Boston College Biology Major Receives Goldwater Scholarship

“He always looked lost in his own thoughts and it was hard to see that,” said Asdourian. “But there were areas of cognition where he was fine – like playing backgammon or counting out jelly beans. I just felt sad and frustrated that he was written off while still here.”

In addition to better understanding the pathology of Alzheimer’s, she is particularly interested in whether the brain’s ability to adapt and “re-wire” itself holds secrets that could one day lead to therapies to combat Alzheimer’s and other neurological diseases.

Asdourian, who plans to earn an MD/PhD after graduation, has been an undergraduate researcher in the lab of Prof. Daniel A. Kirschner, a structural neurobiologist who studies the molecular organization of Alzheimer’s disease proteins and diseases of nerve myelin in the peripheral and central nervous systems.

Kirschner, who nominated Asdourian for the scholarship, said she devoured scientific articles he suggested she read and later established herself as a quick study in the lab despite having had no bench experience prior to arriving at the university.

Among the many undergraduates who have worked in his lab throughout the years, Kirschner said Asdourian “has uniquely demonstrated an unusual talent for and exceptional passion about neurobiological research.” Her independent research, using the sensitive technique of x-ray diffraction, has revealed previously unsuspected changes in peripheral myelin structure that bear similarities to cuprizone-induced defects found in the central nervous system.

Kirschner wrote in his nomination letter, “Maria is precisely the kind of exceptional student who would truly benefit from the opportunities [a Goldwater Scholarship] would provide — not only for the encouragement it will give her in her laboratory research and intended career, but also for the networking opportunities with peers and scientists that will be afforded to her through this honor.”