ISB Undergraduate Researcher Daniel Chen Earns Goldwater Scholarship

isbscience.org/news/2021/04/01/isb-undergraduate-researcher-daniel-chen-earns-goldwater-scholarship/

Goldwater Scholar Daniel Chen. “Receiving the Barry Goldwater Scholarship has been a significant milestone in my research career that honors my passion and efforts in research,” Chen said. (Photo courtesy of University of Washington)

Daniel Chen, an undergraduate researcher in ISB’s Heath Lab and junior at the University of Washington, has been awarded a prestigious Goldwater Scholarship. 

“I’m deeply grateful for the tremendous support and mentorship of Dr. Yapeng Su and Professor Jim Heath. Receiving the Barry Goldwater Scholarship has been a significant milestone in my research career that honors my passion and efforts in research as well as my mentors and the greater ISB community who have made this all possible,” Chen said. 

Chen has been a key member of the COVID-19 Immune Response Study. His research focuses on using the single-cell multi-omic paradigm to analyze COVID-19 peripheral blood mononuclear cells to identify the disease state effects of SARS-CoV-2 on patient immune systems. His work has expanded into investigating heterogeneous patient responses to COVID-19 in convalescence along with interrogation of patient epigenomes to identify the early-stage immune cell subpopulations responsible for humoral immunity formation and the epigenomic changes that may guide such.

“Daniel is an amazing young scientist,” said ISB President and Professor Dr. Jim Heath. “He was second author (out of almost 50) on our recent Cell paper, and he is likely to co-author another half dozen high profile papers before he even receives his undergraduate degree! On top of that, he is also a concert level pianist!” 

This year, the Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation partnered with the Department of Defense National Defense Education Programs (NDEP), and awarded scholarships to 410 college students from a pool of 1,256 nominated by 438 institutions across the country. The scholarships are granted to sophomores and juniors who show exceptional promise and plan to pursue research careers in math, engineering or the natural sciences.

“As it is vitally important that the nation ensures that it has the scientific talent it needs to maintain its global competitiveness and security, we saw partnering with the Goldwater Foundation as a way to help ensure the U.S. is developing this talent,” said Dr. Jagadeesh Pamulapati, director the NDEP program. 

The Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation was established by Congress 35 years ago to serve as a living memorial to honor Barry Goldwater, who served 30 years in the U.S. Senate.