Throughout the past year through the NCI’s Reproductive Health and Reproductive Rights Internship program, I have been working on a research project with Dr. Alyssa Lederer at the School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine. My specific project has been a smaller component of a larger online sexual and reproductive health education intervention that Dr. Lederer implemented several years ago at a large Midwestern university. Over the course of the year, I have had several major tasks. I worked on a literature review on the components of web-based sex education interventions that make them successful, helped Dr. Lederer develop posters to present her research at conferences, helped draft and submit an abstract to the American Public Health Association (APHA) conference, and finally coded and begun to analyze qualitative response data on the education module Dr. Lederer developed. I was also grateful for the opportunity to present my literature review through a poster presentation at the first annual Conceiving Equity Summit, hosted by the NCI. Needless to say, I have gained skills in many steps in the process of public health research, one of my main learning objectives.
Moving forward, even though my formal internship has ended, Dr. Lederer has generously offered to keep collaborating with me over the summer to develop a manuscript for the project, which will eventually be submitted for publication. Additionally, if our abstract is accepted at the APHA conference, I may be able to present with her in San Diego in the fall! I have also had amazing opportunities for networking through our bi-weekly RRRH meetings, and through the connections I forged, I will begin pursuing post-graduation opportunities. I am so grateful to the NCI for facilitating this experience for me. It has been formative in helping me better understand my career goals, which now include sexual and reproductive health research!