Providence, RI – Jillian Fortier, a resident of East Haddam, Conn., and a member of the Class of 2006 at Providence College, has been awarded a prestigious Goldwater Scholarship in recognition of the academic excellence she has achieved in her biology studies at the College. Selected from a pool of 1,091 nominees, Fortier was one of only about 300 students nationwide to receive the award.

The Goldwater Scholarship, named for the late Barry M. Goldwater, former Arizona senator and 1964 Republican Presidential candidate, was established by the U.S. Congress in 1986 to encourage excellence in science and mathematics.

Fortier completed the extensive application process – which included a research proposal – with the encouragement of Dr. Sheila M. Adamus, an associate professor of chemistry and the faculty representative for the Goldwater scholarship, and her advisor, Dr. Elizabeth Arevalo, associate professor of biology.

Fortier’s proposal, “RNA Interference as Therapy for Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy,” suggests the use of genetic engineering through a new technology called RNA interference to treat a genetic heart disease. Fortier is a biology major with a 3.86 grade point average.

According to Dr. Adamus, the application process for the Goldwater scholarship is time consuming and the selection process is very competitive. “I think the reason Jillian received the scholarship was the combination of her outstanding GPA, her well-thought-out proposal, and her Semester at Sea. She also had three exceptional letters of recommendation,” Dr. Adamus explained.

A participant in the Semester at Sea program in the fall of 2004, Fortier spent last summer researching adolescent depression at St. Francis Hospital in Hartford, Conn., which she feels strengthened her application.

Based on merit, each Goldwater Scholarship award covers eligible expenses, including tuition, fees, books, and room and board. Fortier hopes to use her $7,500 scholarship to aid in funding her 2005-06 tuition, or to fund her participation in a second semester of doing research abroad.

Fortier has been considering spending the spring 2006 semester abroad through the Organization for Tropical Studies of Duke University, which sponsors research programs in Costa Rica and South Africa. “Tropical biology has always been an interest of mine, and this scholarship may make my participation in a tropical biology research program possible,” said Fortier.

Fortier noted that the Semester at Sea experience, which places students on a floating university that moves throughout the world, enabled her to “spend time in Mother Teresa's orphanage in India, tour the townships of post-Apartheid South Africa, and walk between the mass graves in the Killing Fields remnant of the genocide in Cambodia.” The experience provided her with the opportunity to visit impoverished nations.

Fortier is the second Providence College student to receive a Goldwater scholarship; the first award to a student at the College was made in 1991.

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