Bates juniors Aleisha Martinez Sandoval and Mohammed Mohammed, who are both Bates STEM Scholars with a lifelong passion for science, have earned prestigious Goldwater Scholarships.
The two are among just 441 sophomore and junior students, from 1,300 nominated applicants, to receive 2025 Goldwater Scholarships, which provide merit-based awards to undergraduate students who intend to pursue careers in science, mathematics, and engineering.
It’s the first time that two Bates students have earned the prestigious STEM scholarship in the same year.
Sandoval, who is from Mexico City, and Mohammed, from Iowa City, Iowa, are both first-generation college students and both biochemistry majors, with Sandoval also majoring in politics.
Each is also part of the innovative STEM Scholars program at Bates, which provides mentoring, coursework, and community to a select cohort of students, including those traditionally underrepresented in science and mathematics.
“It’s thrilling to have our first double Goldwater be two talented STEM Scholars. What makes this moment so meaningful is that both Aleisha and Mohammed have combined scientific excellence with a demonstrated commitment to equity and service,” says Robert Strong, a lecturer in English who is director of national fellowships.
“STEM Scholars made me interested in research,” says Mohammed, who plans to pursue advanced degrees in medicine and public health. “It helped me grow as a young researcher and gave me the space to explore and define my interests.”
Sandoval will use her Goldwater support to pursue her goal of becoming a physician-scientist focused on cardiology. “Ever since I was a kid, I feel like there’s nothing else in the world I want to do,” she says. “You know how people have plan A and then plan B? I don’t: Ever since I was 5 or 6 years old, I’ve been telling my mom, ‘I’m going to be a doctor.’”
April Horton, the Wagener Family Professor of Equity and Inclusion in STEM and director of the STEM Scholars program, says students like Mohammed and Sandoval embody the confidence and persistence that the program aims to cultivate.
“You don’t really get anything you don’t apply for, and we’re all going to get ‘nos’ in this world. But we surely aren’t going to get a ‘yes’ if we don’t apply,” Horton says. “I try to help the students cultivate that attitude, from when they apply for that very first internship or research experience to applying to something like the Goldwater.”
Sandoval, who grew up in Mexico, attended a specialty high school in Texas for students interested in healthcare. There, she trained as an EMT and paramedic and treated patients during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I realized that I have the capability to actually help people on their worst days,” says Sandoval, who has been an active member of Bates Emergency Medical Services.
At Bates, she has gained extensive research experience. She has worked in the lab of Associate Professor of Biology Larissa Williams, examining the effects of the chemical pollutant perfluorooctane sulfonic acid on the cardiac development of zebrafish.
Last summer, she conducted cardiovascular research at Boston Children’s Hospital while on a Harvard/MIT program that offers research experiences for underrepresented students interested in pursuing a combined M.D./Ph.D. program. This past semester, she studied abroad in Copenhagen, conducting research at the University of Copenhagen on stem cell models for Type 1 diabetes.
Last fall, Visiting Assistant Professor of Biology Daniel Slane mentored Sandoval during an independent study that looked at how specific genes in the flowering plant Arabidopsis thaliana contribute to heat stress memory.
Slane saw early signs of her determination. “She was persistent,” he recalls, in setting up the independent study, “and that was good. And she would come in again in the evening after dinner to finish something that might not have worked out. That overall drive and enthusiasm — that struck me.”
Slane encouraged Sandoval to consider a research path alongside medical studies. “I saw fire in her eyes for research, and I thought, why not go down the track to being a doctor who does clinical research at the same time?”
As a politics major with a focus on public health equity, Sandoval understands how systemic inequalities — from environmental exposures to gaps in healthcare access — shape medical outcomes for underserved communities.
“Politics is engraved into medicine,” Sandoval says. “Without proper laws that protect patients or that protect research, there’s not going to be any advancement in medicine. I think that we need to protect research, and we need to protect science.”
Mohammed, who is also a trained EMT, first became interested in medicine and research as a child growing up in Sudan during ongoing civil conflict and unrest in the country.
Before moving to the U.S. at age 9, Mohammed looked around and noticed that the conflict was causing healthcare and medicine shortages. He wanted to understand why and, since coming to Bates, has pursued numerous research opportunities.
“Naturally, I’m a curious person,” Mohammed says. “When something captures my interest, I can’t help but ask why. I enjoy digging deeper into things I don’t fully understand.”
Mohammed has channeled his curiosity into research across disciplines. After his first year, he studied breast cancer treatment plans at the University of Florida College of Medicine through the Summer Health Professions Education Program.
Following his sophomore year, he conducted peptide synthesis research at the University of Mississippi’s Department of BioMolecular Sciences.
During his study abroad, also in Copenhagen, he conducted research at the Globe Institute at the University of Copenhagen on DNA sequencing and recovery techniques for degraded forensic material.
This summer, Mohammed will conduct endometrial research at the University of Iowa Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine, investigating therapeutic responses to patient-derived tumors.
He is also interested in bioinformatics — the use of computation to interpret biological data — which he has supported at Bates through a minor in digital and computational studies alongside his biochemistry studies.
Back at Bates this fall, he’ll complete his senior thesis in the lab of Associate Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry Jen Koviach-Côté, exploring chemical synthesis — the construction of complex molecular compounds through targeted reactions.
Koviach-Côté, who became Mohammed’s advisor after teaching him in organic chemistry, has watched his interests evolve and mature. “As he has taken classes and learned new topics, new tools, his interests have led him into thinking about things that could be combined in other ways,” she says. “That’s where I’ve really seen him grow as a student and as a scientist.”
Koviach-Côté notes the significance of his journey. “I am so proud of him, just really thrilled for him. He has worked really hard. He’s overcome a lot of barriers.”
