{"448691":{"#nid":"448691","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Student Steps into Washington D.C. Summer Internship","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003ETaylor See, a fourth-year student in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering (BME) at the Georgia Institute of Technology, participated in an internship in the office of Georgia Congressman Tom Price in Washington, D.C., this past summer. She saw an abundance of healthcare and biomedical engineering-related issues being debated, and got a glimpse of future legislative and funding implications related to science, healthcare, and research.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003EWith her biomedical engineering and medical interests, she sought to apply to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and other federal health-related departments. She ended up accepting an internship with Price, a member of the U.S. House of Representatives for more than 10 years. More importantly to See, Price worked in private practice as an orthopedic surgeon. Before his election to Congress, Price was an assistant professor at Emory University\u2019s School of Medicine and medical director of the orthopedic clinic at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, teaching resident doctors in training.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003E\u201cWhile the majority of what I did was quite different than anything in my BME major or even the engineering curricula at Georgia Tech, I came across many things in Washington that relate to biomedical research and remind me of my classes and professors,\u201d said See, who is from Memphis, Tennessee.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003EOne of those things is the 21\u003Csup\u003Est\u003C\/sup\u003E Century Cures Act (HR 6), federal legislation that received overwhelming bipartisan approval in the House of Representatives. Among other things, the act makes research collaborations easier; incorporates the patient perspective in drug development and the regulatory review process; promotes personalized medicine; streamlines clinical trials, making it less expensive to bring drugs to market; provides incentives for developing drugs that treat rare diseases; and basically helps \u201cthe entire biomedical ecosystem coordinate more efficiently to find faster cures while investing in 21\u003Csup\u003Est\u003C\/sup\u003E century science and next generation investigators,\u201d according to See.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003EThe 21\u003Csup\u003Est\u003C\/sup\u003E Century Cures Act, which has moved to the Senate for consideration there, would also create a $10 billion innovation fund over five years for the NIH and a\u0026nbsp;$550 million innovation fund for the FDA. In addition, there are special provisions to\u0026nbsp;make room for young or new researchers.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003E\u201cI had the opportunity to attend healthcare and medical briefings almost everyday, put on by third-party organizations or offices trying to gain support for their legislation,\u201d said See.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003ETo her surprise, one briefing featured Ravi Bellamkonda, chair of the Coulter Department at Georgia Tech and Emory (and president of The American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering). After the briefing, See sat in on a meeting with Bellamkonda and Robert Knotts, director of federal relations for Georgia Tech, during sessions with congressional office staffers.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003EIn the Georgia Tech D.C. Internship program, students work full time with a member of Congress, a congressional committee, or an executive branch office in or around Washington, D.C., for about 10 weeks during the summer, and 16 weeks during spring or fall. Students secure their own internship based on academic performance and personal interests.\u0026nbsp;The opportunity includes a $5,000 stipend in the summer or a $7,500 stipend in the spring or fall to offset expenses (housing, transportation, and living expenses). This program is open to both undergraduate and graduate students of all majors.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003EIn See\u2019s case, the experience took her outside of the usual BME comfort zones.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003E\u201cWorking on legislation is not something the average biomedical engineer has the opportunity to do,\u201d she said. \u201cWhile this may not further me in a medical career, learning about the legislative process is extremely important. I learned that so much of what biomedical engineers accomplish is funded by government agencies and that all of the regulations in the health and science industry flow through the government.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003ESee gained new insights and came away with some ideas on how the process might be improved, and how she might become part of the process.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p1\u0022\u003E\u201cIf researchers and doctors helped make the regulations on the front end, I think we would not only save time and money, but better policies could be developed at the onset,\u201d she said. \u201cI had a lot of opportunities to learn about the government\u0027s involvement and investment in healthcare and medical research. I may have some interest in going into medical policy, so I think this was great exposure.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p2\u0022\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.gov.gatech.edu\/internships\/dc%20%20\u0022\u003ERead more about the internship program here.\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p2\u0022\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p2\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p2\u0022\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECONTACT:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p2\u0022\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:wrich@gatech.edu\u0022\u003EWalter Rich\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ECommunications Manager\u003Cbr \/\u003EWallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering\u003Cbr \/\u003EGeorgia Institute of Technology\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp class=\u0022p2\u0022\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Taylor See gets an inside look at healthcare and BME-related legislation"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ETaylor See gets an inside look at healthcare and BME-related legislation\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Taylor See gets an inside look at healthcare and BME-related legislation"}],"uid":"28153","created_gmt":"2015-09-16 11:43:36","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:19:33","author":"Jerry Grillo","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2015-09-16T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2015-09-16T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"448681":{"id":"448681","type":"image","title":"See and Price","body":null,"created":"1449256264","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 19:11:04","changed":"1475895189","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:53:09","alt":"See and Price","file":{"fid":"203273","name":"taylor_washdc_img_7052_cropped.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/taylor_washdc_img_7052_cropped_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/taylor_washdc_img_7052_cropped_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1163957,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/taylor_washdc_img_7052_cropped_0.jpg?itok=btkhMj7i"}}},"media_ids":["448681"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/gov.gatech.edu\/internships","title":"Georgia Tech Government Internships"}],"groups":[{"id":"1254","name":"Wallace H. Coulter Dept. of Biomedical Engineering"}],"categories":[{"id":"42901","name":"Community"},{"id":"131","name":"Economic Development and Policy"}],"keywords":[],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}