Opportunities

How can I be a Difference Maker?

Real World Experiences

Internships

  • Our lab is a site for internships required for different degrees such as the Health Education and Behavior Internship.   
  • Our lab hosts University Scholars, Medical Honors Scholars, and McNair Scholars. 

For more information contact your academic advisor and Dr. Borum (prb@ufl.edu)

Research Projects

  • Students can conduct research as volunteers at no cost. 
  • Students can register for individual research credit courses in their major department.   

Contact Dr. Borum (prb@ufl.edu) for more information.

Senior and Honors Projects

  • Senior projects can be offered in a wide variety of departments with work performed in our laboratory. 
  • Students planning to graduate with honors in a variety of majors can conduct their thesis research on our laboratory.  

Assist a Healthcare Provider with Patients

  • Shadowing is watching someone. 
  • Assisting health care professionals interacting with patients is much more than shadowing and thus requires more time and energy to obtain the needed skills and expertise. 

Professional Experiences

Literature Research

  • Critical reading skills of the scientific and medical literature are improved to both develop testable hypotheses and share information with others.  
  • Writing skills, visualization of ideas via diagrams and graphs, and use of tools for reference management are emphasized in the writing of different types of commentaries and reviews.  
    • Blogs for the website written for at least at least three different audiences (patients, health professionals, and scientists) 
    • Narrative reviews summarizing selected published data with interpretation and commentary will be prepared for publication. 
    • Scoping reviews describing diverse existing literature and other sources of information on broad topics of interest will be written. 
    • Systematic reviews collating empirical evidence from well characterized studies will pertain to a focused research question 

Clinical and Translational Science Research

  • Many of the research areas available for student participation are discussed on this website {LINK}. The research activities conducted remotely or in person include the following: 
    • Preparation of sample collection kits with instructions for patients 
    • Receipt, processing, and tracking of samples 
    • Collection of data and entry of data into databases 
    • Data analyses and interpretation of results 
    • Presentation of results at scientific meetings 
    • Manuscript preparation and publication 

Data Science

  • Our longitudinal data on patients spanning more than a decade and our metabolomic and microbiomic data produce large data sets.  
  • We want to use data to improve Precision Ketogenic Therapy for patients whenever possible, but we also want to use it to find better ways of using it so that more patients can benefit from it.  
  • We have deidentified data in relational databases that we want to use to better understand the interrelationships among the different parameters being measured. These types of questions will benefit from artificial intelligence approaches.  
  • We need to not only better understand and interpret our data but also to create new tools for evaluating and visualizing the results obtained. 

Patient Support and Interaction

  • Materials and forms need to be prepared for patients before their visit and following their visit. The material before the visit is predominantly to enhance the ability of the healthcare professionals to conduct the patient visit. Data collected at the visit is used to prepare post clinic documentation and plans presented to the family. The patient interaction includes attending clinic visits either in person or telehealth. 
  • Educational information for patients and health professionals is personalized and updated on a continuous basis. Formats include videos, website posts, pdfs, and infographics.