Nationally, 443 institutions nominated 1,223 college students to compete
Zachary Fralish of Niceville, Florida, a rising senior majoring in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Florida Southern College, is among an elite group of 496 students across the United States to receive a Goldwater Scholarship for the 2019-2020 academic year.
Zachary is one of only 13 students from academic institutions in Florida to receive the scholarship. Nationally, 1,223 college sophomores and juniors in the natural sciences, engineering, and mathematics were nominated by 443 institutions to compete for a Goldwater Scholarship.
Florida Southern College Provost Dr. Kyle Fedler said, “It is rare for smaller private schools to produce Goldwater Scholars, and Florida Southern now has two in the past three years.” “Zach receiving a Goldwater Scholarship is a testament to Florida Southern’s commitment to undergraduate research as one element of its focus on experiential education”, he added.
What makes Zachary the true essence of the scholarship?
Zachary as a researcher admits delivering medications to treat diseases of the retina. Unlike current treatments that involve direct injections into the retina, he’s projected involves the development and analysis of a drug delivery system based on nanotechnology, to entrap treatments inside metal-organic polyhedra — which he describes as “cages” — meant to travel through the gel-like vitreous of the eye until they reach the retina, where they slowly release the medication. The goals of this procedure comes proven to be viable, it would be to reduce the risks of surgery and lower costs while making the treatment accessible to more patients.
“At most schools, students begin research in their junior or senior year, but at FSC I was able to start on this research in the summer of my freshman year,” Zachary said. “I started shadowing faculty and students in the lab just a couple of weeks after getting here. That’s a unique advantage of being at Florida Southern, being able to stay for the summer and do research. You’re really able to focus.”
The future steps of Zach
Zachary plans to pursue a Ph.D. in biomedical engineering with a specialization in drug delivery mechanisms. He is the current president of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology student chapter at FSC. He is also a member of the American Chemical Society’s student chapter, the Gamma Sigma Epsilon national chemistry honor society, the Omicron Delta Kappa national leadership honor society, and the Kappa Mu Epsilon mathematics honor society, and he serves as an executive board member of FSC’s Astronomy Club.
In addition to the Goldwater Scholarship, Zachary is also a recipient of the C.V. McClurg Scholarship, awarded to first-year FSC students in recognition of exceptional academic merit. The scholarship covers full tuition and fees for four years of study.
Established in 1986 to promote education and research by undergraduates in STEM fields, the Goldwater Scholarship Program was created in honor of the late Senator Barry Goldwater and is the preeminent undergraduate award of its kind. The goal of the scholarship program is to identify and support college students who show exceptional promise of becoming the next generation of research leaders.
