Each year, the University of Connecticut is permitted to nominate up to four outstanding undergraduates who are headed for research careers in science, math, or engineering to compete for the prestigious Goldwater Scholarship. The faculty nominating committee read and considered a record number of outstanding submissions this year and just announced the 2013 Goldwater nominees. This year, they are all Honors students. The 2013 UConn Goldwater nominees are:
Nicholas Gallo is a junior majoring in physiology and neurobiology with minors in mathematics and molecular and cell biology. Nick aspires to earn a Ph.D. in “neurobiology with a specific focus on neurological disease and repair mechanisms.” He spent a summer interning in the Cellular Culture and Process Development division at Pfizer Biopharmaceuticals and is currently studying “the proliferation of astrocytes within the Rostral Migratory Stream of mice” in the lab of Dr. Joanne Conover (PNB). In addition, Nick has been active with the Relay for Life since high school and, an avid cycler, has participated three times in the Granite State Quest (100 mile bike ride to raise funds for cancer research).
Ragini Phansalkar is a junior, dual-degree student majoring in computer science and biology. She was recognized as an Honorable Mention in the 2012 Goldwater Scholarship competition. A Nutmeg Scholar and aspiring M.D./Ph.D., Ragini spent last summer interning at the Pasteur Institute in Paris, “developing plug-ins for ICY, an open-source platform for biological image processing that would be used towards the automatic quantification of fibrosis in renal biopsies.” At UConn, she devotes her time to two labs, with Dr. Daniel Schwartz (PNB) to “develop algorithms to predict sites of post-translational modification in proteins based on motifs representing enzyme recognition sites,” and with Dr. Barbara Mellone (MCB) “to reconstruct the evolutionary history of proteins involved in mitosis.” In addition, she has spent a summer as a neurosurgery intern and has, since May 2011, served as an Engineers Without Borders (EWB-USA UConn) project chair, coordinating the renovation of a primary school in Hyderabad, India.
Ye Sun is a junior biology major with a minor in physiology and neurobiology. An aspiring M.D./Ph.D. and part of the John and Valerie Rowe Health Professions Scholars Program, she began advanced research while still in high school, as a research assistant at Yale University. As a freshman at UConn, she was named a Holster Scholar and completed an independent summer research project under the mentorship of Dr. Keith Bellizzi (HDFS), looking at the link between PCB exposure and breast cancer. Currently, she is working with Dr. Joanne Conover (PNB) on “characterization of ependymal barrier integrity through gaining in the human brain.” Ye is also the student coordinator for “Soap for Hope for the Haitian Health Foundation,” and is serving as an Alternative Break trip director for Community Outreach.
Daniel Violette is a junior engineering physics major who (not so secretly) would love to be an astronaut! A NASA MUST Scholar, he has interned at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center and the Johnson Space Center. He has participated in materials research and is co-author on a paper published in Integrated Ferroelectrics. He joined the lab of Dr. Vasili Kharchenko (physics) where he “analyzes fluxes of neural atoms and molecules escaping from atmospheres of exoplanets.” In addition, Dan serves as a UConn Engineering Ambassador, the School of Engineering Academic Senator for USG, and Chair of the UConn Honors Council Environmental Committee. He has received additional support for his education from the Rachael & Ronald Brand Family Scholarship and the Carl Norden Scholarship, awarded by the School of Engineering.
Each of these students will complete the national Goldwater Scholarship application due in late January. Awardees will be announced by April 2013.