Biology, Computer Science Undergrads Win Goldwater Scholarships

Two University of Texas at Dallas undergraduates have been named recipients of the Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation award.

Biology senior Myra Khan in the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics and computer science senior Jack Le in the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science are among the 441 students selected for Goldwater Scholarships this year from a pool of more than 5,000 applicants. From those, 1,350 science, engineering and mathematics students were nominated by 445 academic institutions to compete for the 2025 scholarships.

“Our students’ selection as Goldwater Scholars shows once again that UTD is one of the top universities in the country for STEM [science, technology, engineering and math] students,” said Dr. Douglas Dow, associate dean of the Hobson Wildenthal Honors College who heads the Office of Distinguished Scholarships.

Dow encourages outstanding students to apply for the Goldwater Scholarships in their sophomore year.

“It feels too early for many students, but completing the application is such an amazing opportunity to imagine in detail what your research career and specialization might look like,” said Dow, who is also a clinical professor of government and politics in the School of Economic, Political and Policy Sciences.

Myra Khan

Khan’s passion for medicine began at North Garland High School, where she attended the math, science and technology magnet program. She is currently involved in two research projects: one focused on bladder pain perception in urinary tract infections and another exploring amygdala lateralization in chronic bladder pain.

Now, her sights are set on earning both an MD and a PhD to become a physician-scientist.

“Even before coming to UTD, I was committed to medicine. But being here sparked a passion for research that fueled my goal of integrating science with patient care,” she said.

That experience led to expanding her goals to include chronic pain research in women’s health alongside clinical practice.

“I joined Dr. Benedict Kolber’s lab, and working with him taught me invaluable skills, from conducting tissue analysis and behavioral assays to interpreting complex data and reviewing scientific literature. But beyond the skills, it was the experience itself that ignited a deep passion for research, one I am excited to carry with me throughout my medical career,” she said.

Kolber, associate professor of neuroscience and the Dean Bert Moore Distinguished Professor in the School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, said Khan is one of the rare students who brings all of her resources and personality to bear in her research activities.

“This includes her impressive knowledge of biology and neuroscience, her maturity, her work ethic and her dependability,” he said. “She is most passionate about understanding and treating disease. This passion is seen in her laboratory work where she is back-translating clinical phenotypes from the hospital to animal models so that we can perform future mechanistic studies.”

Jack Le

National Merit Scholar and first-generation student Le taught himself Japanese when he was enrolled in Garland High School and sidelined by COVID-19.

Now, he is conducting research in natural language processing and artificial intelligence at a yearlong exchange program at Waseda University in Tokyo, where he is working with computational linguist Dr. Kumiko Tanaka-Ishii.

Le is especially interested in the interdisciplinary aspects of computer science.

“In high school I was more of an artsy person. I thought about doing literature for a long time,” he said.

Then, he discovered that he could combine his interest in art and languages — in addition to Japanese and English, he speaks Latin, French and Vietnamese — with computer science.

“What I’m interested in is whether artificial intelligence can replicate the properties of natural language,” he said. “Being able to connect that to my research is really rewarding. I feel like I get two passions in one.”

Dr. Ovidiu Daescu, professor and department head of computer science and a Jonsson School Chair, said he was proud of Le for his diligent pursuit of research.

“While working mostly independently, he made significant progress toward the end goal,” he said. “In the process, he learned AI and machine-learning techniques that will be highly beneficial in his future endeavors.

“That work ethic and the perseverance in research makes me confident Jack will greatly benefit from the Goldwater Scholarship.”