“Undergraduate research was the highlight of my time at Fordham, and I am so thankful for the FCAA’s generosity in funding our work,” said Max Luf, FCRH ’22, recipient of the FCAA’s 2022 Research Symposium Award.
Max spent two years doing research at Fordham under Dr. Edward Dubrovsky where he modeled neurological conditions associated with rare mutations to the human gene ELAC2. These conditions include incurable conditions such as intractable epilepsy and microcephaly.
“Using CRISPR-CAS9 gene editing,” said Max, “I was able to demonstrate that ELAC2 is essential to the nervous system and show that, in flies, the deletion of this gene exclusively in neurons was sufficient to recapitulate some symptoms seen in human patients.”
“This was an exciting breakthrough,” he said, “because it showed that ELAC2 mutations in neurons, and not other cells/tissue, are likely the major drivers of certain neurological conditions.”
In addition to his long-term research project, Max majored in Integrative Neuroscience. He was also an EMT and the Chief of Fordham’s EMS Agency. He served as president of Fordham’s PRIDE Gender and Sexuality Alliance Club and was president of INSA, the Integrative Neuroscience Student Association.
For the next two years, Max will be finalizing his application to medical school while working as a research associate in the department of Oncological Sciences at Mount Sinai’s Icahn School of Medicine.
Max in the lab.
During the annual Fordham College at Rose Hill Encaenia ceremony, the FCAA presents a Fordham chair to a student who exemplifies the Fordham spirit of excellence in academic, service and extracurricular achievement. The 2022 FCAA Encaenia chair was presented to Emily Romero by FCRH Dean Maura Mast (right) and FCAA board member Patrick James.
Emily, a double major in psychology and sociology, will soon begin a doctoral program in psychology at the University of Massachusetts Boston. A Bronx native, Emily distinguished herself at Fordham as a mentor to Bronx high school students, as a member of three psychology faculty labs and for contributing to a project focused on destigmatizing mental illness among teenage boys.
Olivia Frantzeskos has been awarded the 2022 George McMahon S.J. Travel Fellowship. Olivia, along with Rachel Leva of Larchmont, both Class of 2023, is also the recipient of the FCAA Legacy Endowed Scholarship, a needs-based program that was established in 1961.
“I am immensely grateful for the academic and professional opportunities I’ve been offered during my time as an undergraduate, as well as the support along the way from my professors and peers,” said Olivia who will use the travel award for a legal internship in London this summer.
“This opportunity also complements a majority of courses I have taken centered on legal principles and justice studies, such as the Development of Human Rigths Law and Environmental Justice,” she said.
Olivia, FCRH ’23, is from Chappaqua, NY. She is an environmental studies major and American studies minor on a pre-law track. During her time at Fordham, Olivia has been a published writer with the Fordham Undergraduate Law Review (FULR) and vice-chair of the United Student Government’s Sustainability Committee. Last fall, she was one of two writers on the FULR chosen to present their published article at the first Intercollegiate Undergraduate Law Review Conference. Off campus, Olivia has wored as a Legal Research & Writing intern for Her Lawyer and was a Community & Constituent Intern for NYS Assembly member Linda B. Rosenthal.
The Travel Fellowship carries an award of $5,000 for a student to use for travel that incorporates his or her studies. It is named after Rev. George mcMahon, S.J., the legendary former dean of Fordham College who devoted most of his life to the education of talented young men and women.
The award is named for Fordham College alum Jim Dwyer, Class of 1979, the late New York Times columnist and Pulitzer Prize winner.
Emma is a member of Fordham’s Leading Women of Tomorrow and has worked in the Communications and Media Studies Department at the university. She has completed internships at two U.S. Congressional campaign offices and is fluent in Russian. The Dwyer award will help fund her summer internship at Fordham’s WFUV.
The Rev. Joseph M. McShane, SJ, Student Achievement Award is designated for a student, not already on scholarship, who demonstrates extraordinary academic and extracurricular accomplishment during his or her time at the university. The FCAA Board of Directors voted to name the honor for Fordham President Father Joseph McShane after he presented the idea for an award noting a student’s development at the university.
The most recent McMahon recipient is Michelle Moughan, FCLC ’23. Michelle is from Kingston, New York, where she was her class valedictorian at John A. Coleman Catholic High School. She was also active in theater and worked at the Rhinebeck Center for the Performing Arts and at the Anne Hebart School of Ballet. At Fordham, Michelle is studying communications and culture. She is a student ambassador in the Lincoln Center Society and performs with the Splinter Musical Theatre Group