2018 Goldwater Scholarship Awards include a Medical Sciences Undergraduate from UC s College of Medicine

Andrew "Scottie" Emmert, a University of Cincinnati medical sciences and honors student, was named a 2018 Goldwater Scholar today, a prestigious award given to only 211 people nationwide. 

In addition, an honorable mention went to UC biomedical engineering student Isaac Stamper.

Both Emmert and Stamper credit a passion for research and UC’s experiential learning opportunities for their success.

The Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation, named for the late U.S. Sen. Barry Goldwater, has awarded 8,132 scholarships totaling more than $63 million since 1989. This year 1,280 students from 455 institutions were nominated for a Goldwater scholarship from which 211 students were awarded scholarships and another 281 were named as honorable mentions.

Each of the 211 scholarship honorees receives $7,500 for tuition, fees, books or room and board.

“The nomination files we received this year were outstanding,” reported the 2018 Goldwater nomination committee. “We clearly had to choose the best from among the best.”

As a third-year student in UC’s College of Medicine medical sciences program –– the nation’s first and only bachelor's degree program of its kind –– Emmert plans to use his Goldwater Scholarship to pursue his medical and doctoral degrees in neuroscience and hopes to develop new applications of gene therapy and neuroimaging in treatment for hydrocephalus (or water on the brain).

To earn his nomination for a Goldwater Scholarship Emmert developed research methodology while working in the Goto/Mangano Lab at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center studying pediatric hydrocephalus. It was his experiential learning opportunity using rat models that motivated him to explore hydrocephalus and further pursue a future in pediatric neurosurgery research.

“I am very fortunate to have mentors in Drs. Goto and Mangano who challenge me to push the boundaries of my scientific curiosity," says Emmert. "From designing new rat models of hydrocephalus to writing a first-author manuscript, I have always been encouraged to pursue my passions in the laboratory.

“Through experiencing both science’s breakthroughs and setbacks, I have shifted my professional aspirations from clinical medicine to the basic science research that can better inform clinical management.”

Stamper, a fourth-year UC biomedical engineering student and Goldwater Scholarship honorable mention, demonstrated excellence in engineering while working on noninvasive sweat biosensing monitor research under Jason Heikenfeld, assistant vice president and director of UC’s Novel Devices Lab in UC’s College of Engineering and Applied Science. Stamper has been in charge of designing the readout electronics and supply voltage for the device.

“I am helping to design an on-body device for an in-vivo experiment to monitor sweat rate in real-time on human subjects,” says Stamper.

UC’s Cara Pickett, assistant director of the Office of National Competitive Awards, helps students apply for Goldwater Scholarships each fall. Eligible sophomores, juniors or fourth-year engineering students studying fields related to science, technology, engineering or math can apply. “The Goldwater foundation is looking to increase the number of future STEM researchers — students who can demonstrate the interest and potential to make significant research contributions to their fields and the ability to become researchers,” Pickett said. “The university can nominate as many as four students for Goldwater Scholarships per year.”

For more information, go to the UC Office of Nationally Competitive Awards or contact Cara Pickett at picketca@ucmail.uc.edu or 513-556-4236.