Intern (unpaid) - Spatial Transcriptomic (Freire Lab) at J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI) in La Jolla, California

Job Description:

The J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI) is a dynamic non-profit research organization using science to impact the world. Our research groups focus on human genomic medicine, infectious disease, plant, microbial and environmental genomics, synthetic biology and biological energy, bioinformatics, and software engineering. We are looking for self-motivated, inquisitive minds to work with us in asking and finding the answers to questions that progress the field of genomics.

Our team is evaluating the immune profile of chronic inflammatory diseases through immunofluorescence and spatial transcriptomics. Our research focus is to investigate the transcriptome for pathways and biomarkers of chronic inflammatory diseases that are spatially resolved within the tissue.

The candidate in this position will interact with members of the Infectious Diseases team in La Jolla, CA, and will assist in performing immunofluorescent staining and spatial transcriptomic protocols along with its bioinformatic analysis. The ideal candidate will be research focused with a strong willingness to learn. The candidate will also be tasked to communicate with the rest of the team and summarize new findings every week. This position will also learn techniques in library preparation for sequencing including but not limited to: PCR library amplification, library pooling and cleanup, assessment of library quality and quantity, and sequencing output analysis.

The candidate will learn:

Immunology with an emphasis on inflammatory responses, tissue staining techniques, high-throughput data analysis, and image analysis.

Skills the intern will acquire:

• Spatial Transcriptomic and upstream sequencing techniques.


• Immunofluorescent staining techniques including antibody and use of in-situ RNA probes.


• Experience with analysis and visualization of big data using R.


• Tissue Image analysis using ImageJ, FIJI, and QuPath.


• Biostatistics with Prism 10.

• Current high school, undergraduate, or graduate student


• Some Biology or relevant experience


• Ability to work independently, while respecting the needs of a larger team


• A commitment to scientific discovery


• Strong written and verbal communication skills


• Full-time attendance (40 hours per week)

Work Environment

The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those a teammate encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• Moderate noise (i.e. business office with computers, phone, and printers, light traffic)


• Ability to work in a confined area.


• Ability to sit at a computer terminal for an extended period.


• Ability to stand and/or sit for an extended period, if working in the lab.

Physical Demands

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to, stand, sit; talk, hear, and use hands and fingers to operate a computer and telephone keyboard reach, stoop kneel to install computer equipment


• Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision requirements due to computer and lab work


• Light to moderate lifting is required

J. Craig Venter Institute is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants are encouraged to apply and will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, or any other legally protected characteristic or status.