Chesin Award

The Sorrell Chesin Research Award is given annually to undergraduate students in the School who have completed at least one semester of mentored research in the life sciences. The $500 award was established by Dr. Sorrell Chesin, whose own undergraduate research experience at SUNY Geneseo had a lasting impact on his life and career. During his career in higher education, Dr. Chesin advocated for undergraduate research experiences and this award continues and expands his support to undergraduates at Lehman College.

Award Procedures

Full-time students (usually in their junior or senior years) who have been selected to participate in a life sciences research project by a faculty member in the School of Natural and Social Sciences are eligible to be considered for the award once they have successfully completed at least one semester of mentored research. Preference will be given to research projects (1) in the life sciences with (2) relevance to human health (3) oriented towards applied or translational outcomes. All nominees will be evaluated by an NSS Awards Committee convened by the Dean's Office each year. 

Awardees

• 2026 - Alexandria Parkes - Population Dynamics of Fauna in a Local Aquatic Environment
• 2026 - Alphons Sony - Interleukin 24 Induces Ribotoxic Stress Response through Activation of ZAK and Modulation by PKR in Cancer Cell Lines
• 2026 - Amna Ishaq - Cadmium Uptake and Translocation in Wheat
• 2026 - Audrey Adon-Rosario - Cadmium Uptake and Translocation in Wheat
• 2026 - Blessing Ukandu - Significance of DAP5 on Metabolic Pathway of Triple Negative Breast Cancer
• 2026 - Brenda Flores - Medical decision-making is impacted by the doctor's speech tone and framing of probability statement for the treatment success
• 2026 - Chinenyenwa Ekwueme - Post-harvest Processing of Acanthospermum hispidum
• 2026 - Daniel Aguaiza - Autophagy alterations in KRAS-Mutant Colorectal Cancer following PRMT5 Inhibition
• 2026 - David Anton - Determining the ability of Escherichia coli sibling inhibitors in inhibiting Pseudomonas aeruginosa growth inside biofilm
• 2026 - Elouise Torruella - Inhibitory effect of interleukin-24 on programmed death ligand 1 expression via a eukaryotic translation initiation factor 2 alpha kinase 2-dependent pathway in human triple-negative breast cancer
• 2026 - Emilia Carlo - DAP5 as an alternative translation initiator for metabolic reprogramming in TNBC
• 2026 - Ethan Douglass Hogue - Modulation of Bacterial Motility by Ion Concentration
• 2026 - Georgina Bailey - I’m Rooting for You;   Adventitious  root development  in store bought lemongrass (Cymbopogon citratus)
• 2026 - Julie D'Onofrio - The Flora of Marshlands Conservancy
• 2026 - Khadim Diakhate - Bioinformatic and Biochemical Approaches to Strengthen Vitamin A Biosynthesis Through Z-ISO
• 2026 - Luisiana Guzman - Medical decision-making is impacted by the doctor's speech tone and framing of probability statement for the treatment success
• 2026 - Martin Castro - PFAS Exposure and Breast Cancer: Effects of PFOA on Human Breast Cell Lines
• 2026 - Mehak Islam - Sympathetic Nervous System Activation Drives Attentiveness to Probability of Drug’s Side Effects
• 2026 - Mia Yashin - Study of zinc and cadmium uptake in wheat plants
• 2026 - Min Khant Oakkar - Mechanisms of Nicotine-Induced Neurovascular Endothelial Dysfunction
• 2026 - Munira Ayalew - The effects of Escherichia coli sibling inhibitor on yeast growth
• 2026 - Nayzet Chapuli - Canine Intestinal Parasites
• 2026 - Robert Rivera - PFAS Contamination in NYC and Long Island
• 2026 - Salwa Issah Mohammed - Exposure to subtle dominance cues activates the stress response and affects decision-making
• 2026 - Tri Dinh - Exploration of Cell Cycle Reactivation in Post-Mitotic Retinal Neurons
• 2025 - Krystal Reynoso