emergency medical technician (EMT), a dance teacher, a youth pastor, and a Columbia-Julliard exchange student. Many have studied abroad, and even more are multilingual. As leaders at their institutions and within their communities, they have brought all of their talents to JAX.

“The start of the summer is always exciting,” said Laura Muller, director of STEM and undergraduate education, “and the addition of a New York cohort makes this year even more special. These students have much in store — new ideas and perspectives, friendships that could last a lifetime, and experiences that will stretch them beyond their comfort zone. This is the JAX community at its best.”

Private support for JAX’s educational programs has long been a driver of philanthropic gifts, which help to ensure that research-driven discoveries at JAX benefit from a range of dynamic perspectives.