Brandeis undergrad earns Goldwater Scholarship
April 9, 2026 • General
Matthew Chu ’27 has received a prestigious Goldwater Scholarship.
Now in its 40th year, the annual award supports outstanding students in their sophomore and junior year as they pursue careers in the fields of mathematics, the natural sciences, and engineering. It is the premier undergraduate award of its type in these fields.
Chu, a junior majoring in biochemistry and chemical biology, has been learning and doing research in the lab of Bing Xu, the Charles A. Breskin Chair in Organic Chemistry. He said he has been focusing on investigating enzyme-instructed self-assembly of peptides as a potential novel cancer therapeutic.
Chu said he wants to conduct medically relevant research at an academic medical center, designing and using bioactive small molecules, as well as peptide and RNA-based therapeutics, to combat cancer and other diseases.
