Students interested in the Cancer Care research will typically work with a mentor in the Cancer Care and Research Center or the Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Population Health on a cancer epidemiology and outcomes project that may involve conducting scientific literature reviews, assisting with study design, analyzing data, and preparing a manuscript. In addition to the independent project, students may have the opportunity to be involved with other National Institutes of Health (NIH) projects including studies in CONNECT Cancer Epidemiology Cohort Study, Marshfield Epidemiologic Study Area, and the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI).
CCRC Summer Program Projects
CCRC researchers will offer one project for the 2026 summer session.
1) Analyses of a Prospectively Maintained Database for Patients Undergoing Cytoreductive Surgery (CRS), Heated Intra-Peritoneal Chemotherapy (HIPEC), and/or Pancreatic Surgery at a Rural Tertiary Healthcare Center
Project Overview:
High acuity procedures involving multi-visceral resection, utilizing latest technology platforms, are being performed at a rural tertiary health care center. The purpose of this project is to investigate the feasibility, safety, and efficacy of these procedures and the generalizable applicability of the findings.
Research question: This study will examine a defined population of adults who have received the relevant surgical procedures involving HIPEC or pancreatic surgery. The primary research questions could be: (1) Is Robotic Cytoreductive surgery and Heated Intra Peritoneal Chemotherapy feasible, safe and efficacious in rural Health Care?, and (2) Is Pancreatic Surgery outcomes improving despite increasing risk patients being offered surgical resection? Other subgroups and predictors of select health conditions will be examined. Depending on the intern selected, the mentor team will pursue one of the research questions.
The summer intern will conduct chart reviews, enter/update data into surgical databases, review relevant scientific literature, help craft the final methodological and analytical plan, run statistical analyses, and summarize the study findings in a final presentation. The intern could have a possible opportunity to observe surgical procedures, participate in the Tumor Board, and interact with residents.
Requirements:
Students need to have familiarity with data population, abstraction, collation, and analysis as well as having some interest in learning basic analytical skills. Undergraduate sophomore, junior, senior, and graduate students who are interested in being a physician and/or attending or in the process of applying to medical school. Students will be performing literature reviews, collecting data, attending seminars, and writing manuscripts. This project is either virtual or in-person internship.
Friendly reminder, the internship is a competitive process with an application, copy of transcripts, resume or CV, personal statement, and two academic or research references. See Frequently Asked Questions for additional details.
Application window for the summer of 2026 is now open and will close Feb. 6, 2026 at 11:59pm CST. Apply here.