Ramalingam, biostatistics undergraduate, wins prestigious Goldwater Scholarship
| April 15, 2010 | |
Hari Ramalingam
Sendhilnathan “Hari” Ramalingam, a junior majoring in biostatistics and biology, is one of three UNC students selected for the 2010 Goldwater Scholarship, one of the nation’s most prestigious for undergraduate study. The awards go to outstanding college sophomores and juniors who intend to pursue careers in mathematics, the natural sciences or engineering.
The Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Program of Springfield, Va., recently announced 278 award recipients. Colleges and universities had nominated 1,111 students for the honor.
Congress established the program in 1986 to honor the late Barry M. Goldwater of Arizona, who served in the U.S. Senate for 30 years.
The scholarship provides up to $7,500 per year for educational expenses. Sophomores receive two years of support; juniors, one year. Scholars are chosen for intellectual curiosity and intensity and potential for significant future contributions in their fields.
This year’s recipients bring the number of Goldwater Scholars from Carolina to 39 since the first awards were made in 1989. Ramalingam, son of B. and Jamuna Ramalingam of Cary, N.C., graduated from William G. Enloe High School in Raleigh in 2007. He studies colorectal cancer in a medical school laboratory under the direction of Dr. Young Truong and Dr. Scott Magness. He seeks to determine whether a protein in the colon, called SOX9, is a marker for cancer stem cells, which some scientists believe give rise to and maintain tumors.
“Chemotherapy targets the fast-dividing progenitor (cancer) cells rather than the potentially slowly dividing cancer stem cells,” Ramalingam said. To date, no definitive cancer stem cell marker has been found for colorectal cancer, the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States. Better understanding the biology of colorectal tumors could lead to new therapies for the disease, he said.
Ramalingam hopes to become a doctor who both sees patients and conducts research. At UNC, he is in a pre-med fraternity, a student folk dance group and an umbrella organization for 20 student minority groups.
UNC juniors Len Evans (physics) and Daven Quinn (geology and economics) also were selected for the Goldwater Scholarship.
“[Evans, Ramalingam and Quinn] are engaged citizens and students of exceptional scientific ability,” said Jason Reed, PhD, an associate professor of biology and chair of the faculty committee that chose UNC’s Goldwater nominees. “We are extremely pleased that their considerable promise as scientists has been recognized.”
Read more about the Goldwater Foundation and Goldwater Scholarships online. UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health contact: Ramona DuBose, director of communications, (919) 966-7467 or ramona_dubose@unc.edu. |
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