2009 recipient

The 2009 Seaborg Award winner is Mohamed "Zak" Rajput, a biology major from Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois.

Zak intends to begin medical school at Loyola University in Chicago in the fall of 2009. Zak comes from a family of physicians, so his choice of a medical career might have seemed obvious. However, he’s looking for his own path.

“Although I am not sure what field of medicine I will enter, ideally, I would like to pursue a specialty that offers me the greatest flexibility and opportunity to participate with groups like Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors without Borders) and perform medical care in developing or war-torn countries and to serve as an advocate for global health issues,” he said.

As an undergraduate, Zak volunteered at a local hospital in their trauma center. In the summer of 2007, he spent a month in Bagamoyo, Tanzania, volunteering with UKUN, a non-governmental organization providing home-based care and outreach to people with HIV/AIDS.