Suchita Rastogi of Munster receives Goldwater Scholarship

ST. LOUIS, MO (05/03/2011)(readMedia)-- Suchita Rastogi, daughter of Drs. Amita and Sanjeev Rastogi of Munster, Ind. (46321), recently received the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship for the 2011-12 academic year.

Rastogi is among two Washington University in St. Louis students to receive the prestigious national scholarship, with a third receiving an honorable mention.

Winners of the Goldwater Scholarship are Arts & Sciences juniors Rastogi, a biology major on the molecular biology and biochemistry track, and Alex G. Anderson, a mathematics and physics major.

Martin Y. Fan, a junior chemistry major, received honorable mention in the Goldwater competition.

"I believe the success of our students in winning these extremely competitive national awards is really grounded in the excellent faculty mentoring each of these students has received from very early on in their undergraduate careers," says Joy Z. Kiefer, PhD, assistant dean in the College of Arts & Sciences and associate director of the Office of Undergraduate Research.

"This in-depth faculty mentoring is a hallmark of the undergraduate experience here at Washington University, and I am very happy to have us represented so well on the national stage," says Kiefer, the campus fellowship adviser for current students and recent alumni interested in competitive fellowship and scholarship programs.

The Goldwater Scholarship is considered one of the most prestigious awards for undergraduates planning careers in the sciences, engineering or math. It covers as much as $7,500 annually toward tuition, fees and books in their junior or senior year.

The U.S. Congress established the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation in 1986 to honor Sen. Barry M. Goldwater, who served in the U.S. Senate for 30 years.

The Goldwater Foundation, a federally endowed agency, awarded 275 scholarships for the 2011-2012 academic year, selecting recipients on the basis of academic merit from a pool of 1,095 undergraduate sophomores and juniors nominated by the faculties of colleges and universities nationwide.

Rastogi

Rastogi plans to pursue an MD/PhD degree and perform bench-to-bedside research to integrate basic biochemistry and medicine, ideally with a special focus in oncology or immunology. She also wants to teach biochemistry at the undergraduate or medical school level.

Her goal is to significantly improve the treatment regimes for molecular diseases by elucidating their biochemical mechanisms. Rastogi's research focuses on germline stem cell development and the cells' decision to either proliferate or to enter meiosis.

Her research mentor is Tim B. Schedl, PhD, professor of genetics in the School of Medicine.

Her first student research experience was through the Department of Biology's inaugural Phage Hunters class (Bio 191/192) in 2008, a yearlong research course for freshmen in which they isolate and characterize novel phages - viruses that infect bacteria.

On campus, Rastogi served as a team leader for Chemistry Peer-Led Team Learning, winning the outstanding team leader award, and as a teaching assistant for both introductory biology courses. She was also a member of the Washington University Concert Choir.