Goldwater Scholar 探索s Influence of Virus-Infected Microbes on Humans

First-Generation College Student Victor Zhong Uses Science to Make a Difference

当11岁的, Victor Zhong moved with his family from bustling Hong Kong to slow-moving Sandpoint, he was stunned by small town life.

“It was a culture shock, I guess,” Zhong, a University of Idaho junior. “我不太会说英语.”

Living in a small Idaho town had advantages though in the school’s small classrooms and accessible sports programs.

“Growing up there, I did what every American teenage boy did,” Zhong said.

他踢足球, 在牛头犬田径队工作, excelled in the classroom and eventually watched his friend and fellow runner Peik Lund-Anderson leave town for U of I where he 赢得了 2021 Goldwater scholarship for science.

Zhong, a first-generation college student, soon followed suit. 就像他之前的伦德·安德森一样, Zhong enrolled in the 理学院 and like his friend, 赢得了 Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation 这一次是在2022年.

在伊利诺伊大学, Zhong is exploring how viruses infect their hosts, and the impacts a virus-infected pathogen can have on humans. Infection by viruses can make human diseases worse.

A double major in biochemistry and in molecular biology and biotechnology, Zhong has focused his undergraduate research on the discovery of a virus-like element in a protozoan species related to the pathogens that cause Chagas’ disease and sleeping sickness.

Both are diseases of the tropics. Chagas’ – also called “kissing bug disease” for the insect that transmits it – can, 如果不及时治疗, 导致心力衰竭. Sleeping sickness is caused by the tsetse fly and is considered fatal without treatment.

“I confidently rate Victor as one of the top students that I have mentored in my laboratory since my lab opened in 2016,” 保罗·罗利, who leads the lab in which Zhong works. “Victor has been an enthusiastic and vital part of my team studying novel viruses of microbes.”

The virus work in Rowley’s lab coincides with Zhong’s research in the lab of Professor 道格•科尔 where he will sequence and characterize the double-stranded RNA found in 眼虫属mutabilis. The microbe has both plant 和一个imal characteristics and is related to disease-causing protozoans in humans.

Zhong hopes to obtain a doctorate in molecular virology and conduct research to create more effective treatments for viral infections.

“I always liked science when I was little,” Zhong said. “I always wanted to use science to make a difference, to contribute something to solve problems and not wait for others to solve them.”

Zhong is also the recipient of an INBRE summer fellowship, a 理学院 希尔奖学金 和一个 我们的 格兰特. He is also the recipient of a $7,300 NASA Idaho Space Grant Consortium 2022年夏季.

I always wanted to use science to make a difference.Victor Zhong, Goldwater scholar

He is among 450 undergraduates from a pool of more than 5,000 applicants nationally to earn Goldwater scholarships of up to $7,500美元来支付学费, 费用, 书和食宿.

The Goldwater Foundation is a federally endowed agency with a scholarship program honoring Senator Barry Goldwater. It is designed to encourage outstanding students to pursue research careers in the fields of the natural sciences, 工程与数学. The Goldwater Scholarship is the preeminent undergraduate award of its type in these fields.

本文由 拉尔夫•Bartholdt University Communications and Marketing.

照片 乔Pallen, University of Idaho Creative 服务.

出版于2022年5月.