Biology major becomes 5th consecutive Churchill Scholar at U.

Michael Xiao, a senior honors student majoring in biology at the University of Utah, has received a Churchill Scholarship to study at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom. He is the fifth consecutive Churchill Scholar from the U. | University of Utah

Prestigious award provides opportunity to complete a one-year master’s program at the University of Cambridge

SALT LAKE CITY — A senior honors student majoring in biology at the University of Utah has received a Churchill Scholarship to study at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom.

Michael Xiao, of Pleasant Grove, is one of only 15 students nationally to receive the award this year and is the fifth consecutive Churchill Scholar from the U.

The Churchill Scholarship, established in 1963 at the request of Winston Churchill, provides undergraduates with outstanding academic achievement in the science, technology, engineering and math fields the opportunity to complete a one-year master’s program at Cambridge. Students go through a rigorous endorsement process in order to apply, but only after their home institution has been vetted with the Churchill Foundation. The U. was added to the foundation in 2014.

Xiao, also a recipient of a 2019 Barry Goldwater Scholarship, had already presented and published work on how diesel emissions affect DNA by the time he finished high school. When he was in eighth grade, he contacted Dr. Kim O’Neill at nearby BYU to see if he could conduct experiments in his lab.

“The work I did in that lab really inspired me to keep going and helped me realize there are so many things we don’t know about major diseases such as cancer and muscular dystrophy,” Xiao said in a statement. “I think there’s a real thrill and satisfaction for me when I discover something that’s impactful.”

Xiao has added several more publications while at the U., studying how muscle stem cells differentiate.

The program at Cambridge starts Oct. 1. While there, Xiao plans to join the lab of Christian Frezza at the MRC Cancer Unit for a master’s in medical science.

After his return, he hopes to pursue a doctoral degree and eventually start his own lab applying clinical insights to better understand the molecular mechanisms underlying disease.

from Deseret News https://ift.tt/2PkWzVl