UMD Senior Joshua Mathew Wins 2026 Astronaut Scholarship

Mathew hopes the scholarship will launch his career as a physician-scientist who develops new cancer treatments.

Joshua Mathew, a senior biological sciences major at the University of Maryland, won a 2026 Astronaut Scholarship from the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation (ASF). He is one of 79 undergraduate students from 54 institutions nationwide selected this year. He joins 2025 awardee Benjamin Raufman as the second UMD student to receive the honor.

The Astronaut Scholarship provides up to $15,000 in financial support for promising junior and senior STEM students. Additionally, scholars receive mentorship, networking and professional development opportunities, along with a fully funded trip to present their research at ASF’s Innovators Symposium and Gala in Houston, Texas. The scholarship was established in 1986 by veteran astronauts from Project Mercury—NASA's first human spaceflight program—but it supports students in all STEM disciplines to ensure the United States maintains its leadership in science and technology. 

This recognition follows Mathew’s Barry Goldwater Scholarship, which he received earlier this year.

“Being named an Astronaut Scholar is an incredible honor,” Mathew said. “I’m grateful to all of my mentors who have guided me every step of the way and helped me do research I care deeply about.”

Mathew did his first scientific research as a student at Mount Hebron High School in Ellicott City, Maryland. Before starting college, he worked in a medicinal chemistry lab at Bowie State University on drug design and synthesis. He enjoyed the experience so much that he wasted no time getting involved in research when he got to Maryland.

As a freshman, Mathew joined Bioengineering Professor Li-Qun Zhang’s lab, where he worked on a wearable robotic hand that measures nerve and muscle activity. The goal was to study how suffering a stroke changes a survivor’s ability to sense the movement and position of their fingers. This critical ability, called proprioception, allows people to use their hands to manipulate objects. Mathew analyzed data collected using the robotic hand and plans to publish his research in the coming months.

The summer after his freshman year, Mathew joined Steven Fletcher’s medicinal chemistry lab at the University of Maryland, Baltimore’s School of Pharmacy. He designed and synthesized new molecules that could one day offer better treatment options for neuroblastoma—a cancer that mostly afflicts young children. 

Around that time, Mathew also joined a computational biology lab at Georgetown University’s Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center. His research, advised by Sivanesan Dakshanamurthy, looked at how chemicals such as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), plastic additives, bisphenols, polybrominated diphenyl ethers and phthalates bind to specific proteins called nuclear receptors. He uses an advanced computational technique called molecular docking, which allows him to simulate how different chemicals interact with these receptors, which act as switches, turning certain genes on or off. Chemicals that dysregulate nuclear receptors could lead to harmful effects, from reproductive issues and insulin resistance to cancer and obesity, Mathew said. He co-authored a paper on this work that was published in 2025 in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences.

“A lot of people are aware that these chemicals can affect physiological function, but there’s limited literature on how they interact with nuclear receptors at the molecular level,” Mathew said. “That’s what our research hopes to address.” 

Mathew also studied how more than 14,000 types of PFAS—commonly called “forever chemicals”—bind to certain nuclear receptors called estrogen receptors. His work could help researchers identify which PFAS are most harmful to humans. He is the co-second author of this study, which was published in 2025 in the journal Toxics.

Looking forward, Mathew hopes to continue research in computational biology as a physician-scientist. After completing an M.D./Ph.D., he envisions leading a structural and computational biology research program focused on cancer drug discovery. 

“The concept of finding things that no one else has discovered is very appealing to me,” Mathew said. “I want to answer questions that no one has thought to ask yet, and use those answers to help people who need it most.”

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UMD’s participation in the Astronaut Scholarship program, a by-institution-invitation-only award competition, is led by the A. James Clark School of Engineering. Eligibility extends across all STEM fields.