At Allen High School in North Texas, Lindsey Michelle Brier was focused on sports and playing the French horn.
Today, the 21-year-old junior at the University of Houston is a mathematical biology major in the Honors College who plans to pursue a career conducting research in pharmaceutical chemistry and teaching at the university level.
Lindsey’s research work has earned her a prestigious scholarship from the Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Program, one of the most competitive of all national scholarships.
The Goldwater scholarship program,
established by Congress in 1986 to honor
Arizona Sen. Barry M. Goldwater, awards up to $7,500
to sophomores and juniors who are planning research careers in science,
technology, engineering or mathematics (STEM).
Lindsey is participating in the UH Provost's Undergraduate Research Scholarship program, conducting research with James Briggs in the biology and biochemistry department. She also is a member of the Houston Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation Scholarship program and participated in the Summer Research Training Program last year at the University of California at San Francisco.
“The Goldwater scholarship is a great achievement for Lindsey and her academic career,” said Stuart Long, associate dean of undergraduate research at the Honors College and an electrical and computer engineering professor. “This prestigious scholarship also is another example of UH students achieving Tier One excellence in their studies.”
Lindsey is researching the toxicity differential between the cholera toxin and the highly similar, but less deadly, enterotoxin in hopes of better determining the influential interactions in the toxin responsible for causing many epidemics.
Ultimately, she plans to pursue a Ph.D. in medicinal chemistry.
“I believe that research, specifically the field of drug discovery, is the future of medicine. I look forward to contributing back to my field and improving the available health care we have,” Lindsey said. “I hope to one day make a contribution that has a great impact on the way we can combat certain diseases, like cancer. I also think I will really enjoy teaching a math or chemistry course at the university level.
“The University of Houston has been an excellent experience for me so far,” she said. “The Honors College has helped me so much. I’ve learned time management, especially when I was taking the rigorous Human Situation sequence. The writing skills I learned definitely helped me with the Goldwater application process, and I have also really enjoyed the small class size that encourages discussion in the math and science classes that the Honors College offers.”
And though Lindsey’s focus has shifted to research in college, she noted that she still plays the French horn at the UH Moores School of Music as an extracurricular activity.
About the University of Houston
The University of Houston is a Carnegie-designated Tier One public research university recognized by The Princeton Review as one of the nation’s best colleges for undergraduate education. UH serves the globally competitive Houston and Gulf Coast Region by providing world-class faculty, experiential learning and strategic industry partnerships. Located in the nation’s fourth-largest city, UH serves more than 39,500 students in the most ethnically and culturally diverse region in the country.