Only 16 students nationally were chosen to person prestigious National Institutes of Health undergraduate scholarships for 2022–23.
And 3 of them are Bruins.
Fourth-year students Marinza Marzouk of Covina, California, and Monica Soliman of Los Angeles, and third-year pupil Samuel Zamora of San Diego were chosen from a nationalist excavation of applicants. The scholarship is meant to promote students from disadvantaged backgrounds to prosecute acquisition and vocation opportunities successful biomedical research.
Each of the UCLA honorees volition person up to $20,000 per twelvemonth for up to 4 years. In exchange, they volition implicit 10-week, paid summertime internships successful NIH laboratories and, aft they postgraduate from UCLA, enactment arsenic full-time employees successful NIH labs for 1 twelvemonth per twelvemonth of assistance enactment they receive.
“I americium arrogant of these 3 singular students and each they person accomplished frankincense far,” said Adriana Galván, UCLA’s dean of undergraduate education. “This assistance is an inspiring ballot of assurance connected the nationalist signifier for their aboriginal potential, and I person nary uncertainty they volition transcend each expectations.”
Marzouk is simply a neuroscience large who transferred to UCLA from Pasadena City College. She moved with her household to the U.S. from Egypt erstwhile she was 13.
“It was precise overwhelming, particularly with the connection barrier, and I had a batch of self-doubt — I ne'er adjacent thought I could imagination of going to UCLA,” Marzouk said. “But I kept challenging myself to get here.”
Marzouk volunteers successful the probe laboratory of Professor Edythe London, a UCLA psychiatrist and biobehavioral scientist. She hopes to proceed her studies successful aesculapian school, with the extremity of becoming a scientist oregon neurologist.
“It means a batch to maine to person gotten this scholarship,” she said. “I inactive cannot process that I americium wherever I am, and doing what I americium doing, but I americium conscionable truthful blessed to beryllium making my parents and myself proud. My parents sacrificed a batch for me, and this assistance shows them that their efforts were not successful vain and that I americium taking vantage of each the opportunities disposable to maine present successful America.”
Soliman is majoring successful quality biology and nine and minoring successful Arabic studies. Like Marzouk, she came to the U.S. from Egypt astatine a young age; Soliman was 10, and her household was seeking spiritual asylum aft the 2011 gyration there.
“Coming from a state wherever women bash not ever person the accidental to prosecute higher education, I was determined to go 1 of the archetypal successful my household to person a assemblage degree,” she said. “Coming to UCLA helped maine find assemblage and a consciousness of belonging.”
Soliman hopes to enroll successful an M.D.–Ph.D. programme successful sports medicine. An intern with the UCLA Athletics sports medicine staff, Soliman has besides served arsenic a tract probe adjunct for the UCLA Steve Tisch BrainSPORT Program and an NIH-funded project to amended concussion appraisal and attraction successful children and teens.
“I consciousness honored to person been selected to gain specified a competitory assistance and to person the accidental to enactment astatine the NIH and make skills that are indispensable for my journey,” Soliman said. “UCLA provided an situation that has allowed maine to grow, and I’m grateful.”
Zamora, who’s majoring successful microbiology, immunology and molecular genetics, moved to California with his household from Tijuana, Mexico, erstwhile helium was 10.
“Like galore different first-generation students, my parents didn’t be assemblage and knew thing astir the process, which meant I had nary consciousness of absorption and struggled to find resources,” helium said.
Key to helping him set to field beingness and find his path, Zamora said, was his engagement with Hermanos Unidos de UCLA, a pupil enactment that helps antheral Latino and Chicano students enslaved implicit their world successes, assemblage work and idiosyncratic growth.
Zamora has gained acquisition successful aggregate probe labs connected campus. He’s presently a probe intern successful the laboratory of Professor Xiaojiang Cui, wherever he’s studying the implications of RNA splicing connected bosom crab development. Although helium hasn’t ruled retired aesculapian school, helium besides has an involvement successful continuing his objective laboratory research.
“Earning this assistance gives maine a feeling of victory,” Zamora said. “Aspiring to marque a alteration successful this satellite done the quality of subject is the crushed I propulsion myself.”
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