Engaging Future Innovators Through Novel Internship Program

Podcast Transcript

Dr. James K. Stoller:

Hello and welcome to MedEd Thread, a Cleveland Clinic Education Institute podcast that explores the latest innovations in medical education and amplifies the tremendous work of our educators across the enterprise.

Dr. Tony Tizzano:

Hello, welcome to today's episode of MedEd Thread, an Education Institute podcast, exploring Cleveland Clinic's Discovery Accelerator internship program for college students. I am your host Dr. Tony Tizzano, director of Student Learner Health here at Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio. Today I am very pleased to have Carlos Herrera, administrative intern with the Clinic Center for Youth and College Education here to join us. Carlos, welcome to the podcast.

Carlos Herrera:

Thank you so much for having me, Dr. Tizzano.

Dr. Tony Tizzano:

Our pleasure. Carlos, to get us started, could you please tell us a little bit about yourself, your educational background, what brought you to Cleveland, and your role here at Cleveland Clinic?

Carlos Herrera:

Yeah, for sure. So first and foremost, I was born in El Salvador. And I did, you know, all my initial studies. And I started learning about what I wanted to do in the future. So that was my life back home during high school. I got the opportunity to study here in the US with a full-ride scholarship, and here I am. And I ended up here at Cleveland State University, CSU. I'm doing my undergrad in computer science. Currently, I'm a senior. And I also got accepted into the accelerator master's program. So I'm also doing that by the end of the year. But I wanna talk to you about a li- a little bit more about my time here at the clinic. I've been with the clinic for about a year, but with the Center for Youth and College Education, I've been for six months. So during the spring semester '24, my former manager, Jennifer Savage, she reached out to me to help organize and prepare everything for the new cohort of this, you know, Discovery Accelerator internship. I was part of the first cohort and now I'm helping organize the the next ones.

Dr. Tony Tizzano:

So it sounds like this is a fits you like a glove sort of opportunity.

Carlos Herrera:

Right. (laughs)

Dr. Tony Tizzano:

So in today's segment we'll focus on how Cleveland Clinic's Discovery Accelerator internship program offers undergraduate college students a unique opportunity to acquire firsthand experience around quantum computing and its cutting edge applications in healthcare research. So Carlos, could you please help frame this topic for our listeners who may not be familiar with this sort of technology and this college internship program?

Carlos Herrera:

Each summer, the Discovery Accelerator internship program offers a truly unique experience. What we do is we do not only introduce students to, you know, cutting edge technology such as high performance computing, or HPC for short, quantum computing and artificial intelligence. But we also give the opportunity to work side by side with top researchers here at the Cleveland Clinic, you know, people who have years and years of experience in research, and artificial intelligence, physicians, and scientists from the clinic. But we also incorporate this with people from IBM. So this allows us to prepare our interns to incorporate in the future to this specialized technologies. You can think of this internship program as a glimpse of the incredible work that they can do after they finish their studies.

So I would like to mention first some details about the internship. I will list them in three categories. So it will be general details, curriculum, and your possible professional development experience. So if you have a question or anything, you need to know more about it, you can visit our website, or you know, you can find our emails and deadlines over there. So first of all, the general description, this is an eight to 10 week paid summer internship. Again, I would like to highlight paid summer internship. As a college student, I can tell you, that helps a lot. (laughs)

Dr. Tony Tizzano:

You wanna hear that.

Carlos Herrera:

(laughs) You're getting paid.

Dr. Tony Tizzano:

You wanna hear that.

Carlos Herrera:

Helps a lot. So you will be getting paid to do research and develop your skills in things as quantum computing, artificial intelligence. Think about that. That's incredible. Now, the curriculum, this is determined by the lab and the specific project that you will be working on. So each intern is assigned to at least one mentor. And you know, you can refer to them for professional questions, your project. Now, the last topic is professional development. Here at the clinic you will have the opportunity to participate in various workshops and courses offered by CCF and IBM. We have something very specific for quantum. We have the quantum learning journey that was developed with IBM as well and the Lerner Research Institute summer seminars. So this is all the information that you need to know about this internship right now.

Dr. Tony Tizzano:

So students are actually participating and experiencing the very same things that our caregivers are, who are being introduced to this sort of technology for the first time. So Carlos, what is a quantum computer? How does it differ from classical computing and what is required to permit its use in healthcare research?

Carlos Herrera:

Well, I could spend some time talking about it, but to make it more concise, quantum computing is at the core of this partnership between the Cleveland Clinic and IBM. It has the potential to transform healthcare by offering new ways to do some problem-solving, things that classical computing cannot do. So we have seen this in examples outside healthcare, such as search problems for databases. Quantum computers have been able to accelerate this process by reducing the exponential time to a polynomial time, for those interested (laughs) in, in knowing more about it. And we have the most famous case that is the, um, cryptography. That is the Shor's algorithm to factor prime numbers. That's very interesting, 'cause that's the kind of technology that the RSA uses for encryption.

So in traditional computing or classical computing, what we have is bits. So we have zeros and ones for, for storing our information or to process information. These are analogs to switch. So if it's a zero, it means that the state is down, or if it's a one, it means that the state is up, if you want to think about it. But with quantum computers, what we have are qubits. They can exist in multiple states at once. This is due to a quantum mechanical phenomena such as superposition. And there's another one called entanglement. I'm not gonna go into details to to talk more about it. But the important thing here is this allows quantum computers to perform calculations on multiple variables simultaneously. Some sort of, for those who are more knowledgeable on, on the quantum and on the computer side of it, think about it as quantum parallelism. That's a thing that's very important in, in quantum computing.

Dr. Tony Tizzano:

So I heard a comparison once that what a conventional, classical computer might take 40 weeks to perform computations, a quantum computer could do in four minutes.

Carlos Herrera:

Yeah.

Dr. Tony Tizzano:

Is that a, is that a true statement, a potentially true statement? Because that would distill it down for the average person listening to it, and so I didn't have to think about the math.

Carlos Herrera:

(laughs) So again, quantum computers are oriented for very specific problems. You cannot send an email, uh, from a quantum computer. I mean, theoretically you can, but would you? You know what I'm saying?

Dr. Tony Tizzano:

You wouldn't waste the time. Yes.

Carlos Herrera:

You wouldn't waste the time and-

Dr. Tony Tizzano:

Yes.

Carlos Herrera:

... the resources, you know, h- sending an email from a quantum computer. But for instance, as you mentioned, there are some specific problems that can narrow the price. That's what I meant by reducing the exponential time to a polynomial time, that's a translation. Thank you. (laughs) But yeah, no, this in combination with AI and hybrid cloud technologies is helping the Cleveland Clinic and IBM, it's helping us bring scientific dix- discoveries from the lab to the patient care much, much faster.

Dr. Tony Tizzano:

And I understand that to do this and to do it effectively, it also has to incorporate a hybrid cloud and artificial intelligence, AI, which you've referenced. Why?

Carlos Herrera:

Well, we utilize AI for different ... Again, it, it is very task-specific for what you wanna do. There are many algorithms and there are many research papers on quantum machine learning that's ... I wouldn't say it's a new topic, but it's, it's been very a hot topic for the past, oh, five years, trying to build solutions that are quantum sustainable. That is the goal for IBM for 2024. By the way, that's promotion in there. (laughs)

Dr. Tony Tizzano:

(laughs)

Carlos Herrera:

So you can incorporate those to three areas. And that's why we wanna, you know, use them for healthcare research. So for instance, we can use the quantum computer to train a neural network. So having a classical neural network, it will take a month, I don't know, I'm, I'm just giving a, a random number. Right? And with the quantum computer, it should take less time.

Dr. Tony Tizzano:

Okay.

Carlos Herrera:

Depending again on the data, on your data set, or i- There are many variables.

Dr. Tony Tizzano:

So enormous time savings, which-

Carlos Herrera:

Correct.

Dr. Tony Tizzano:

... you know, collectively could make a big difference. So looking at this as, as students in your field, what is the appetite for this sort of internship, and what are the goals and, and how did it come about?

Carlos Herrera:

So this internship aims to build the workforce of the future by educating our students in this next generation technologies. So as I mentioned to you, interns are given the chance to work in different projects using this technologies in real life applications, in this case healthcare applications. So we can go from cancer treatment to finding a molecule that can prevent skin cancer. I will talk more about that in a minute.

Dr. Tony Tizzano:

Oh, you know, thank you for that. Uh, what is the popularity of this internship?

Carlos Herrera:

So last summer we had over 230 applicants from which only 13 were accepted to this program. So it's a very competitive program. And again, it's a very unique experience. You get- [inaudible 00:11:14]

Dr. Tony Tizzano:

Yeah, I had a feeling. I-

Carlos Herrera:

Yeah.

Dr. Tony Tizzano:

To get those two things together and recognizing that we're the only quantum computer in private hands outside of IBM in the United States, I imagine so. So Carlos, what are the prerequisites for persons wanting to apply to this program?

Carlos Herrera:

So this internship is targeted at undergrad students from Northeast Ohio. We are looking for students majoring in computer science, neuroscience, biomedical engineering, data science, mathematics, or statistics, quantum computing, and any related field. Applicants must reside in the area during the internship period. And they are not required to have a research background, but it's preferred.

Dr. Tony Tizzano:

I would imagine. So what are some of the examples one might see in terms of research projects that have been undertaken thus far?

Carlos Herrera:

I do have a list of projects for you and-

Dr. Tony Tizzano:

Well, highlight a few of the ones that would be easiest for us to understand. Because this is some complex material.

Carlos Herrera:

Right. (laughs) So I can give you the, um, the title of the project.

Dr. Tony Tizzano:

Mm-hmm.

Carlos Herrera:

And you know, you can, you can dig more into it. So one of 'em was, for instance, quantum image segmentation. So what we do is trying to obtain data out of a d- of an image by using the quantum computer. Why? 'Cause they wanted to extract specific areas for analysis.

Dr. Tony Tizzano:

So very tissue-specific areas, looking at this-

Carlos Herrera:

Correct.

Dr. Tony Tizzano:

... these images.

Carlos Herrera:

Then another one, this is one of the most well-known projects that we have here at the clinic, is a quantum protein folding prediction. And this is a project that tries to optimize the lowest energy (laughs) level on a protein to try to predict how it will evolve, if that makes sense.

Dr. Tony Tizzano:

To attain a specific configuration.

Carlos Herrera:

Correct. And they want to use this for drug discovery, to accelerate drug discovery.

Dr. Tony Tizzano:

So for a drug to work, it has to have a very specific folding sequence.

Carlos Herrera:

Correct.

Dr. Tony Tizzano:

And so this would be a way that we might be able to predict that with greater accuracy or more quickly than we have in the past. Is that a fair statement?

Carlos Herrera:

Correct. And another one is a quantum neural network for lung cancer detection. So this is where the intersection of artificial intelligence and quantum happens. So having a neural network, pass it through a quantum computer, and see what it spits out or what is the result out of the, the quantum computer. And they are using that information to be able to detect lung cancer.

Dr. Tony Tizzano:

So faster, more accurate is the hope.

Carlos Herrera:

At, at the moment, faster and more accurate. Yeah.

Dr. Tony Tizzano:

Excellent. So when a student gets one of these internships and they meet up with their primary investigator, what might their level of participation be in their, in their potential for publishing, which I know is in ... of interest to anyone looking at professional schools beyond.

Carlos Herrera:

We had students who are looking in the future. So they are looking for grad school. And this is a very good program for, for that kind of people because we provide them with the opportunity to network with many caregivers inside and outside their labs as well as, you know, professional opportunities. And we even had one of our interns last summer, he was a co-author of an article related to research for a mathematical model for heart disease. So that's incredible. Think about it.

Dr. Tony Tizzano:

Yeah.

Carlos Herrera:

You have eight to 10 weeks and you're a co-author in a paper from the Cleveland Clinic.

Dr. Tony Tizzano:

Right.

Carlos Herrera:

That's awesome.

Dr. Tony Tizzano:

It's called right place, right time.

Carlos Herrera:

Correct.

Dr. Tony Tizzano:

So from your experience, what has the student feedback been and takeaways looked like so far?

Carlos Herrera:

So far, the feedback has been incredibly positive. One of the key benefits that our students mention is the hands-on experience that they gain applying quantum computing and artificial intelligence to real healthcare challenges. So, you know, you're not given a small project, you're put next to the scientists who are trying to develop a infection for cancer, develop something for the heart diseases, uh, as we mentioned. So you're put next as a peer with all the other members of the team. So that's something that's really ... that has really impacted our interns. Something else that I would like to mention is the mentorship that they receive from top researchers in their fields. We have students who are in their third, fourth year of biomedical engineering and they, they have tried different things, but they don't n- know what they want to focus their career in. They come here, they learn, "Hey, I can use BME for something very specific. I wanna focus on that." That's what we want our interns to gain out of this experience.

Dr. Tony Tizzano:

So it's expanding one's awareness. What about networking opportunities as you get to meet different scientists?

Carlos Herrera:

Correct. You get to meet a lot of people. A- As I mentioned, we have the Lerner Research Institute summer seminar series. So you get to hear more about the other labs, what they do, their research. And you know, it's really interesting to see. Sometimes you feel lonely doing research 'cause you know, you're, you're in your space, and your computer, coding or reading papers. But when you see that there's a community here where you can grow, that's where you feel like it really matters.

Dr. Tony Tizzano:

That's fabulous. So Carlos, what do you think lies on the horizon? What's next that you hope the students to see in programs like this?

Carlos Herrera:

So as the field of quantum computing evolves, so will this internship. If the goal is to continue pushing our boundaries as, you know, research from, from the clinic side, and the internship from the Center for Youth and College Education. And we wanna cultivate talent. That's what we want to do. We want to be the pipeline, the talent pipeline for, for Cleveland, you know? And we want to create the f- you know, future spots or future careers for students.

Dr. Tony Tizzano:

That's outstanding. I couldn't be more impressed. And it's such a complicated thing. And you've done a, an excellent job of articulating this for us. Well, thank you so much, Carlos.

Dr. Tony Tizzano:

This has been a wonderfully insightful podcast. To our listeners, thank you so much for joining. And we look forward to seeing you on our next MedEd Thread podcast. Have a wonderful day.

Dr. James K. Stoller:

This concludes this episode of MedEd Thread, a Cleveland Clinic Education Institute podcast. Be sure to subscribe to hear new episodes via iTunes, Google Play, SoundCloud, Stitcher, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Until next time, thanks for listening to MedEd Thread and please join us again soon.