Internship at QIAGEN

Bridging microbiome research and industry innovation through hands-on experience at QIAGEN

OHMC Industry Internship at QIAGEN

This exciting opportunity will allow interns to

gain hands-on experience in a leading biotechnology company,
work on cutting-edge projects in the field of molecular diagnostics, testing, and assays,
collaborate with industry experts and scientists, and
develop valuable skills and knowledge relevant to a future career in microbiome biotechnology, relevant to all sectors.

About	Details
When	Summer 2026 (6-8 weeks)
Where	QIAGEN R&D facility in Hilden, Germany
What	Interns will learn about the broader R&D pipeline, as well as work on specific products or technologies in a lab setting. This work may have the potential to lead to a co-authored publication.
How	Salary/stipends should continue to come from the student’s PI or other standard sources (fellowships) during the student's visit. QIAGEN will provide travel and lodging, for the duration of the internship.

Natalie Ford, dual title PhD student in Ecology and Microbiome Sciences, T32 Biotechnological and Integrative Opportunities in Microbiome Sciences (BIOMS) Fellow
- Ford, advised by Associate Professor Francisco Dini Andreote, studies how environmental stressors affect soil bacteria and subsequently their interactions with plants. She is interested in understanding how multiple stressors might simultaneously act to alter an ecosystem and how the microbial ecosystems respond.
Mackenna Yount, dual title PhD student in Food Science and Microbiome Sciences, T32 Biotechnological and Integrative Opportunities in Microbiome Sciences (BIOMS) Fellow
- Yount, a doctoral student in the College of Agricultural Sciences’ Department of Food Science with a dual title in microbiome sciences advised by Associate Professor Jasna Kovac, focuses her work on Listeria monocytogenes, a foodborne pathogen which can be difficult to remove from food processing environments due to its biofilm-forming abilities.

Samantha Seibel, PhD student in Molecular, Cellular, and Integrative Biosciences (MCIBS)
- Samantha’s research focuses developing workflows to capture bacterial resistomes (complete set of antimicrobial resistance genes in a population), understanding the impacts of antibiotic usage on Salmonella Dublin (bovine-adapted pathogen) virulence, and the connection between gut microbial dysbiosis and inflammatory bowel disease.
Naomi Huntley, PhD student in Biology
- Naomi's research focuses on which host cell types are associated with microbiome traits and causal relationships between host genetic variants, microbiome traits, and disease outcomes.

Ashley Ohstrom, dual title PhD students in food science and microbiome sciences
- Ashley’s research focuses on fermented food microbiomes, specifically how the microbiome of sourdough bread could improve bread quality and shelf life, potentially mitigating gluten sensitivities and celiac disease through protein modification.
Jamie Spychalla, PhD student in plant pathology and environmental microbiology
- Jamie’s research focuses on developing microbiome-focused management plans to better control major grapevine diseases like Botrytis bunch rot and sour rot, which cause significant economic loss for both wine grape and table grape growers worldwide.