Rice University juniors Prasi Desai, Ellena Jeon and Eitan Feldman have all been awarded the Barry Goldwater Scholarship, an annual award that recognizes pioneering science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) undergraduates in the United States.
Founded by Congress in 1986, the scholarship supports the next generation of STEM leaders by supporting college sophomores and juniors pursuing careers in research. Each applicant receives a $7,500 award to support their college education costs.
This year, 454 Goldwater Scholarships were awarded across the country.
Desai is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in chemical and biomolecular engineering and aspires to lead efforts applying engineering approaches to develop new therapies. Her research is currently focused on cell therapies for Type 1 diabetes — work she is carrying out under the guidance of Omid Veiseh, professor of bioengineering, director of the Rice Biotech Launch Pad and Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas Scholar. She also held internships at the Harvard Stem Cell Institute and the Los Alamos National Laboratory, where she was mentored by Yingzi Yang, a professor of developmental biology at Harvard University, and Sandrasegaram Gnanakaran, a staff scientist at LANL, respectively.
“I’m really grateful to receive the Goldwater Scholarship,” Desai said. “During my time at Rice, research has been a big part of my academic journey, and I’m glad to see my efforts, as well as those of the many research mentors who have supported me along the way, recognized by the Goldwater Foundation. Receiving this award encourages me to continue striving for excellence both in the classroom and in the lab.”
Jeon, a bioengineering major from Chandler, Arizona, conducts research in the Mikos lab at Rice’s BioScience Research Collaborative, where she focuses on 3D-printed scaffolds for bone regeneration. Her work has been shaped by mentorship from faculty and trainees, including Antonios Mikos, the Louis Calder Professor of Bioengineering and Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, postdoctoral associate Vasiliki “Aliki” Kolliopoulos and graduate student Maeve Kennedy. Beyond the lab, Jeon has pursued hands-on experiences at the intersection of engineering and medicine, including a Rice360 Global Health internship in Kenya, where she worked to address real-world clinical challenges and completed research opportunities at Baylor College of Medicine and The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.
“Rice has given me the opportunity to explore both the research and clinical sides of medicine in a meaningful way,” Jeon said. “Those experiences have shaped my goal of becoming a physician-scientist, and this scholarship allows me to stay focused on advancing research that can ultimately improve patient care.”
Feldman, a Los Angeles native double-majoring in chemistry and computer science, works in the lab of Thomas Senftle, the William Marsh Rice Trustee Associate Professor in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. There, graduate student Chase Sellers serves as a benchside mentor. Feldman uses computational chemistry to design more stable catalysts for hydrogen gas production, enabling more viable storage of renewable energy. Last year, he interned in the Technicon-Israel Institute of Technology, where he worked on improving membrane design for desalination plants and other applications. Feldman has also studied in Michael Robertson’s lab at Baylor College of Medicine and in Shaama Sharada’s lab at the University of Southern California.
“I am so grateful that I got the Goldwater Scholarship because it reaffirms that my work is important,” Feldman said. “I am also so thankful to professor Senftle and Chase Sellers for mentoring me and enabling me to learn so much from my research.”