Senior Peter Kalugin was selected as one of only 32 American college students to receive a Rhodes Scholarship, which he will use to earn a Masters degree in oncology at the University of Oxford in England starting in the fall of 2015.
He received this national scholarship for his oncology research in the School of Medicine.
Kalugin, a double major in Molecular and Cellular Biology and mathematics and a physics minor, said he looks forward to continuing his research at Oxford’s new Cancer Research UK Medical Center.
Kalugin also spent his junior year abroad at a pre-med program at Oxford. He plans to eventually attend medical school in the United States.
Originally from Russia, Kalugin cited his physicist father as an inspiration for his interest in science.
“His career definitely set the scene for a household that valued science, knowledge and general inquiry,” Kalugin said. “He didn’t bring much of his work home with him. It wasn’t an overbearing presence of science, but it did make me who I am, growing up in that environment.”
The Rhodes Scholarship is the third major academic grant that Kalugin has received as an undergraduate student. As an incoming freshman, he received the Woodrow Wilson Fellowship, which grants $10,000 to approximately 25 students every year for a research project of the student’s choice.
With his Wilson grant, Kalugin studied cell biology under the guidance of the program’s advisor, Ami Cox. His project, which focused on cell signaling, sparked Kalugin’s interest in oncology.
“We studied how the cell allows itself to respond to its environment, [which] is tangentially related to cancer but not directly,” Kalugin said.
He continued to pursue oncology and said that he is drawn to this field because of its tumultuous nature.
“It’s a huge problem in medicine,” Kalugin said. “What makes it stand out is how heterogeneous it is. I’ve always been attracted to situations that are chaotic.”
Kalugin’s attraction to chaos has also inspired him to pursue a career in medicine.
”My very first shadowing experience was in the emergency department,” he said. “Cancer is very similar in that there’s always a lot going on. I’ve always been interested in how cell biology gave rise to this craziness.”
During his sophomore year, Kalugin received a Goldwater Scholarship, which supports college students in science, technology and engineering with up to $7,500.
Kalugin expressed particular appreciation for his mentor, Professor and Krieger School of Arts & Sciences Vice Dean for Undergraduate Studies Joel Schildbach.
“I’ve known him since I’ve started at Hopkins, and he’s become a close friend,” Kalugin said. “He taught me that you have to make mistakes to learn how to be a scientist.”
Kalugin was also mentored by professors in the School of Medicine while conducting his research.
“[Kalugin is] absolutely stellar, with superb intelligence, innovativeness and enthusiasm,” Takanari Inoue, Kalugin’s mentor and an associate professor at the School of Medicine, said. “He is destined to become a leader in medical science.”
In the future, Kalugin envisions himself running a biology lab.
“I want to run a very multidisciplinary lab,” Kalugin said. “There are a lot of techniques within the physical sciences that can be used in biology. I want a lab with peripheral vision in the physical sciences. I’d like my lab to ask questions using the most exciting, novel tools available.”
He also said that it is important for students to be receptive to information outside of their primary fields of study.
“Keep as open a mind as possible,” he said. “[Be] able to keep an open mind and not get too bogged down in the field you’re working in. Make connections between what you do and other fields.”
Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The News-Letter.