Chosen for the competitive ASCI Postbaccalaureate Program, Luisa Morgan ’26 will be working in an OHSU lab focused on fighting heart disease.
By Cara Nixon
September 17, 2026
When Luisa Morgan ’26 received the Goldwater Scholarship in 2025, she said it would help her on the path to achieving her dream of pursuing an MD/PhD in biochemistry with a focus on structural biology and structure-based drug discovery.
That Goldwater turned out to be a stepping stone. Now, Luisa has been chosen for , which aims to increase the number of physician-scientists entering the physician-science pipeline.
Each year, ASCI chooses two college graduates for a two-year mentored research experience in an ASCI-member host laboratory. Postbacs are also expected to co-author papers on their research during the program. “By the end of the program, Postbacs are prepared with the experience, confidence, and research acumen necessary to become competitive MD or MD-PhD candidates,” says the ASCI website.
Luisa will work with physician-scientist and fellow Reedie Steve Mansoor ’97 at Oregon Health & Science University during the program. The Mansoor Lab uses techniques in structural biology and rational drug design to fight heart disease.
“My research operates at the molecular level,” Luisa says. “The ASCI Postbaccalaureate Award gives me the opportunity to step outward and understand how discoveries at that scale fit into a much larger biomedical landscape, while also bringing a structural perspective to conversations with researchers working across the continuum from bench to bedside.”
When she received the Goldwater, Luisa said she’d been fascinated by disease from a young age. Her education at Reed, and specifically her collaborations with Professor Shivani Ahuja [chemistry], helped foster that interest, and the ASCI Postbac Program will only allow that interest to grow and turn into impact.
“Diversity of thought fuels innovation, and I look forward to connecting with a community of physician-scientists addressing gaps in our understanding and treatment of human disease through approaches different from my own,” Luisa says.