Prestigious Marshall Scholarships Awarded to Three Exceptional Harvard Students

Harvard's Ryan Doan-Nguyen, John Lin, and Laila Nasher Selected as 2025 Marshall Scholars

Three Harvard students Ryan Doan-Nguyen, John Lin, and Laila Nasher have been selected as members of the 2025 Marshall Class. They are among 36 nationwide recipients of the prestigious Marshall Scholarships, which fund two years of study at a U.K. college or university. Their fields of focus include journalism, health equity, and education equity.

Ryan Doan-Nguyen, from Westborough, Massachusetts, focuses on amplifying marginalized voices through journalism and history, inspired by his family's refugee experience after the Vietnam War and his senior thesis includes oral histories of 40 Vietnamese refugees. He expressed his belief that many valuable voices and perspectives are excluded because some voices are prioritized, and end up being the narrators of history. He is committed to challenging this by breaking down these barriers through his work. He is a Mellon Mays Undergraduate Research Fellow, an editor for The Harvard Crimson, and a co-founder of the Harvard chapter of the Asian American Journalists Association. He has also served on the JFK Jr. Forum Committee at Harvard Kennedy School and on the board of the Harvard Vietnamese Association.

John Lin, from Boston, is focused on understanding the commonalities among rare diseases and the factors that link them. As a member of the Greka Lab at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, he studies how cells use cargo receptors to manage misfolded proteins. His research has explored the role of these receptors in rare kidney disease, and he is applying his findings to other rare conditions. Lin suggests that targeting these cargo receptors could help clear misfolded proteins in multiple diseases, offering a common pathway to treat them.

In addition to his research, Lin is passionate about using science journalism to make health information more accessible. He became interested in health equity after witnessing his immigrant parents face linguistic and economic barriers in accessing care, leading him to recognize the importance of not only discovering scientific solutions but also ensuring they reach those who need them. He is co-president of the Harvard Global Health Institute’s Student Advisory Committee, an associate magazine editor for The Crimson, and mentors youth through the Harvard Ed Portal in Allston-Brighton. As a Marshall Scholar, Lin will study biological sciences at the Wellcome Sanger Institute at the University of Cambridge in his first year, and medical anthropology at the University of Oxford in his second year.

Laila Nasher advocates for education as a protected right for all students. As a first-generation college student from a low-income neighbourhood in Detroit, she is driven by her experience at Harvard and the desire to address educational disparities. She questioned why she and her community lacked access to opportunities that should be the norm. A joint concentrator in History and Anthropology with a secondary in Ethnicity, Migration, and Rights, Nasher developed a passion for history after taking a course on the modern Middle East in her first year. She is a Truman Scholar and Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellow, focusing her research on the history of feminism in South Yemen before and after its independence and unification with North Yemen.

On campus, she founded the First-Generation Low-Income Task Group, served on the board of Primus, and co-directed diversity and outreach for the Institute of Politics. Off-campus, she interned with Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, the Tawakkol Karman Foundation in Istanbul, and organized with the Michigan Education Justice Coalition. As a Marshall Scholar, Nasher will spend her first year at the University of Oxford studying education, focusing on a comparative study of K-12 education systems in the U.K. and the U.S. and their impact on low-income, urban Yemeni communities. She is undecided on her second-year focus. Ryan Doan-Nguyen, John Lin, and Laila Nasher have been selected as 2025 Marshall Scholars due to their excellent work in their respective fields. Their work, spanning journalism, health equity, and education, reflects their commitment to addressing systemic issues and making a lasting impact on their fields.

Editor's Note:

The selection of Harvard students Ryan Doan-Nguyen, John Lin, and Laila Nasher as members of the 2025 Marshall Class is a testament to their exceptional dedication and talent in their respective fields. Their achievements highlight their excellence and also promise significant societal and research impacts. Ryan's commitment to amplifying marginalized voices through journalism and history, John's groundbreaking research on rare diseases and health equity, and Laila's advocacy for educational rights and equity underscore the importance of addressing systemic issues in our society.  As Marshall Scholars, their work in the U.K. will undoubtedly contribute to advancing these critical areas, fostering a more inclusive and equitable world.

Skoobuzz congratulates the achievers and believes that their accomplishments serve as an inspiration, demonstrating the profound difference that dedicated individuals can make in society and academia.