Honors student, Prashant Rajan, has earned not one, but two, highly prestigious national fellowships: the Goldwater Scholarship and the Astronaut Scholarship, both of which are awarded to a select number of students across the nation who show unusual promise in science, mathematics or engineering

Prashant is entering his senior year this year at Miami and pursuing majors in biochemistry and zoology and a double minor in molecular biology and neuroscience, For the past three years, he has been conducting independent study research with Blanton Tolbert, assistant professor of chemistry and biochemistry.

According to Dr. Tolbert, “Prashant has endeavored to
understand how the HIV virus hijacks host proteins to regulate the expression of its genome. He has collaborated with a senior research associate, graduate and undergraduate students to determine the high-resolution 3D structure of a key RNA molecule from HIV. This work was recently published in the Journal of Molecular Biology.”

Rajan has also conducted clinical research at the Cleveland Clinic in pediatric neurology during the past two summers working with children with autism and with Tourette’s syndrome. This summer he will work in a molecular oncology research position at the University of Chicago Medical Center. Prashant has also assumed outstanding leadership within the University Honors Program.  He has been the president of the honors and scholars advisory board and a resident assistant for Bishop Hall.  He has spearheaded numerous community service activities for honors students.