Cohort 12

Ayah Ahmad
Lab PI & Mentor: Jonathan Maltzman, Stanford University
Major: Biochemistry, Human Rights

Ayah Ahmad is a fourth year student at Hunter College CUNY in the Macaulay Honors College program. She is pursuing a BA degree in Biological Sciences as well as a minor in Human Rights. She aims to matriculate to medical school because becoming a physician would enable her to channel her commitment to community service and passion for the sciences into a career to help those in vulnerable situations get the help they need. She has gained a deep and profound appreciation for human life and healthcare through her personal and professional experiences and is pursuing research in order to better understand the implications of disease on the human body from an alternative perspective. Upon completion of her undergraduate studies, Ayah intends to further her knowledge of biological studies and progress in her academic journey as an aspiring physician. In the lab I identify and investigate novel therapeutic treatments for Alzheimer’s disease using drug repurposing.

Masuda Begum
Lab PI & Mentor: Vanessa Ruta & Adriane Otopalik, Rockefeller
Major: Chemistry with a concentration in Biochemistry

Masuda Begum is a fourth year student at Hunter College in the Yalow Scholars Program where she is pursuing a degree in Chemistry with a concentration in Biochemistry. She works at the Laboratory of Neurophysiology and Behavior at The Rockefeller University under the guidance of Dr. Vanessa Ruta and Dr. Adriane Otopalik. She studies male courtship behavior of drosophila melanogaster by silencing neurons using light gated ion channels. Her interests outside of STEM are fashion design and baking; during Winter and Summer breaks, Masuda spends a lot of time on sewing projects and testing new recipes. After undergrad, Masuda hopes to spend a year doing research and furthering her work at the Ruta Lab before applying to medical school. After medical school, I want to be an academic physician.

Greta Henriette Ghita
Lab PI & Mentor: Sohail Tavazoie, Rockefeller
Major: Biology

Greta Ghita is a senior student at Hunter College pursuing a Biology degree with a minor in History. I am also part of the Yalow Scholars Program at Hunter, as I am interested in pursuing a degree in medicine and possibly a career in medical research, where I have had the opportunity to learn a great deal about the various areas of biomedical research and even join the Tavazoie Lab at the Rockefeller University. I became interested in oncology research in high school as a student volunteer in the Zaidi Lab at the Mount Sinai Icahn School of Medicine, where I first was exposed to biomedical research process, and how questions transform into experiments that could develop into treatments for diseases. As part of the Tavazoie Lab, I had the chance to further pursue my interest in oncology and studying metastasis in particular, where since November 2020 I researched co-regulation of various genes by a protein complex between a nuclear and mitochondrial protein that regulates transcription. As I finish my research project at the Tavazoie lab this January, I hope to further pursue my interest in oncology both through research and clinical volunteering, and after finishing my undergraduate studies I plan to take a gap year to further explore my interests in the various parts of medicine and medical research after applying to medical school in 2023.

Yostina Girgis
Lab PI & Mentor: Carmen Melendez, Hunter
Major: Biology, Human Rights

Yostina Girgis is a senior at Hunter College in the Thomas Hunter Honors Program, pursuing a degree in Biology and minoring in Human Rights, while completing her pre-medicine track. She is dedicated to supplementing her science-heavy studies with learning experiences in the humanities and social sciences, which has taught her to understand medicine and public health as a puzzle piece of social processes. She has contributed as a Grove Fellow to a policy paper on equitable recovery of NYC after COVID, which was presented to the policy teams of the 2021 mayoral candidates. Additionally, she works as a Student Welfare Commissioner at Hunter, organizing student initiatives school-wide. Meanwhile, she currently works as a Research Assistant in Dr. Melendez's lab for Cell Biology/Neuroscience to investigate the injuries of the central nervous system and the process of remyelination and axonal repair. She is looking to apply to medical school as a prospective emergency medicine physician.

Leya Groysman
Lab PI & Mentor: Piul Rabbani, NYU
Major: Biology, Psychology

Leya Groysman is a senior at Macaulay Hunter College, in New York City, pursuing a degree in Biology and a minor in Psychology. For two years at Weill Cornell Medicine, under the mentorship of Dr. Wen H. Shen, Leya explored the role of genetic factors in endometrial cancer disparities. During summer 2021, she conducted research at Brown University with Dr. Wafik El-Deiry. Using this research, she published her first journal article about how chemotherapy-induced cytokines and prognostic gene signatures vary between breast and colorectal cancer and the impact this has for treatment. Currently, she is working at NYU with Dr. Piul Rabbani exploring how pediatric bone-derived multipotent stromal cells (MSCs) and their secreted exosomes can offer bone tissue engineering potential. Upon completion of her undergraduate studies, Leya intends to apply to medical school. She hopes to become a physician who integrates research into her patient practices. In her free time, Leya loves a good adventure. You can find her trying rock climbing, treetop obstacle courses, or just simply exploring new places in the city with her friends and family.

Syeda Jannath
Lab PI & Mentor: Alison Ashbrook, Hans-Heinrich Hoffmann, Charles Rice, Rockefeller
Major: Biochemistry, African and Latino Studies

Syeda Jannath is a senior at Hunter College majoring in Biochemistry and is a part of the Thomas Hunter Honors program. She is a 2022 recipient of the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship, one of the oldest and most prestigious national scholarships that recognizes her for her potential to make significant contributions to the research world. Syeda currently conducts Virology research at the Rockefeller University. She hopes to pursue a career in medicine where she can contribute to research from bench to bedside. Aside from research, Syeda enjoys mentoring and teaching young scientists.

Iana Leshchynska
Lab PI & Mentor: Mary Hatten, Rockerfeller
Major: Biology, Psychology

Iana (Yana) Leshchynska is a fourth year student at CUNY Hunter College; she is pursuing a degree in Biology (BA) and a minor in Psychology. She is a member of the Yalow Scholar Program which helps her in her journey to medical school. She is a lab volunteer at Hatten Lab of Rockefeller University where she focuses her research on studying the role of transcription factors that are known for their importance in granule cell development under the supervision of Dr. Kärt Mätlik. After graduation, Iana intends to attend medical school and progress toward a career as a medical doctor.

Olivia Nasef
Lab PI & Mentor: Alexandra Joyner & Anjana Krishnamurthy, MSK
Major: Biology, Psychology

Olivia Nasef, a fourth-year pre-medicine student, is pursuing a BA in Biology at Macaulay Honors at CUNY Hunter College in New York City. She was the Chief Operating Officer and a founding member of a nonprofit organization, The University Blood Initiative, dedicated to ending blood shortages to prevent unnecessary deaths. She pioneered a nationwide college chapter program; Olivia and her team established 23 chapters with over 600 volunteers from 10 different states and worked in consultation with the Federal COVID Response Team ("Operation Warp Speed") to collect COVID Convalescent Plasma units for vaccine research and therapeutics. Olivia also became a certified Transcranial Stimulation (TMS) Technician and conducted research under Dr. Amy Mednick on aggression/anger as a precursor to TMS treatment success (defined as reduction of depression) that she presented at the Clinical TMS Society conference. Olivia currently conducts developmental biology research on the role of two transcription factors on cerebellar development at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center under Dr. Alexandra L. Joyner in which she also presented her research at AMSACon. She is also working at Caraway, a startup for a healthcare app geared towards accessibility to mental health and reproductive health resources for women. After completing her undergraduate degree, she intends to apply to medical school as a prospective psychiatrist.

Afsana Rahman
Lab PI & Mentor: Benjamin Kleaveland, Weill Cornell
Major: Computer Science with concentration in Bioinformatics, Public Policy

Afsana Rahman is a senior at Hunter College, City University of New York, majoring in Computer Science with a concentration in bioinformatics and minoring in German. She currently does research at Weill Cornell Medical College, under Dr. Benjamin Kleaveland. Afsana's studies involve non-coding RNAs and she conducts both experimental and computational projects, utilizing techniques like flow cytometry and programming languages such as R. Afsana is also doing research at the Tri- Institutional Computational Biology Program in the Leslie Lab, working on a project predicting gene expression from chromatin accessibility. She is interested in harnessing the power of computation to tackle large biological problems that involve complex data analysis. Besides research, she values contributing to student life and community at Hunter by participating in student government. She is also a hired college assistant and lead mentor in Hunter’s science honors program, Yalow, overseeing a variety of administrative tasks such as research workshop planning, science conference planning, and helping over 200+ Yalows with their undergraduate journey. After completing her undergraduate studies, she aims to pursue a PhD in fields that intersect technology and the life sciences. Afsana hopes to learn from physicians and medical academics to strengthen her understanding of important health issues that require interdisciplinary approaches to solve them.

Maisha Uddin
Lab PI & Mentor: Erich Jarvis & Brigid Maloney, Rockerfeller
Major: Biology, Women and Gender Studies

Maisha is a fourth year student at Hunter College where she is a member of the Thomas Hunter Honors Program. She is majoring in Biology and Interdisciplinary Studies with a concentration in Women and Gender Studies. Previously, she conducted clinical, social psychology, and immunology research and currently conducts neuroscience research at Rockefeller University. This year, Maisha was awarded the Barry Goldwater Scholarship, which is the oldest and most prestigious undergraduate national scholarship in the natural sciences, engineering, and mathematics in the United States. Beyond research, she enjoys teaching and mentoring other students, volunteering in her local hospital, and trying to find the best fried chicken place in NYC. Maisha intends to pursue medicine after completing her undergraduate studies where she hopes to continue conducting hypothesis-driven research, translate her findings to her patients, and mentor future aspiring physicians and scientists.