Aug 26, 2009 -- Every summer, undergraduate students fan out across the U.S. and further afield to pursue diverse opportunities as interns, fellows and researchers in their area of professional interest. We profile a sample of this year's summer interns. Hadassa Klerman, a biochemistry major at Stern College for Women, secured a prestigious internship with Dr. Tomer Avidor-Reiss in the Department of Cell Biology at Harvard University, thanks to the help of Dr. Marina Holz, assistant professor of biology at Stern who received her PhD from Harvard Medical School. Klerman researched the cellular structure of flies to get a deeper understanding of subcellular centrioles, cylindrical cellular structures involved in cell division and organization. The Stern student prepared and dissected samples to quantify the effects of previously identified mutations on centrioles. “Dr. Avidor-Reiss is very committed to incorporating students into his research,” she said. “He gives his interns ownership of their projects, which in turn provides them with independence and room for creativity.” Dassi Fani interned at a hair salon in Washington Heights, home to YU’s Wilf Campus, in a new initiative to place Sy Syms School of Business students in internships at local small businesses. She compiled a customer database to help Bodre’s Cut and Color Room better market its services. “The salon industry is one that has interested me for some time,” said Fani, a fashion marketing major who is interested in starting up her own small business one day. “It was great to get to know the ins and outs of running a small, personal business.” Michael Strauss, adjunct professor and entrepreneur in residence at Syms School, mentored Fani for the length of her internship. A prestigious fellowship at Yale University gave Matthew Williams the opportunity to do in-depth art history research this summer. Williams, a student in Yeshiva College's Jay and Jeanie Schottenstein Honors Program, was selected as a Leadership Alliance Mellon Initiative Scholar of Humanities at Yale. The program was offered jointly by the Leadership Alliance Early Identification Program for Doctoral Students and Yale’s Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship, both of which enable qualified undergraduates to work under the guidance of a faculty or research mentor and expose them to the kind of work they can expect to do in graduate school. Williams wrote a lengthy article on John Trumbull’s painting, “Declaration of Independence,” under the tutelage of Dr. Alexander Nemerov, professor of art history at Yale. He also prepared a video-lecture on his research for the Leadership Alliance’s National Symposium held last July. A senior majoring in English, Williams credited YU’s Drs. John Hogan, Marnin Young, and Steven Fine with preparing him to pursue a graduate degree in art history. Yehudit Fischer, a senior majoring in biochemistry and Judaic studies at Stern College for Women, interned at Hebrew University’s Research Center for Bioengineering in the Service of Humanity and Society. Fischer worked with a PhD student to investigate ways to sterilize foods and drugs in areas of the world that lack refrigeration. She chose to do her internship in Israel to learn about the research environment in the country in which she hopes to eventually live. “This experience has provided me with a glimpse of what conducting research in Israel is like,” she said. “I think having made some contacts here will be beneficial for the future.” Fischer will apply to doctoral programs in biomedical engineering in the fall and plans to work in industry or academia. Seniors Chaya Citrin and Steven Paletz worked on Capitol Hill as part of a program run by the Orthodox Union’s Institute for Public Affairs. Citrin interned for Congressman Michael E. McMahon, the U.S. Representative from New York's 13th Congressional District, while Paletz worked for Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the U.S. Representative from the 18th District of Florida and the ranking member of the House of Representatives’ Foreign Affairs Committee. Citrin spent much of her day organizing materials for staffers, responding to constituent queries, attending hearings, and showing constituents around the Capitol. “Communicating with a wide base of constituents made me realize how complex their issues are and how difficult it is to balance them,” said Citrin, a double major in political science and Judaic studies. “These issues are important for American citizens who wish to be a part of the political process.” Paletz led tours, wrote letters, edited speeches and conducted research on proposed bills. “I learned so much about leadership from Representative Ros-Lehtinen as well as the importance of encouraging others to work cooperatively as a team,” he said. “It is important for my generation to become more involved in public service, and to do it proudly while wearing a yarmulke,” said Paletz, a political science major focusing on American politics.