Science-driven students earn top honors

By Janette Neuwahl Tannen [email protected] 04-21-2026

Early in high school, Rachel Todebush learned that she and a few family members carry a genetic mutation that can lead to colon cancer if it is not monitored.

After losing her grandfather to the disease, Todebush became motivated to pursue genetic research. She is now working to find ways to edit genes so that in the future, people born with harmful mutations may have more choices.

"Knowing that maybe I can help these people that don't have many other options is what draws me back to the lab," said Todebush, who is studying biomedical engineering and works in associate professor Alice Tomei's Islet Immunoengineering Lab at the Miller School of Medicine.

Todebush is one of two University of Miami juniors recently awarded the Goldwater Scholarship. Massima Ponce, who is studying marine science and biology at the Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric, and Earth Science, also received the honor.

"Being recognized and receiving the Goldwater Scholarship meant a lot," Ponce said. "The experience taught me persistence and helped me build real resilience. This award is more than just an honor; it is an encouraging reminder that I'm on the right path."

Both women are actively involved in research labs at their respective schools, and they were among 454 students across the nation chosen for the highly selective award, which is geared toward students pursuing higher education and careers in the fields of natural sciences, engineering, and mathematics. The award offers college sophomores and juniors a stipend to use toward their college tuition, along with professional workshops and access to a large network of Goldwater Scholars.

While the University often has one Goldwater Scholar, it has not had two in the same year since 2019.

"This prestigious award recognizes talented students for their potential to become the next generation of leaders in STEM research," said Erika Green Liberus, director of prestigious awards and fellowships. "This is the type of outcome that we really like to see for our students."

Liberus and Molly Lockwood Ho, associate director of prestigious awards and fellowships, worked with Todebush and Ponce to review their applications, but the awardees also received mentoring from previous University Goldwater Scholar Ethan Tieu.

"Massima and Rachel were two students who really persevered and it paid off," Lockwood Ho said.

Added Liberus: "To witness and be a part of their growth was really rewarding."

Ponce's passion for marine science began as soon as she learned to swim, spending days in the Florida Keys, where she observed ecosystems around her declining firsthand. Before starting classes at the University, she explored labs at the Rosenstiel School and soon joined professor Diego Lirman's Benthic Ecology and Coral Restoration Lab.

While she participates in coral research, Ponce also volunteers with two of the lab's outreach programs-Rescue a Reef, which works to restore local reefs by outplanting young corals grown in the lab or in offshore nurseries. Ponce is also active in the Hopeful, Healthy Oceans, or H2O initiative, which teaches young Miami students about coastal ecosystems through art.

Beyond outreach, her research interests soon expanded to include plankton. While conducting experiments about feeding strategies for corals in the lab, Ponce was working with tiny brine shrimp and found herself more interested in the microscopic animals than the corals.

"Realizing how many fit in one drop of water fascinated me and ignited my interest in plankton," she said. "They're incredibly small, but their impact is outsized when you consider that they play such a large part in the carbon cycles on earth."

Last summer, Ponce conducted research at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, studying how planktonic crustaceans called copepods are responding to lower oxygen levels in Chesapeake Bay. She later presented her findings at the Ocean Sciences Conference in Scotland. She is now working in the lab of oceanographer Kim Popendorf, studying the nutrient fluxes dominated by different microbes that are found in the ocean.

"Massima is extremely driven, but also very talented and has a bright future beyond the University," Lirman said. "She is also a great science communicator."

As she continues her work on coral growth and microbial processes at the Rosenstiel School, Ponce will spend this summer at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration headquarters as a Hollings Scholar, studying deep-sea environments using remotely operated vehicles deployed from research vessels. She hopes to pursue graduate school and a career in oceanography.

Todebush began working in Tomei's lab during her first year of college, learning CRISPR gene-editing techniques that allow scientists to make precise changes to DNA. She is now focused on developing lipid nanoparticles that could deliver vaccines or therapies for autoimmune diseases and Type 1 diabetes.

Tomei said she has watched Todebush grow as a researcher over the past three years.

"Rachel is very motivated and self-driven, and I have no doubts she will be accepted into top graduate programs to continue her research training," said Tomei, an associate professor of biomedical engineering, immunology, and surgery.

This summer, Todebush will continue her research at the University of Colorado Anschutz, studying RNA dysfunction linked to diseases such as breast and neck cancers, as well as disorders involving adrenal steroid hormone production.

Todebush spends up to 25 hours in the Tomei lab each week and was there when she learned about the Goldwater Scholarship. She is now more motivated to continue looking for novel therapies to target gene-driven diseases.

"I was in awe and shock," she said. "But it reaffirmed that all the work I've been putting into the lab for the past two or three years was noticed. I also love the new community I've found, and I'm looking forward to meeting other Goldwater Scholars with the same goals in mind."