University of Georgia juniors Audrey Conner and Emilio Ferrara have been named 2023 Barry Goldwater Scholars, according to a UGA Media Relations press release.
The Goldwater Scholarship, which recognizes exceptional sophomores and juniors across the country, is the highest undergraduate honor of its kind in mathematics, engineering and natural sciences, the release said. Awardees receive up to $7,500 per year towards tuition, fees, books and room and board.
Conner and Ferrara are both also Foundation Fellows, Stamps Scholars in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences and honors students. Both presented research at the CURO symposium in early April.
“Audrey and Emilio represent the best of undergraduate research at UGA, and we are so proud of their accomplishments,” Meg Amstutz, dean of the Morehead Honors College, said in the release.
Conner is a chemistry major and math minor and plans to pursue a doctorate in organic chemistry and conduct research on organic synthesis and methodology, according to the release. She wants to use quantum chemistry methods to “explore the intersection of computational and experimental organic chemistry.”
Conner is an exam director and lab-event coordinator for UGA’s Science Olympiad Outreach, a MathCounts tutor and USDA biological sciences aid. In 2022, she was recognized for an outstanding presentation in computational/theoretical chemistry at the Gulf Coast Undergraduate Research Symposium at Rice University.
Conner began her UGA research career as a high school student in 2019 as part of the Young Scholars Internship Program, according to the release. She continued to pursue research once she became a UGA student and has worked with multiple faculty. She will continue her research at Yale this summer, where she will conduct theory research to computationally screen catalysts using machine learning.
Ferrara is a biochemistry and molecular biology major and pharmaceutical sciences minor and plans to pursue a doctorate in biomedical sciences and conduct research on the next generation of curative genetic medicines for rare diseases, according to the release. His goal is to move these discoveries from labs into FDA-approved drugs and eventually start his own biotech company. The release said he believes the key to treating many rare diseases is effective delivery of genetic medicines.
Ferrara began his research in 2019 while studying enzyme kinetics at Georgia State University and leading a project that led to a paper that is being submitted to the Journal of Biological Chemistry, according to the press release. Ferrara has continued conducting research at UGA with multiple faculty members. This summer, he will conduct research at Tavros Therapeutics using CRISPR technologies to discover“synthetic lethal relationships,” gene combinations that can kill cancer.
Ferrara is UGA’s Interfraternity Council president, serves on the Division of Student Affairs Student Advisory Board, participates in the Innovative Genomics Institute’s CRISPR Journal Club and works with KdT Ventures, a biotech venture capital firm, the release said.
Of this year’s 413 Goldwater Scholars, there are 48 mathematics and computer science majors, 57 engineering majors and 308 natural sciences majors. The scholars were selected from more than 5,000 sophomores and juniors nominated by 427 academic institutions, according to the release.
Since 1995, 66 UGA students have been named Goldwater Scholars, according to UGA Media Relations.
