Students gathered on Tuesday to present their research at ARS Nova, an annual arts and research showcase that highlights the creative and academic talents of undergraduates at Fordham College at Lincoln Center. The students set up colorful poster boards and chatted with curious passersby about their findings and the impact they envision their work could have.
Paving the Way to Better Cancer Treatments
Christian Chung and Michael Kong, both natural science majors, have been studying the gene BRCA2 in a lab at Memorial Sloan Kettering. The gene produces proteins that repair damaged DNA, which is why people who inherit mutations in BRCA genes are prone to cancer.
Kong, a junior, is researching how cells can continue to live and replicate when missing the gene. Chung, a senior, is examining how different changes to BRCA2 affect a cell’s ability to repair itself, as well as its sensitivity to certain chemotherapy treatments.
Doctors at Memorial Sloan Kettering apply the lab’s findings to improve cancer treatments for their patients. “Essentially, we’re feeding our data to the clinicians for them to optimize their therapies,” said Kong. “By understanding the mechanism behind how the cell develops, we can modify the therapy to better treat specific cases of breast cancer.”
Documenting the Shifting Landscape of the West
Alison Kulak, a senior studying visual arts with a minor in environmental studies, traveled to Idaho to document the relationship between humans and nature through photography. For the fair, she compiled her images into an exhibit,“Natura Es Perpetua (Let Nature Be Perpetual): A Visual Examination of Human-Environment Interaction in the Northwest United States.” She also created a photography book as part of the project.
“I wanted to explore the respectful, give-and-take relationship people have with the land out west,” Kulak said, noting that she also wanted to capture the ways that relationship is changing due to raw materials extraction and industrial animal operations. Her photos feature subjects like windswept prairie grass with a lonely grain silo in the distance, ranchers riding horseback before a mountain range, and crowded cattle feedlots.
Insights from an Indigenous Island Culture
For her research project, senior Katrina Martinez Luna traveled to Batanes, a remote island group north of the mainland Philippines where the majority of the population are Indigenous Ivatan people.
Luna, an international political economy major who grew up in the Philippines herself, wanted to understand why the Ivatan have higher standards of living and less food insecurity and poverty than many Indigenous groups.
Through 15 interviews with locals, she uncovered one possible explanation: self-determination. The Ivatan have a lot of freedom to make decisions about land use, resources, and governance independently. They’ve used that freedom to apply deeply held cultural values around mutual cooperation and sharing, raising the quality of life for everyone, Luna said.
“They have a really strong network of grassroots cooperatives and associations,” said Luna. “They make sure that everyone is able to bring home a fair wage.”
She hopes her research can serve as a caution to governments as they consider new laws that may restrict Indigenous rights.
Learn more about the 2025 ARS Nova participants and their projects.
