Allen Institute

🗾 It was a pleasure to welcome consul general of Japan, Makoto Iyori; deputy consul general, Junichi Sumi; and consul Kohei Hase to the Allen Institute in June to learn about our efforts to understand life and advance health. 🧠🧫🧬

To round out intern week, we would like to thank all of our amazing interns for the work they do here #AtAllenInstitute. Across all teams and functions, each and every one of you brings something special to the Institute!

On this #NationalInternDay, we are celebrating two Seattle University interns who are gaining on-the-job skills in professional environments while making inroads with industry leaders. 🔬Julian Worn, ’24, is currently working as a neural dynamics intern at the Allen Institute where he is set up on an individual project working to find a way to assist researchers in mapping the brain of a mouse to contribute to the development of a treatment for Alzheimer’s disease. 📈 In a different sector, Isabelle White, ’26, is participating in a marketing and community relations internship with Sound Credit Union, melding her passions for business and creativity. Read more about Worn, White and internships at Seattle University: https://lnkd.in/gBYWRVkf

Meet postbac Aryana Merritt-Johnson! Aryana recently graduated with a B.S. in Biology and Behavioral Neursocience from Western Washington University and will be with the Allen Institute for a year as part of our post-baccalaureate program. During her time here, she hopes to learn more about the evolution of research, from the original question to all the studies published. “I am curious about how techniques and methods are adapted during its progression. Also, more specifically with my project, I am super excited to learn more about gene expression and epigenetics!” The project Aryana is working on is focused around genetic sequences called enhancers, which serve to modulate gene expression. The goal is to analyze and modify the enhancer sequences, then create tools out of them to reliably target specific cell populations that other researchers can use in their studies! #InternWeek

Intern Week continues with Kasey Zhang! Kasey is a Neuroanatomy intern on the Brain Science team and a student at the University of California, Berkeley studying Neuroscience and Data Science. During her time with us, she has learned a lot, especially the importance of teamwork and collaboration in a research setting. She’s enjoyed integrating topics from both of her majors and applying new data science tools to study the complexities of the brain! The focus of her internship has been on data science, data analysis, and neuron reconstruction by tracing mouse brain images. She is currently working on cluster analysis of apical dendritic features to compare the morphological features across cell types in various regions of the brain. Kasey is from Northern California so her favorite thing about Seattle is how close it is to the mountains! She enjoys hiking and the outdoors and has had the best time swimming at different lakes and beaches. UC Berkeley College of Computing, Data Science, and Society

Meet Simran Lallian! Simran is an intern for Neural Dynamics Management and a student at University of California, Davis studying Neurobiology, Physiology, and Behavior. She is grateful for this amazing opportunity to learn how the scientific process operates across several cross-functional teams spanning the Institute, including groups such as surgery, electrophysiology, and histology. This experience has given her incredible insight into how scientific projects progress towards their ambitious goals. Simran is involved in several different projects within Neural Dynamics. “I help to track project progress, assist in resource allocation and connectivity among the Institute’s groups, as well as build infrastructure tools for budgeting. I get to work with scientists to manage their projects across different team sizes, timelines, and project goals.” She says. Being from out of state, she loves the access to such beautiful nature where there’s mountains, the ocean, and forests, but also an amazing skyline! Seattle has so much to offer, and she has really enjoyed being able to take it all in.

Educators, we want to hear from you! This fall, we will be releasing new Python-based curriculum materials to help you incorporate "big data" from the Allen Institute into your courses. Help us ensure these resources meet your needs by filling out a short survey: https://lnkd.in/gYbyAUwG

Happy Intern Week! We are celebrating our interns all week long by sharing their stories and experiences #AtAllenInstitute. Starting us off is Education and Engagement intern Jack Granger! Jack recently graduated from Tulane University where he studied Neuroscience and minored in French and Sociology. He says something valuable he has taken away from his time at the Allen Institute is learning so much about the most effective and impactful ways to connect with the public through science communication and education. Jack’s intern project is focused around creating a public outreach event promoting the openly accessible scientific tools that the Allen Institute has created. Another big goal of this event is to increase the Seattle public’s general awareness of the Allen Institute and foster relationships with the local community. Jack is not a Seattle native and is coming to us all the way from Louisiana! His favorite part about living in Seattle is all the incredible and diverse natural areas that are so easily accessible. He grew up hiking and camping and is very grateful to be able to enjoy the breathtaking nature in Washington during the best time of the year.

¿Cómo afectan las enfermedades al cerebro a nivel celular? Como parte del consorcio de HMBA (Human and Mammalian Brain Atlas) de The National Institutes of Health, nos asociamos con equipos diversos de todo el mundo para desarollar los mapas más detallados del cerebro primate, ya sea humano o no, que hayan existido. #DiaMundialDelCerebro #studyBRAIN | National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)

What brain cells are impacted in diseases like Alzheimer’s? Together with diverse teams around the world, we are mapping the human and non-human primate brain to better understand what goes wrong in disease. #WorldBrainDay #studyBRAIN | National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)