April 13, 2011
An undergraduate biology student at St. John’s was awarded a highly
competitive 2011 Goldwater Scholarship — the nation’s “premier
undergraduate award” in the sciences — based in part on his
contributions to NIH-funded cancer research at the University.
Adeel Zubair ‘12C, a junior majoring in
Biology and
History, is the first St. John’s student to win the prestigious
undergraduate award. There were 275 Goldwater Scholarship winners
from a field of 1,095 mathematics, science and engineering students
nominated by faculty at their colleges and universities.
Reflecting St. John’s emphasis on supporting undergraduate
research, Adeel has worked since his freshman year on a research
team led by
Ivana Vancurova, Ph.D., Professor of
Biological Sciences. The team is studying the molecular
mechanisms that lead to “suicide” in cancer cells.
“Our entire University community joins in congratulating Adeel
for this singular achievement,” said Julia
A. Upton, RSM, Ph.D., Provost. “Being awarded the Goldwater
Scholarship testifies to Adeel’s hard work and considerable talents
— and, of course, to the outstanding research opportunities
available to undergraduates at St. John’s.”
Established by Congress in 1986, the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship
and Excellence in Education Foundation encourages excellence in
the natural sciences, mathematics and engineering by awarding
scholarships to outstanding students majoring in those fields. The
Goldwater Scholarships has awarded approximately $50 million to
sophomores and juniors in the sciences who have a minimum 3.8 GPA
and are in the top 25 percent in their class.
Adeel earned another top honor this spring when he was selected
together with Subrata Manna ‘13G, a doctoral biology student, to
present their research at Columbia
University’s Spring Undergraduate Research Symposium on April
3. Sponsored by the Columbia Undergraduate Science Journal, the
symposium is a forum for outstanding undergraduate research at
“pre-eminent” Northeastern research institutions.
(Read
full story.)