The new Rhodes Scholar for 2010 has been announced.

The new Rhodes Scholar for 2010 has been announced.

UTAS graduate Rhea Longley, 22, was presented with the Scholarship by His Excellency, the Honourable Peter Underwood AC., Governor of Tasmania today.

The Rhodes Scholarship, awarded for academic excellence and all-round good character, will allow Miss Longley to study at the famed Oxford University in the UK.

Miss Longley achieved consistently excellent results during her Bachelor of Medical Research and is studying her Bachelor of Medical Research Honours.

Her Honours project, conducted through the Menzies Research Institute, involves trying to identify a new gene involved in Malaria resistance in mice.

She has been placed on the Dean's Roll of Excellence for the Faculty of Health Science twice during her degree.

Miss Longley was also awarded the Australian Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Prize for highest achievement in her third year Biochemistry, in 2008.

Describing herself as "optimistic, driven and caring", Miss Longley said she has always been interested in health, in particular diseases affecting developing countries.

When Miss Longley arrives at Oxford she plans to undertake a PhD in genetic research, focusing on host resistance to malaria in humans.

"I would like to use what I have learnt from my research, and utilise the research of others, to lead the planning and direction of programs in developing countries," she said.

"My goal is to achieve a high leadership role within a prominent non-government organisation or the World Health Organisation, to oversee the management and implementation of health programs to control and monitor infectious diseases and improve general health and well-being."

The Rhodes Scholarships were created under the will of Cecil John Rhodes in 1902.

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