NYC Gazette

Throughout its history, New York University (NYU) has been known for innovation, with faculty and alumni contributing to notable inventions and scientific breakthroughs. Academic research at NYU involves rigorous work and practice, starting early in students' academic careers through assistantships, internships, capstones, or independent projects.

At the close of the 2023-2024 academic year, the NYU News team collaborated with the Office of the Provost to highlight undergraduate research efforts. The selected nine projects span various fields including biology, chemistry, engineering, social sciences, humanities, and arts.

These projects were showcased at multiple NYU undergraduate research conferences such as Migration and Im/Mobility and Tandon’s Research Excellence Exhibit. Below are detailed accounts of some of these remarkable student endeavors:

**Jordan Janowski (CAS '24), Biochemistry**

Janowski's thesis titled “Engineering Chirality for Functionality in Crystalline DNA” focuses on manipulating DNA sequences to self-assemble into high-order structures. He expressed amazement at using DNA as a building material rather than just analyzing it biologically. His mentor Dr. Simon Vecchioni played a crucial role in guiding him through this research.

**Anthony Offiah (Gallatin ’26), Fashion Design and Business Administration**

Offiah’s project “project: DREAMER” explored how personal fashion is influenced by societal pressures versus individual character. Conducted through ethnographic interviews and co-designing garments with participants, Offiah aimed to empower individuals to express their true selves through fashion.

**Lizette Saucedo (Global Liberal Studies ’24), Politics, Rights, and Development**

Saucedo’s thesis “Acknowledging and Remembering Deceased Migrants Crossing the U.S.-Mexican Border” examines how politics shape state governance over life and death. She argues for presenting "migrant artifacts" left behind during border crossings to raise public awareness.

**Sade Chaffatt (Abu Dhabi ’24), Biology**

Chaffatt's research on “The Polycomb repressive component EED in mouse hepatocytes” investigates gene regulation mechanisms within the liver post-surgical resection. Her mentor Dr. Kirsten Sadler encouraged her confidence in communicating scientific data.

**Kimberly Sinchi (Tandon ’24) & Sarah Moughal (Tandon ’25), Computer Science**

Their project TITAN under the Robotic Design Team focuses on creating robots for NASA’s lunar excavation competition. The project emphasizes interdisciplinary collaboration among electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, computer science majors.

**Eva Fuentes (CAS '24), Anthropology**

Fuentes’ thesis “Examining the relationship between pelvic shape and numbers of lumbar vertebrae in primates” aims to infer vertebral counts from fossil records based on pelvic shapes. Her work contributes to understanding human posture evolution.

**Elsa Nyongesa (GPH/CAS ’24), Global Public Health and Biology**

Nyongesa’s project examined minority underrepresentation in breast cancer studies and its impact on health outcomes for Black women. Her internship experiences inspired her exploration into health disparities within oncological research.

**Rohan Bajaj (Stern ’24), Finance and Statistics**

Bajaj’s thesis “Measuring Socioeconomic Changes and Investor Attitude in Chicago’s Post-Covid Economic Recovery” assesses community-proposed infrastructure impacts on Chicago's socioeconomic demographics post-pandemic recovery plans.

**Andrea Durham (Tandon ‘26), Biomolecular Science**

Durham wrote an essay titled “The Rise and Fall of Aduhelm,” analyzing controversies surrounding an Alzheimer’s drug approval process. Inspired by personal experiences with Alzheimer's disease within her family, Durham now volunteers at Mount Sinai researching this field further.