Aditya Kotha, a senior studying biology and psychology at Virginia Commonwealth University, is investigating whether FDA-approved drugs can be repurposed to treat allergic disease — focusing on whether statins can reduce allergic inflammation. That work earned him a 2024 Goldwater Scholarship, making him one of 18 VCU undergraduate researchers to win one since 2006. Kotha works in Dr. John Ryan’s immunology lab, where the appeal is the open-ended exploration as much as the results, and he points to time management as his hardest lesson. His advice to other undergraduates is to start research early in their academic careers. The goal is more affordable treatments for inflammatory immune disorders.