Ohio State undergraduate student researcher and neuroscience major Majd Al-Marrawi was recently selected for the Barry Goldwater Scholarship for his research with two Ohio State Marion professors.
The Barry Goldwater Scholarship is a prestigious, national undergraduate scholarship that funds students to pursue scientific research. Students must first be selected and nominated through a university-wide competition, followed by the national competition. The Goldwater Foundation awards up to 460 scholarships to sophomores and juniors demonstrating potential for success in a research career in the sciences, engineering, or mathematics. Competitive students will have a high GPA (3.8+), research experience, and intend to pursue a PhD and research career. The scholarship awards $7,500 towards undergraduate expenses per year of college remaining. Ohio State will nominate 4-5 applicants for this award.
Former Ohio State Marion student earns prestigious scholarship
Al-Marrawi completed his first year of classes at Ohio State Marion and has since transitioned to the Columbus campus as he continues to work in the research lab with Ohio State Marion faculty research mentors Renee A. Bouley, PhD and Ruben C. Petreaca, PhD.
According to Ohio State Marion Assistant Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Dr. Bouley had her first interaction with Al-Marrawi in spring semester of 2023 through his enrollment in general chemistry II in which he stood out as an exemplary student.
“Due to his strong grasp of the material, he became a teaching assistant for general chemistry on the Columbus campus, for which I provided a recommendation,” said Bouley.
Al-Marrawi officially joined Bouley and Petreaca’s research labs in January 2024 and has quickly learned several biochemical and computational techniques used for his research project.
Bouley shared that he was awarded an Undergraduate Research Apprentice Program (URAP) to work on his research project full-time over the summer of 2024.
“His project is a collaboration with Dr. Ruben Petreaca. The data that he has acquired and analyzed for this project is the basis for a manuscript that was published in Cancer Genetics, in which Majd is the first author,” she said.
Al-Marrawi will also present a poster on April 14, 2025, at the American Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB) national conference held in Chicago. In his senior year Majd plans to prepare an undergraduate thesis, allowing him to graduate with research distinction.
Al-Marrawi shared that his experiences with the science faculty at Ohio State Marion exceeded his expectations, allowing him to get involved in innovative research sooner than he would have anticipated.
“This campus has helped me in more ways than I could have ever imagined, and I will forever be grateful for that,” said Al-Marrawi.
His educational pursuit continues on the Columbus campus and beyond his undergraduate degree, with plans to attend medical school.
Al-Marrawi said, “I aim to become a physician-scientist by pursuing an M.D./Ph.D. in cancer biology and specializing clinically in neuro-oncology at an academic research institution.