A University of Hawaii at Hilo graduate is a recipient of the 2024 Marshall Scholarship and the first UH-Hilo student to receive the prestigious scholarship, the British government recently announced.
Kit Neikirk, from Kurtistown, earned degrees in chemistry, biology and sociology, and two subject certificates in anthropology and mathematics, in spring 2023.
He is one of 51 winners chosen from a field of 1,006 applications.
Neikirk started at UH-Hilo in fall 2019 as a Chancellor’s Scholar after graduating from Connections Public Charter High School in 2019 as the class valedictorian.
He published extensively throughout his undergraduate career, worked as a science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) tutor, served as editor of the student research publication Hohonu, was chair of the Board of Student Publications, and studied abroad in Scotland. He will pursue a master’s degree in public health at the University of Edinburgh as well as a master’s in science degree in advanced biomedical imaging at University College London.
“As I reflect on my experiences, I can see they fit together, pointing me to a life dedicated to caring for others, both clinically and through research,” Neikirk said in a press release. “Following the Marshall fellowship, I want to enroll in an MD/Ph.D. with a focus on social determinants of health as seen through imaging techniques.
“My ultimate goal is to investigate the role social determinants play in altered pathophysiology to inform precision medicine techniques globally.”
The Marshall Scholarship program was created by an Act of British Parliament in 1953 as a living memorial to former U.S. Secretary of State Gen. George C. Marshall. The scholarship allows for up to three years of graduate study in any academic topic at any university in the U.K.