VCU news

By Tom Gresham

The Fulbright Scholarship is one of the most prestigious – and competitive – grants available to college students. When Sohaib Mohiuddin and Sana Malik, who have been married for two years, each decided to seek the scholarship late last year, they were careful not to get their hopes up.

"We were really just praying that one of us would get selected," Malik said. "It was beyond our wildest expectations that we'd both get picked."

However, Mohiuddin and Malik each managed to garner Fulbright grants, earning individual scholarships for their respective research proposals. The couple will depart in late December for a nine-month stay in Amman, Jordan.

Mohiuddin, a fourth-year medical student at the VCU School of Medicine and a 2003 graduate of the VCU Honors College, will concentrate his research on the prevalence, presentations and risk factors of Alzheimer's in the Jordanian population. Malik, who received a master's degree in social work from VCU in May and is now studying for a master's in public health at Johns Hopkins University, will examine the perceptions of water-pipe smoking among Jordanians.

Mohiuddin and Malik said the idea of studying abroad has appealed to them for years, and the Fulbright offered an ideal opportunity. In addition to top-flight research, the Fulbright program places a special emphasis on bridging cultures – something Mohiuddin and Malik hope to integrate into their work.

"We both have a lot of interest in increasing understanding between cultures," Mohiuddin said. "Some of our undergraduate and graduate work has been focused in that direction. The Fulbright seemed to provide the instruments that would allow us to focus on that aspect of our research."

Malik said Jordan's reputation as a hospitable society with a strong health-care system made it an appealing country to live and work in, and, despite the Middle East's current volatility, Mohiuddin and Malik were eager to reside in the region. Both Malik and Mohiuddin have been active leaders for various student organizations, such as the Muslim Students' Association, and Mohiuddin was one of five students selected nationally in 2003 for the Howard R. Swearer Humanitarian Award for his work to create bridges of understanding between people of different faiths in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Mohiuddin and Malik see their journey to Jordan as a way of continuing to help connect the West and the Middle East.

As part of a new Fulbright language initiative, Mohiuddin and Malik were selected to receive in-country, Arabic language training as part of the Fulbright grant; they hope the language skills will help them better communicate directly with the native Jordanians. The couple has tentative plans to keep a Web log during their time in Jordan as a way of staying connected with the United States and to provide insights on the culture and people in Jordan.

"We know with the stress in recent years in the Middle East that there's a particular need now for increased understanding between the Middle East and the West," Malik said. "We want to do what we can. The Fulbright is not only about going and doing your research but about sharing your experiences and what you've learned with others."

Mohiuddin said his research should be fairly straightforward. There has been little formal study of Alzheimer's in Jordan, he said, and the disease manifests itself differently in different cultures. For instance, visual hallucinations might be a symptom of the disease in some countries and not in others. Mohiuddin hopes to identify some of the possible causes and symptoms of Alzheimer's specific to Jordanian patients.

Mohiuddin said it is difficult to postpone his progress in medical school, but he sees his work in Jordan as a critical learning opportunity that will help him become a stronger clinical researcher and a more culturally aware physician.

"The Fulbright Scholarship will allow me to study Alzheimer's disease as well as provide me with a tremendous opportunity to harmonize my passion for research, my interest in medicine and my aspirations to contribute to society," Mohiuddin said. 

Malik said she became interested in water-pipe smoking after speaking to physicians about the practice. She said water-pipe smoking represents a serious public health concern, but that its repercussions are not widely understood either in the United States or in other parts of the world.

"There's very little education about it and there are a lot of misconceptions," Malik said.

After choosing her topic of study, Malik discovered that one of the nation's foremost experts on the practice, Thomas Eissenberg, Ph.D., is an associate professor of psychology at VCU. Eissenberg will serve as one of Malik's mentors for her research. Malik said she hopes the Fulbright experience will be the first of many related to overseas study.

"My main interest really is in international public health," Malik said. "This absolutely should be a segue for me into learning more about the field and what kind of work is out there."

Mohiuddin said he thinks both he and his wife will benefit from the other's presence in Jordan, providing both emotional and intellectual support in their endeavors.

"We definitely plan to help each other out," Mohiuddin said.

Mohiuddin and Malik applied for the Fulbright last fall at the encouragement of Jeff Wing, VCU's national scholarship coordinator. They would like their experience to inspire more of VCU's elite students to apply for competitive scholarships.

"We hope more students at VCU will go through the application process now and take advantage of what's out there," Malik said. "It's such a wonderful opportunity."

Established in 1946 under legislation introduced by the late Sen. J. William Fulbright of Arkansas, the Fulbright Program serves as America's flagship international educational exchange program and is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

For more information about how to apply for the Fulbright, as well as for other national scholarships, contact Wing at 804-828-1803 or jawing@vcu.edu, or visit the National Scholarship Program Web site at http://www.pubinfo.vcu.edu/honorscollege/curstudents/natscholarship.asp.