{"288501":{"#nid":"288501","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Former Petit Scholar Najia Named Goldwater Scholar","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EMohamad Ali Najia, an undergraduate student in Georgia Tech\u2019s Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, has earned the prestigious Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship for his work in science and engineering. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ENajia chose to enroll at Georgia Tech in 2010 because of the biomedical engineering department\u2019s reputation and research opportunities. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u201cI has always been my long-term plan to go on to graduate school to earn a Ph.D. in biomedical engineering,\u201d Najia said. He was first drawn to this area of study in high school as he learned about the potential of stem cells and their role in curing disease. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EIn his first semester, Najia joined Associate Professor Todd McDevitt\u2019s \u0022Engineering Stem Cell Technologies\u0022 laboratory, where he worked with graduate student Jenna Wilson, a Ph.D. candidate in the BioEngineering Graduate Program. Najia\u2019s research project, \u201cInfluencing encapsulated stem cell factor secretion through hypoxic conditioning,\u201d was to design a culture environment that would generate a greater impact on tissue regeneration. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EIn addition to being an Honors Program student, he went on to become editor-in-chief of The Tower, Tech\u2019s peer-reviewed undergraduate research journal, and, last summer, he was a bioinformatics fellow through the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EIn 2012, Najia was a selected as a Beckman Coulter Scholar in the 2012 class of Petit Undergraduate Research Scholars program at Georgia Tech\u2019s Parker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience. The \u201cPetit Scholars\u201d program is a competitive, full-year independent research opportunity for elite undergraduate students in bioengineering and bioscience who are mentored by graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. The Petit Institute has sponsored this program since 2000 and has successfully supported the research of over 200 young scientists, many of whom have gone on to distinguished careers in academics, medicine and industry. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThroughout his undergraduate career, Najia has focused on his dream of generating fully functional tissues for implantation into patients, with the goal of curbing a nationwide allograft shortage, improving patient recovery, and saving lives. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u201cThe Goldwater is an initial step toward building a career in the biomedical engineering field and performing impactful research,\u201d he said. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EHe hopes to become a professor with a lab focused on genome engineering and is already excited to mentor the next generation of scientists. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u201cI am incredibly grateful for the institutional support, both through the Parker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience and the Biomedical Engineering department that I have received for my undergraduate research,\u201d he said. \u201cMost importantly, I am thankful for the mentorship of several faculty members, including Georgia Tech faculty members, Todd McDevitt and Brani Vidakovic who served as valuable mentors.\u201d \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ENamed for U.S. Senator Barry Goldwater, the Goldwater Scholarship is awarded to students in science, mathematics and engineering who intend to pursue research careers in their fields, with the intent of providing a continuing source of highly qualified scholars in these areas. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ETo learn more about how to apply for prestigious fellowships, visit \u003Ca href=\u0022fellowships.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EGT Fellowships\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Mohamad Ali Najia receives award for his work in science and engineering"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EMohamad Ali Najia receives award for his work in science and engineering\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Mohamad Ali Najia receives award for his work in science and engineering"}],"uid":"27195","created_gmt":"2014-04-04 11:23:22","changed_gmt":"2022-05-26 17:09:36","author":"Colly Mitchell","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2014-04-03T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2014-04-03T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"288341":{"id":"288341","type":"image","title":"Mohamad Ali Najia","body":null,"created":"1449244254","gmt_created":"2015-12-04 15:50:54","changed":"1475894983","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:49:43","alt":"Mohamad Ali Najia","file":{"fid":"199155","name":"mohamadalinajia_0.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/mohamadalinajia_0_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/mohamadalinajia_0_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":4204940,"path_740":"http:\/\/www.tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/mohamadalinajia_0_0.jpg?itok=2tbaD5d8"}}},"media_ids":["288341"],"related_links":[{"url":"https:\/\/goldwater.scholarsapply.org\/yyschrel.php","title":"Goldwater Scholars website"},{"url":"http:\/\/mcdevitt.gatech.edu\/","title":"McDevitt Research Lab"},{"url":"http:\/\/www.ibb.gatech.edu\/petit-scholars","title":"Petit Scholars info and application"}],"groups":[{"id":"1292","name":"Parker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience (IBB)"}],"categories":[{"id":"134","name":"Student and Faculty"},{"id":"8862","name":"Student Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"30031","name":"Goldwater Scholar"},{"id":"90801","name":"mohamad ali najia"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EInstitute Communications\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["kristen.bailey@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}