Spring Break
Two freshmen win Davidson scholarships
Issue date: 9/27/07
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By the age of 17, Madhavi Gavini had already discovered what some call a medical breakthrough and Celeste Lipkes assembled a 70-page portfolio reflecting on physical loss. In recognition of these achievements, the two are the first-ever Hopkins students to be awarded the Davidson Fellow Laureate Scholarship.
The Davidson award is given to students under the age of 18 who submit a project that is recognized by experts in the field as significant and as having the potential to make a positive contribution to society.
For her work in literature, Lipkes received a $25,000 scholarship, while Gavini was awarded $50,000 for her achievements in science.
The two attended a ceremony at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, when they were officially awarded their scholarships.
"We hope that by serving gifted students, they can achieve goals and be in the forefront of their fields," Davidson Fellows Program Manager Tacie Moessner said.
"We basically award this scholarship to students who have been doing graduate-level work already."
Work like that of Gavini, who started a project two years ago that used traditional Indian medical cures to engineer a method to inhibit the growth of biofilm-forming pathogens.
After a friend was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis, Gavini learned that most victims of the disease die from pseudomonas infections.
Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic, multi-drug resistant pathogen that produces biofilms which protect it from antibiotics. The pathogen is a leading cause of death among patients with compromised immune systems, such as those with AIDS, cancer and cystic fibrosis.
Eager to do something to help, Gavini found inspiration in the traditional medicine used by family members.
"I was heavily influenced by my grandparents since they practiced traditional Indian medicine and I spent a lot of time with them when I was growing up," Gavini said.
She turned to Ayurvedic medicine, an ancient medical practice still common on the Indian subcontinent today, after watching her grandparents work with herbal remedies. She obtained a strain of Pseudomonas bacteria from Mississippi State University and began subjecting the bacteria to plant extracts.
The Davidson award is given to students under the age of 18 who submit a project that is recognized by experts in the field as significant and as having the potential to make a positive contribution to society.
For her work in literature, Lipkes received a $25,000 scholarship, while Gavini was awarded $50,000 for her achievements in science.
The two attended a ceremony at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, when they were officially awarded their scholarships.
"We hope that by serving gifted students, they can achieve goals and be in the forefront of their fields," Davidson Fellows Program Manager Tacie Moessner said.
"We basically award this scholarship to students who have been doing graduate-level work already."
Work like that of Gavini, who started a project two years ago that used traditional Indian medical cures to engineer a method to inhibit the growth of biofilm-forming pathogens.
After a friend was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis, Gavini learned that most victims of the disease die from pseudomonas infections.
Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic, multi-drug resistant pathogen that produces biofilms which protect it from antibiotics. The pathogen is a leading cause of death among patients with compromised immune systems, such as those with AIDS, cancer and cystic fibrosis.
Eager to do something to help, Gavini found inspiration in the traditional medicine used by family members.
"I was heavily influenced by my grandparents since they practiced traditional Indian medicine and I spent a lot of time with them when I was growing up," Gavini said.
She turned to Ayurvedic medicine, an ancient medical practice still common on the Indian subcontinent today, after watching her grandparents work with herbal remedies. She obtained a strain of Pseudomonas bacteria from Mississippi State University and began subjecting the bacteria to plant extracts.
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