From Sunny Niceville, a Young Researcher Arrives with Questions

Raised in a Florida Panhandle town called Niceville, Ibraheem Mohammed seems to have soaked up all the goodness that one might associate with a hamlet bearing that name.

USA Today named Mohammed to its 2003 High School All-Star team, one of 20 students around the country to be selected for his achievements. The Intel Science Talent Search picked him as one of its 40 finalists. He also made it to the semifinals in the Siemens Westinghouse Science Competition.

And in addition to serving as president of his high school's math, marine science and robotics clubs and as the school's academic team captain, he carved out time to start a tutoring clinic for other classmates.

"I've had to cut out hours of sleep to do all that," Mohammed said.

The 17-year-old with a perfect 1,600 on his SATs had his pick of universities. This month he will start his college career as an A.B. Duke Scholar.

"I'm looking forward at Duke to taking classes, doing research and relaxing," he said.

Mohammed already has an impressive track record in research. As a high school student, Mohammed explored natural components that would reverse resistance to antibiotics in bacteria by blocking the enzyme responsible for the resistance. In hospital laboratories in Florida, he worked on creating a coating to prevent biofilm formation on catheters. And at the annual meeting of the American Society of Virology, he presented his research findings in vaccine development.

Mohammed credits his parents -- his father is an electrical engineer, his mother is trained as a physician -- for his early success. Family discussions in the Mohammed household often centered on science and using science to help people.

"My parents have always encouraged us, even before we started kindergarten, in all things educational," Mohammed said.

These lessons have extended beyond Mohammed, who notes his younger brother and sister, in eighth and 10th grades, respectively, "have done some great things in math and science."

Mohammed was born in Oklahoma; his parents had moved there from southcentral India in order for his father to attend graduate school. His research interests became apparent in the sixth grade, when he had to work up a project for the school science fair.

"I did a medical research one and have been doing it ever since," he said.

When he toured campuses before selecting a college, Mohammed was impressed with the environment at Duke and the students, who "seemed nice and dedicated," he said. "I thought I'd fit in that way."

The faculty and research opportunities sealed Mohammed's choice for college. He said that he liked the fact that professors are focused both on research and helping undergraduates. He has already contacted one professor to set up a work-study project in the professor's field of immunology.

"I'm excited about the research going on at Duke," Mohammed said. "It's pretty advanced stuff. The accelerated pace of research is pretty exciting. It will be a great learning experience to be exposed to a lot of new ideas really quickly."

A challenging intellectual climate appeals to him. He said his favorite part about being named one of Intel's 40 finalists was the chance to go to Washington, D.C., for a week in March to talk with the judges, who are scientists themselves. One had won a Nobel Prize.

"We got to fully converse with them and ask whatever science questions or other questions we had," Mohammed said. "It was interesting to meet all the other finalists. They were pretty bright people."

When not in the laboratory, Mohammed spends his time reading and writing science fiction. And he admits to playing some video games, "when I'm in the mood for procrastination," he said.

He also has a mischievous side. During his senior year in high school, Mohammed advertised that, starting the next day, there would be valet parking in the high school parking lot. Someone tipped off the high school principal, who put an end to the prank. It was the one time that Mohammed found himself in trouble.

So how does he explain this side of himself to his new classmates? "I'm somewhat eccentric," he said, "but not intentionally."

Written by Nancy Oates