University of Pennsylvania students Michael Tran Duong and Tiberiu Mihaila have been awarded the Goldwater Scholarship.

Sophomore Michael Tran Duong from Worcester, Pa., is studying biochemistry and biophysics. As a member of the 3-D epigenomes and neurobiology lab of Jennifer Phillips-Cremins, assistant professor in the Department of Bioengineering in Penn’s School of Engineering and Applied Science and Perelman School of Medicine, Duong investigates dynamic patterns of 3-dimensional genome folding in brain development and disease. He plans to become a physician-scientist researching the genetics and neuroimaging of Alzheimer’s disease and neurodegeneration.

Tiberiu Mihaila, a sophomore from Syracuse, N.Y., is studying physics, biophysics and biochemistry in the Vagelos Molecular Life Sciences Program in the School of Arts & Sciences. He is a member of Associate Professor E. James Petersson’s group, in the Department of Chemistry, using fluorescence techniques to study protein misfolding and cellular pathology in Parkinson’s disease model systems. Mihaila hopes to pursue an M.D. and a Ph.D, using biophysical and biochemical tools to elucidate neurodegenerative disease pathology.

The Goldwater Scholarship is a national competition to foster and encourage excellence in science and mathematics. It awards 300 scholarships nationally to sophomores and juniors demonstrating excellence in science, engineering and mathematics and planning Ph.D. study and careers in academic research. 

More info about the scholarship is available at the Center for Undergraduate Research and Fellowships.