Riana Caldwell '25 | NCI Internship

Riana Caldwell ’25 is a biology major with a chemistry minor at Hood College. She recently participated in the Summer Internship Program (SIP) through the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Caldwell worked at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and focused on veterinary medicine. She shadowed and assisted lab animal technicians and veterinarians on their daily rounds. Her duties included prepping for surgeries, delivering medicine and performing status checks on various animals.

“I wanted to experience a different perspective of how veterinary medicine can be applied to animal health and explore a path that I could take as an aspiring veterinarian,” said Caldwell.

The internship saw her operating advanced lab equipment, learning industry protocols and mastering highly technical terminology. Caldwell was able to connect what she learned in the classroom at Hood with these real-world responsibilities in a fast-paced environment.

James Cherry, Ph.D., associate professor of biology at Hood and associate director at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), connected Caldwell with the NCI internship after she was recommended by faculty. Cherry said that Caldwell’s enthusiasm and eagerness to learn made her stand out, and he instantly recognized her potential for the internship.

“Riana was so passionate about wanting to be a vet. She was hungry to get as much mentoring and exposure as she could,” said Cherry. “She wanted to be in a lab and be around vets who could teach her. When you have a student like Riana who is genuinely invested, you know an internship like this is going to be a steppingstone for wherever they go next. Everyone on the animal medicine team loved her.”

Cherry noted the importance of internships in applying theory with practice, especially in today’s rapidly evolving world. The NCI internship gave Caldwell a chance to witness the latest uses of medicine and healthcare technology.

“You read all this theory, but until you can see it in practice, it doesn’t truly make sense,” said Cherry. “Riana is now going to have an opportunity to say, ‘I’ve seen what vets do when they give a steroid treatment. I’ve seen how they apply a topical ointment.’ She’s going to understand what the book has told her because she’s now seen it on an actual animal.”

The networking aspect is also critical. Cherry mentioned that several Hood students from previous years have leveraged internships into Ph.D. program and even full-fledged careers.

“We have a couple of students who have done just that—worked at NCI while going to grad school, and now they’re in medical school or doing their Ph.D. That’s what you get from those types of environments,” said Cherry. “For someone like Riana, this can open a lot of doors.”

Although she learned firsthand the inner working of an animal medicine lab, Caldwell said there were certainly challenges. The sheer amount of technical information she needed to process was intimidating but ultimately rewarding.

“From remembering the various protocols to steps that need to be followed precisely for a procedure, you need to be able to compartmentalize all that information and know when to apply it and when to put it aside for another task,” said Caldwell. “Watching the surgeries and working in a fast-paced environment was rewarding, as I felt like I learned more when actually working alongside others, rather than simply reading about their work.”

Caldwell hopes to return to NCI for another internship in the coming academic year. She encourages other Hood students, regardless of major, to seek out internship opportunities because the hands-on, real-world experience can enrich both personal and professional prospects.

“The internship helped me hone my lab techniques and gave me an understanding of animal anatomy that will be useful for my future endeavors,” said Caldwell. “This opportunity allowed me to develop a better understanding of what I want from pursuing a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine and has provided me with knowledge that will last me a lifetime.”