What is a summer studentship?
A summer studentship is the opportunity to do a 10 week research project under the guidance of one of the supervisors at the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology over the summer period. To be eligible you should be either a 3rd or 4th year BSc, BSc(Hons), MSc or BBiomedSci student and are thinking of a career in research.
Are there scholarships for summer studentships?
There are tax free scholarships available for Summer Studentships.
What is the Fastier Prestigious Summer Studentship?
Applications are invited from undergraduate students for a 10-week summer research project in the subject of Pharmacology. This prestigious summer studentship is funded through the generosity of Emeritus Professor Fred Fastier, who taught pharmacology at Otago between 1949 and 1980.
The Fastier Summer Student Research Fund information sheet (PDF)
What have previous Summer Students done?
2017/2018 Summer Studentships
Jessie King
- Title: Investigating the differential effects of curcumin and its analogues, RL66 and RL77, on the Keap-1/Nrf-2 pathway in triple negative breast cancer.
- Supervisor: Professor Rhonda Rosengren
- Scholarship: Fastier Prestigious Summer Studentship
Sergio Castro
- Title: Sound-evoked long term potentiation in rats, investigating the role of neuroplasticity in the inferior colliculus.
- Supervisor: Dr Yiwen Zheng
- Beswick Student Research Scholarship
2016/2017 Summer Studentships
Abigail Bland
- Title: The cytotoxic effect of second generation curcumin derivatives on a canine soft tissue sarcoma primary cell line.
- Supervisor: Professor Rhonda Rosengren
- Scholarship: Fastier Prestigious Summer Studentship
Adam Chau
- Title: The cytotoxicity of curcumin derivatives on ALK+ lung cancer cells.
- Supervisor: Professor Rhonda Rosengren
- Scholarship: Fastier Prestigious Summer Studentship
Huey Tieng Tan
- Title: Neurochemical changes in the central auditory and non-auditory structures of rats following tinnitus-inducing acoutstic trauma.
- Supervisor: Dr Yiwen Zheng
- Beswick Student Research Scholarship
2015/2016 Summer Studentships
Shivam Kalhan
- Title: Neurotransmitter changes in the auditory system of rats subjected to tinnitus.
- Supervisor: Dr Yiwen Zheng
- Scholarship: Fastier Prestigious Summer Studentship
Sandra Parker
- Title: Electrophysiological assessment of silver nanoparticle toxicity in an in vitro rat hippocampal slice preparation.
- Supervisor: Associate Professor Steve Kerr
- Scholarship: Fastier Prestigious Summer Studentship
Jakeb Petersen
- Title: Anticancer Effects of Substituted 4-Phenylthiazoles.
- Supervisor: Dr Sarah Baird
- Scholarship: Fastier Prestigious Summer Studentship
2014/2015 Summer Studentships
Georgia Ramsden
Title: The angiogenin enigma: mesenchymal stem cell secretion of angiogenin and its effect on cancer cell migration and invasion.
Supervisor: Dr Sarah Baird
Scholarship: Fastier Prestigious Summer Studentship
Shayma Ali
Title: The Early Effects of Acoustic Trauma on KCNQ2 Expression in the Brain Auditory Pathways.
Supervisor: Prof Paul Smith and Dr Yiwen Zheng
Beswick Student Research Scholarship
Christabel Wilson
Title: Synergism of Crizotinib and Pemetrexed in the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer.
Supervisor: Dr John Ashton
Health Sciences Summer Research Scholarship - OSMS
Susan Xian
Title: The use of styrene maleic acid WIN55,312-2 micelles for the treatment of breast cancer.
Supervisor: Dr Khaled Greish
Health Sciences Summer Research Scholarship - OSMS
2013/2014 Summer Studentships
Stefanie Dixon
- Title: Glutamic acid decarboxylase levels in the cochlear nucleus of rats with acoustic trauma-induced tinnitus
- Supervisor(s): Professor Paul Smith and Dr Yiwen Zheng
- Scholarship: Eunice Isobel Beswick Summer Research Scholarship
Sam Betty
- Title: Prophylactic administration of a carbon monoxide donor in a renal transplant perfusion model
- Supervisor: Dr Ivan Sammut
- Scholarship: Fastier Prestigious Summer Studentships
Danyon Graham
- Title: Investigation of JC1/tDodSNO combination as a potential cancer therapeutic
- Supervisor(s): Dr Greg Giles
- Scholarship: Fastier Prestigious Summer Studentships
Samantha McNeil
- Title: The role of Jun N-Terminal Kinases in the cyototoxic effect elicited by tert-Dodecane S-Nitrosothiol
- Supervisor(s): Dr Greg Giles
- Scholarship: Fastier Prestigious Summer Studentships
Monica Archibald
- Title: Tyrosine kinase inhibitors for the treatment of hormone refractory prostate cancer
- Supervisor(s): Dr Khaled Greish and Dr Sebastien Taurin
- Scholarship: Health Sciences Summer Research Scholarship - OMRF
Paul Hsu
- Title: Use of nanotechnology for oral delivery of targeted anti-cancer drugs
- Supervisor(s): Dr Khaled Greish and Dr Sebastien Taurin
- Scholarship: Health Sciences Summer Research Scholarship - OMRF
Chloe Squires
- Title: Effect of coffee and its constituents on tumour stromal cell death
- Supervisor(s): Dr Sarah Baird
- Scholarship: Health Sciences Summer Research Scholarship - OMRF
Mai Nguygen
- Title: RL92 and RL62 second-generation curcumin analogs have potent cytotoxicity in vitro anticancer activities towards ER-negative breast cancer and prostate cancer models
- Supervisor(s): Associate Professor Rhonda Rosengren
- Scholarship: OSMS Prestigious Summer Research Scholarship
2012/2013 Summer Studentships
Tina Chien
Title: Is acoustic trauma-induced tinnitus associated with an increased hypocretin expression in the brain?
Supervisor(s): Dr Yiwen Zheng
- Scholarship: Fastier Prestigious Summer Studentships
Jessica Macindoe
In vitro preconditioning of hippocampal slices with GYKI-52466
Supervisor(s): Associate Professor Steve Kerr
Scholarship: Fastier Prestigious Summer Studentships
Emily McNamara
Title: Fate of newborn cells in a rat model of tinnitus
Supervisor(s): Associate Professor Cynthia Darlington, Professor Paul Smith, and Dr Yiwen Zheng
Scholarship: Otago Medical Research Foundation (OMRF) Scholarships
Rebecca Millen
Title: Can atenolol protect against heart damage caused by prolonged seizures in rats?
Supervisor(s): Dr Ivan Sammut
Scholarship: Otago Medical Research Foundation (OMRF) Scholarships
Hayley Nehoff
Title: The use of folate targeted zinc protoporphyrin micelles for the treatment of glioblastoma multiforme
Supervisor(s): Dr Khaled Greish
Scholarship: Fastier Prestigious Summer Studentships
Emily Shearer
Title: Therapeutic application of antioxidants to reduce nitric oxide induced toxicity in ischemic stroke
Supervisor(s): Dr Greg Giles and Associate Professor Steve Kerr
Scholarship: Fastier Prestigious Summer Studentships
Thalita van Aswegan
Title: Raloxifene micelles - a novel nanomedicine for the treatment of breast and prostate cancer
Supervisor(s): Dr Sebastian Taurin and Dr Khaled Greish
Scholarship: Otago Medical Research Foundation (OMRF) Scholarships
Ana Vulinovich
Title: GABAB receptor expression in the cochlear nucleus following acoustic trauma
Supervisor(s): Professor Paul Smith
Scholarship: Otago Medical Research Foundation (OMRF) Scholarships
2011/2012 Summer Studentships
Jasper Diong
Title: The optimisation of nanoparticle-encapsulated RL71 (SMA-RL71) and examination of its cytotoxicity in triple negative breast cancer cell lines
Supervisor(s): Associate Professor Rhonda Rosengren and Dr Khaled Greish
Scholarship: Otago Medical Research Foundation (OMRF) Scholarships
Oliver Linsell
Title: Cyclodextrins affect of spacial memory and learning
Supervisor(s): Dr John Ashton
Scholarship: Fred Fastier Summer Studentships
Michael Milne
Title: Development of CGRP assay for measuring neuronal activity in the spinal cord pain pathway
Supervisor(s): Dr John Ashton
Scholarship: Otago Medical Research Foundation (OMRF) Scholarships
Chloe Squires
Title: The role of the proteases fibroblast activation protein and cathepsins, in the migration of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells towards tumours
Supervisor(s): Dr Sarah Baird
Scholarship: Otago Medical Research Foundation (OMRF) Scholarships
2010/2011 Summer Studentships
Felix Deuss
Title: UV-Sensitive, KDEL-Conjugated S-Nitrosothiols as Anti-Cancer Agents
Supervisor(s): Dr Greg Giles
Julian Dzeyk
Title: Establishing anti-cancer activity and toxicity of novel curcumin analogs in animal models of estrogen receptor negative breast cancer
Supervisor(s): Associate Professor Rhonda Rosengren
Jeong Hoon Ha
Title: Development of an in vitro assay of Na+/K+ ATPase activity for determination of mechanisms underlying pharmacological preconditioning
Supervisor(s): Associate Professor Steve Kerr
Lara Jupp
Title: Structure-activity relationship studies to determine the efficacy of organoselenium drugs as potential lipoxygenase inhibitors
Supervisor(s): Dr Greg Giles
Albert Laurence
Photoactivated nitric oxide donors: the kinetic characterisation of nitric oxide
Supervisor(s): Dr Greg Giles
