The JJ Vance Memorial Summer Internship in the Biological and Computational sciences is a paid summer program awarded to outstanding juniors in good standing from Miami and Broward-area high schools.The recipients of the internship will participate in an exciting, and challenging, eight week research course at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.
JJ Vance Memorial Summer Internship in the Biological and Computational Sciences
Family and friends of JJ Vance, who was a student at East Chapel Hill High School (N.C.) at the time of his death, established the program. After JJ died, HIHG Director Dr. Margaret A. Pericak-Vance, her husband, Dr. Jeffery M. Vance, and their daughter, Dr. Danica Vance, received more than 300 letters from people who knew JJ. The letters recounted JJ’s acts of kindness, his passion for life, and his fundamental belief to help those around him. Heartened by the public response to JJ’s death and committed to celebrating his life, the Vance family created the JJ Vance Foundation a few months after JJ’s death. The interns participate in a challenging 8-week research course, working with faculty and post-doctoral fellows. Each intern is paired up with a HIHG staff member, post-doc or faculty member.