In a single week Naveen Kothandaraman found out he had been selected as a Goldwater Scholar, that he had won the Kende Award, and that he had received funding for his summer research project through the UVM Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) program.

The Goldwater Scholarship is an ongoing partnership between the Department of Defense National Defense Education Program (NDEP) and the Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation.  It is a prestigious and competitive national science prize that chooses winners from a pool of approximately 5000 applicants. In 2025, the scholarship was awarded to 441 undergraduates in the USA, and Naveen is the only UVM student to receive the award this year.  He is the fourteenth UVM student to have won the award since they began the program in 1989.

The scholarship was established to honor Senator Barry Goldwater. It was designed to identify, encourage, and financially support outstanding undergraduates interested in pursuing research careers in the sciences, engineering, and mathematics. 

"The Department of Defense's continued partnership with the Goldwater Foundation ensures we are supporting the development of scientific talent essential to maintaining our Nation's competitive advantage," said Dr. Jagadeesh Pamulapati, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Science and Technology Foundations, who oversees the NDEP program.

Goldwater Scholars have gone on to win an impressive array of prestigious awards, becoming National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellows, NSF Graduate Research Fellows, Hertz Fellows, DOE Computational Science Graduate Fellows, Astronaut Scholars, Churchill Scholars, Marshall Scholars, and Rhodes Scholars.

Receiving the Goldwater Scholarship recognizes Naveen’s current research successes at UVM, where he works in the Chatterjee Lab.

"It was an incredible feeling. It's really rewarding knowing that all my hard work paid off. I feel really grateful for all the help that I've received from Dr. Chatterjee, my mentor, and for everyone else in the lab who has taught me all the techniques that I know." 

Naveen's two years at UVM have been a journey marked by a shift in his academic focus. When he arrived at UVM, he had an interest in environmental science and ecology along with cell biology and declared a major in biological sciences to explore all those interests. However, an intro course confirmed his dedication to cell biology, leading him to switch into the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics (MMG) and pursue an undergraduate research position. He approached Dr. Chatterjee to explore opportunities available, and she accepted him into her lab, which researches the Translation Synthesis pathway, abbreviated TLS.

Naveen describes the team's work this way: "TLS is a DNA damage bypass process which helps cover up damaged sites of DNA in the cell, allowing regular cells to continue with normal processes such as cell replication. But when people are treated with chemotherapy or radiotherapy for cancer, those treatments try to kill cancer cells by damaging the DNA. The cancer cells use TLS to cover up the damage created by these therapies. My work is to see how TLS regulates that….  Then to see how we can potentially inhibit or modify TLS to sensitize cancer cells so that the treatments can become more effective."

One of the many things Naveen says he appreciates about the MMG department is its smaller scale, which has allowed him to get to know his professors and the other students really well, "Most of the faculty are actively doing research, which made it really easy for me to get involved in that." 

Even though he loves research, Naveen has found time for his other interests. He has a minor in statistics, is part of UVM’s competitive a cappella group called Viridescent, and plays on UVM's Club Tennis Team.  His advice for students applying to UVM is, "Be open to learning a lot of different things because your interests can change pretty easily when you're exposed to all these new things in college. Definitely try to get involved on campus with clubs or activities because it's a great way to meet new people."

The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences' Alexander McMahon Kende Academic Merit Award is given for a student that has demonstrated an interest in bio-medical or medicine research, exhibits research promise, has provided distinguished service to UVM and or the community, and exhibits high standards in character, integrity, courage, and good humor.

In Naveen's Kende Award nomination letter, his nominator, Dr. Chatterjee wrote, "I am profoundly amazed at Naveen's celerity with which he does work, understands a concept, and pursues his passion for science. Within a year, Naveen became an expert in several molecular biology techniques. From cell culturing to testing gene expression by the difficult-to-run qPCRs to standardizing, infecting cells with viruses, and successfully running western blots, Naveen produced publishable data within a few months. He is the one student in the lab; the custodial staff tells me to be there at all hours, working and studying. Naveen gets work done and is unafraid to run experiments to infinity if needed. It is to be noted that Naveen has shown remarkable scientific acumen in more than one project…. by the time Naveen graduates in 2027 (he will have authored) at least six papers. This number of papers is unheard of among undergraduates. Furthermore, Naveen is an all-rounded, successful student with a GPA of 4, underscoring his ongoing preparedness for future academic life. I am very confident Naveen will be super successful wherever he goes next."

The third award he recently found out he had won was the UVM Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Award, which offers a $5000 stipend to support the winner's ongoing research across the summer months.  Naveen intends to continue his work in the Chatterjee lab with this opportunity.  

"SURF definitely gives me a drive now to get some really good research done, especially over the summer."

After he graduates -- which is still two years away -- Naveen hopes to pursue a Ph.D., most likely in cancer biology or a related research area. 

"All these honors give me a feeling of acknowledgment. It feels like I've been given an opportunity to really prove myself."  

Congratulations Naveen!  All of us in CALS are very proud of all you've already accomplished.