2010 Biochemistry Goldwater Scholar

RIT Biochemistry Major Sebastian Ramirez from Horseheads, NY has been named a 2010
Goldwater Scholars. The Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship is the premier undergraduate award for students interested in pursuing a career in mathematics, the natural sciences, or engineering. The award is based on academic merit, and virtually all winners plan on pursuing a Ph.D. Many of these students have extensive undergraduate research experience as well. Sebastian will receive $7500 for his senior year. This year, 278 sophomores and juniors were selected from 1,111 nominees.

Sebastian has been conducting biochemistry research with Dr. Suzanne O’Handley in the Department of Chemistry at RIT. His research is currently focused on the cloning, purification, and structural determination via X-ray crystallography of enzymes from the HAD superfamily with one being a virulence factor and thus a potential novel antibiotic target in S. aureus; he has presented this work at the RIT undergraduate research symposium, as well as the American Chemical Society (ACS) National Meeting in Washington, D.C. Additionally, Sebastian has done biophysics research in the laboratory of Dr. George Thurston in the RIT Physics Department. Sebastian plans to obtain a Ph.D. in Biochemistry or a related discipline with a focus on macromolecular NMR or X-ray structure determination, and envisions a career in academia teaching and conducting research. Sebastian holds an RIT Presidential Scholarship, a Nathaniel Rochester Society Scholarship, a Randall Andrews Scholarship, and Frederick Douglass Scholarship. He has won a summer fellowship from the American Society for Microbiology, as well as a travel award from the ACS. Sebastian is in the RIT McNair Scholars Program, the RIT Honors Program, and is an RIT Chemistry Research Scholar. Sebastian is also a member of the RIT ASBMB student affiliates and with this group has volunteered at the Rochester Museum and Science Center during National Chemistry Week, and at a Rochester elementary school through the Rochester Section ACS Adopt a School Program.