Collegeville resident Prem Ganesh, a senior bioengineering student at Temple, is back in on campus now. But he’s brought a summer’s worth of unique experience with him, gained through an internship with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Sarah Frasca reported his experience for the Temple College of Engineering website.

Ganesh spent his time in Silver Springs, Md., with the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, the FDA division that monitors biological products.

There, he created a database of biomarker submissions — observable medical signs used to measure disease progress in a patient — for an advanced form of liver disease. The goal of the database is to sort, track and determine the best biomarkers to identify the condition.

Although much of Ganesh’s work is sheer research, he nonetheless sees its practical, helpful side.

“If the product works, then it’s going to actually help people,” he said. “So you want to push it through.”

Ganesh is also — as interns do — making connections that can be handy later in his career.

“A lot of the opportunities you get are going to come from the people you meet and the people you talk to,” he said.

Further details on what Prem Ganesh specifically worked on at the FDA is on the Temple College of Engineering site.