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Release
UAlbany's Edgardo Sosa Wins
Prestigious Goldwater Scholarship
Contact:
Catherine Herman (518) 437-4980
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Edgardo
Sosa |
ALBANY, N.Y. (April 18, 2005) -- UAlbany junior
Edgardo Sosa has won a competitive Goldwater
Scholarship, effective for the 2005-2006 academic
year. Sosa, who carries a double major in biochemistry-molecular
biology and anthropology, plans enter medical
school to research disease mechanisms and also
study for a doctorate in evolutionary biology.
The Goldwater award, which provides $7,500
per year for undergraduate study, was established
by Congress in 1986 as a way of encouraging
exceptional students to pursue careers in mathematics,
the natural sciences, and engineering. Scholarships
are awarded on academic merit.
Sosa has worked in UAlbany biologist Caro-Beth
Stewart's lab since last fall on a project
aimed at understanding the molecular basis
for adaptive evolution in complex organisms,
using primates as the comparative system. Their
research focuses on trying to understand why
some primate species are resistant to SIV/HIV
and AIDS, while others are susceptible.
Sosa's was one of 320 scholarships awarded
to sophomores and juniors from a highly competitive
field of 1,091 students studying mathematics,
science, and engineering from across the U.S.
and its territories.
The Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence
in Education Program is a federally endowed
agency honoring Senator Barry M. Goldwater,
and is the premier undergraduate award of its
type. Recent Goldwater Scholars have been awarded
58 Rhodes Scholarships, 72 Marshall Awards
(six of the 40 awarded in the United States
in 2005), and numerous other distinguished
fellowships. Over its 17-year history, the
Foundation has awarded more than 4,500 scholarships
worth approximately $45 million dollars. The
Foundation plans to award some 300 scholarships
for the 2006-2007 academic year.
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