![\"A](\"\/responsive-media\/cache\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2023\/05\/042823_6737_CSAM-Marisa-Messina-Goldwater-Scholarship.jpg.0.1x.generic.jpg\")
As a nationally designated R2 research university, Montclair creates multiple opportunities for students to conduct research alongside faculty. For Messina, that research began the summer of her freshman year when she joined the biochem lab of Associate Biochemistry Professor Jaclyn Catalano and began assisting in researching an enzyme that is overexposed in breast cancer cells. The team is creating a model to better understand how the enzyme could potentially be used as a drug target, Catalano says.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe work is rewarding,\u201d says Messina, who was inspired by a high school Chemistry teacher in her hometown of Riverdale, New Jersey, to pursue science in college. \u201cThe more chemistry classes I take, the more interested I am.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the lab, Messina saw the pieces of the research come together, acquiring both wet lab and computation skills that allowed her to grow her research independently, work that Catalano recognized as exceptional. \u201cMarisa is able to perceive the next steps and troubleshoot any experiment,\u201d Catalano says. \u201cShe\u2019s a great student in the lab and she\u2019s fully capable of collecting data that is publication quality. She has also trained other students to do the same.\u201d<\/p>\n Those attributes contributed to her application being put forward with the University\u2019s Prestigious Scholarships Committee and the Barry Goldwater Scholarship review team. \u201cIn my own exchanges with Marisa, I noted a highly professional individual, responsive and focused, and one of the top undergraduates I met in the last two decades,\u201d Robila says.<\/p>\n The Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Program was created in 1986 to honor Senator Barry Goldwater, who served in the Army Air Force and the Air Force Reserve before being elected to Congress. This year, the award went to 413 scholars throughout the United States, with 10 scholars at New Jersey universities \u2013 four at Princeton, three at Rutgers, and one each at Montclair, Rowan and NJIT.<\/p>\n \u201cHaving one of our Chemistry students honored as a Goldwater Scholar is a testament to how our program brings out the best in our students and the impact of quality faculty mentorship. Ms. Messina is well prepared to join the other Goldwater Scholarship winners to be the next generation of scientific leaders,\u201d says College of Science and Mathematics Dean Lora Billings.<\/p>\n Over its 30-year history, Goldwater Scholarship winners have gone on to win other prestigious awards like the National Science Foundation\u2019s Graduate Fellowship, Rhodes Scholarship, Churchill Scholarship and the National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship. Today, Goldwater alumni can be found conducting research that finds cures for diseases and teaching future generations of scientists, mathematicians and engineers.<\/p>\n Messina says the award is both a testament to \u201call of the work I put into my research paying off\u201d and a confidence booster \u2013 \u201cproving to myself that I could one day become a successful researcher.\u201d<\/p>\n Story by Staff Writer Marilyn Joyce Lehren<\/a>. Photos by University Photographer Mike Peters<\/a>.<\/p>\n You May Also Like:<\/strong><\/p>\n![\"Three](\"\/responsive-media\/cache\/newscenter\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2023\/05\/042823_6606_CSAM-Marisa-Messina-Goldwater-Scholarship.jpg.0.1x.generic.jpg\")