2006 Goldwater Scholar

Name: Anjali Rohatgi
Hometown: Novi, Mich.
Major: Biochemistry and English
Photo: Hi-res jpg

A passion for science and research has always been a part of Anjali Rohatgi’s life. The Fort Wayne native was in a lab working on cancer cells before she even entered college.

Rohatgi, now a junior majoring in biochemistry in the Lyman Briggs School of Science in the College of Natural Science and English in the College of Arts and Letters at Michigan State University, plans to continue her focus on research as one of MSU’s three Goldwater Scholarship recipients. She is one of 323 nationwide to receive the award for 2006 from the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation.

“Having already decided science was a passion of mine that would take a lifetime to satisfy, I set out to discover whether I wanted to pursue a career in research,” Rohatgi said. “My experience as a researcher has helped clarify my conviction that research would be a promising way to feed my hunger for science.”

A member of the MSU Honors College, she is the daughter of Dipak and Juhi Rohatgi and a 2003 graduate of R. Nelson Snider High School in Fort Wayne, Ind. She plans to graduate from MSU in May 2007.

Goldwater Scholars are selected on the basis of academic merit from a field of 1,081 mathematics, science and engineering students nominated by their colleges and universities. Awarded to sophomores and juniors, the scholarship covers the costs of tuition, fees, books, and room and board up to $7,500 per year and is available for one to two years.

Rohatgi has had first-hand lab experience under Leslie Kuhn, a professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at MSU; Alex Chen, a professor of pharmacology and toxicology in the College of Human Medicine at MSU; Shree Dhawale, an associate professor of biology at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis. Her current work with Kuhn involves testing and evaluating small, organic drug-like molecules which might target the parasite enzymes that cause elephantiasis.

She plans to earn medical and doctoral degrees in biochemistry and pursue a career as a clinical researcher in drug design.

“At MSU, I’ve been able to gain valuable experience through a nationally recognized biochemistry program and participate directly in the progress of my field, which is not something every undergraduate can claim,” Rohatgi said.

Besides her MSU research projects, she has been involved in the Undergraduate Bioethics Society, the Biochemistry Club, Rock the Vote, College Club Team, the Organic Chemistry Club, Honors Students Actively Recruiting and Into the Streets Volunteering. She is recipient of a $3,800 grant from the Fort Wayne Community Schools, Indiana-Purdue University at Fort Wayne and GTE.

“I thought the Goldwater Scholarship would be a good way to show my dedication toward research and help me achieve my plans to pursue my research at an international level, as well as continue my efforts here at MSU.”

The Goldwater Foundation is a federally endowed agency, established in 1986, to honor former Sen. Barry M. Goldwater and to foster and encourage outstanding students to pursue careers in the fields of mathematics, the natural sciences and engineering.

For more information on the scholarship program, visit the Web at www.act.org/goldwater/yyschrel.html or www.act.org/goldwater/sch-2006.html

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