Sophia Durham knew she wanted a career in a research laboratory.
She had already taken advantage of an opportunity as a high school student to investigate the immune system of alligators alongside researchers at North Carolina State University. As she thought about what she wanted to do after she tossed her mortarboard in 2022, she knew she didn’t want to wait until she was an upperclassman or even a graduate student to get hands on with gels and pipettes and other tools of the trade in a university lab.
One of two 2024 Barry Goldwater Scholars at UToledo, Sophia Durham works with Dr. Rafael Garcia-Mata, a professor who explores the mechanisms of cell behavior in the Department of Biological Sciences.
It’s a key reason she chose to enroll at The University of Toledo.
“I knew I wanted to do research as an undergraduate, and I wanted to put myself in a position to access those opportunities as soon as possible,” said Durham, who was born in Toledo and graduated high school in Cary, North Carolina. “I knew I could do that at UToledo.”
Durham’s first week on campus wasn’t done before she connected with Dr. Rafael Garcia-Mata, a professor who explores mechanisms of cell behavior within UToledo’s Department of Biological Sciences. Nearly two years later as a biology sophomore, she is being recognized for her commitment to a career in research with a prestigious Barry Goldwater Scholarship.
The Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation was established by Congress in 1986 to honor the lifetime work of Arizona Sen. Barry Goldwater. It seeks to identify, encourage and financially support sophomores and juniors who show exceptional promise of becoming the country’s next generation of research leaders in natural sciences, mathematics and engineering.
Durham is one of two UToledo students selected as a 2024 Goldwater Scholar. She’s joined by Chloe Villa, a biochemistry junior who works with Dr. Wei Li in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. It is the first time the University has had two Goldwater Scholars named in the same year.
“Sophia is a unique student. I have mentored more than 20 undergraduate students over the years and have never seen anybody more enthusiastic about research,” Garcia-Mata said. “She’s also one of the smartest students I have ever supervised. After almost two years in my lab, she operates in many ways at the level of a graduate student, both in her understanding as well as her technical skills.”
Garcia-Mata’s research specifically focuses on Rho GTPases, a family of enzymes that control many aspects of cell behavior. He and his team of graduate and undergraduate researchers are specifically interested in their role in cancer progression.
Rho GTPases regulate a dramatic rearrangement of a cancer cell’s cytoskeleton — the complex network of interlinking protein filaments that give the cell its shape — that allows for formation of protrusions called invadopodia. These invadopodia are what allow cancer cells to leave the primary tumor, enter the bloodstream and invade other tissues.
Durham, who’s enjoyed assisting doctoral students in their research and presented her own work at the UToledo Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity Exhibition in December, said she’s drawn to the problem-solving nature of the work.
“If things don’t work out the first time, it’s kind of like a puzzle to figure out what you messed up,” she said. “A Ph.D. student in our lab describes it as being a detective, trying to figure out what’s happening. I definitely relate to that. I like being a part of the investigation.”
Away from the lab, Durham is part of the Jesup Scott Honors College and a supplemental instructor for Fundamentals of Life Science: Biomolecules, Cells and Inheritance. Her French classes are an enjoyable change of pace, she said, and she’s interested in exploring research opportunities abroad on her path toward a doctorate and research career.
In the meantime, she will receive two years of financial support as a sophomore recipient of the Goldwater Scholarship. She recalled how her nervousness turned to excitement on the day the scholarship winners were announced.
“It’s really cool,” Durham said. “It feels like reassurance that I’m on the right path personally, and validation of the research I’m doing with Dr. Garcia-Mata.”
Goldwater Scholarships are highly competitive, with students participating in their schools’ internal competitions before receiving consideration from the Goldwater Foundation. Durham and Villa join, most recently, Derek Kluczynski who was named a Goldwater Scholar in 2023, Jacob Connolly in 2021 and Nathan Szymanski in 2018.
