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Arshed Al-Obeidi, a UA Honors College student, has been named a Goldwater Scholar by the federally endowed Goldwater Foundation named after the former U.S. Sen. Barry Goldwater, a UA alumnus.

By La Monica Everett-Haynes, University Communications
April 17, 2009

Arshed Al-Obeidi, a University of Arizona undergradaute researcher, has received a prestigious national honor.

Al-Obeidi, a UA Honors College student who is majoring in mathematics and molecular and cellular biology, has been named a Goldwater Scholar, an honor that went to fewer than 300 undergraduates this year.

The Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Program, which is handled by the Goldwater Foundation, named sophomore and junior students from across the United States earlier this month.

"Goldwater Scholars have very impressive academic qualifications that have garnered the attention of prestigious post-graduate fellowship programs," noted in a news release issued this month.

The release stated that of the recent pool of Goldwater Scholars, more than 70 have gone on to earn Rhodes Scholarships and more than 100 have received Marshall Awards, among other distinctions.

The scholarships go to students who are studying in the areas of mathematics, science and engineering.

Colleges and universities nominate students for the scholarship and recipients are chosen based on academic merit, the release noted. Sophomores typically receive the scholarship for two years while juniors receive it for one year. The funding cover s the cost of tuition, fees, books and housing at a maximum of $7,500 annually.

The Goldwater Foundation, a federally-endowed agency, administers the scholarship program, which was named after former U.S. Sen. Barry M. Goldwater, a UA alumnus.

"The bar is very high to win this award," said Karna Walter, director of nationally competitive scholarships at the UA's Honors College. She said the foundation typically receives more than 1,000 applications.

"Our process just to be nominated is very competitive. We have highly qualified applicants who come with very good credentials," Walter said.

UA student nominees typically have a GPA at or near 4.0 and have already conducted an extensive amount of research, she said. Many are on their way to being published in peer reviewed journals, or already have been.

"I think it's a nice indicator of the scientific caliber not only on my part, but also on the part of the University," Al-Obeidi said.

One UA student, Stacy Marla Shiffler, received an honorable mention. Shiffler is studying physics and mathematics.

Al-Obeidi, Walter said, had "an excellent academic record and strong letters of recommendation" and was able to articulate very strongly how the scholarship's values fit his intentions in life.

Outside of the lab, Al-Obeidi is a member of the UA's solar racing team and was among those last year to participate in the American Solar Challenge, racing 2,400 miles from Texas to Canada. This year, he is supporting the team as it prepares for the Shell Eco-marathon, which begins April 15 and involves students from countries around the world.

He also volunteers with the UA College of Medicine's Sight Savers program, a service program that conducts free glaucoma screenings for community members.

But it is in the lab that his ambitions play out.

Al-Obeidi intends to become an academic scientist who infuses systems biology with cancer research. Currently, he is also affiliated with the Undergraduate Biology Research Program and is working in a laboratory headed up by Ted Weinert, an associate professor in the UA's molecular and cellular biology department.

There, Al-Obeidi is studying the genome. He is involved in research attempting to understand ways that DNA is damaged and how to repair the functionality of the nucleic acid, which has implications in the areas of rare diseases, genomic disorders and cancer treatment.

He is particularly curious about the ways in which cancers work and in figuring out the "accumulating unrepaired replication errors" caused by mutation at the cell level.

Ultimately, Al-Obeidi wants to be able to merge research in basic and applied science and take a multidisciplinary approach to cancer research.

"Ideally, it would be nice to integrate these two," he said. "It's about the increased knowledge it would provide and it also makes the research easier to do."