Eunice
Udensi, a Pharmaceutical Science major mentored in the Chemistry
department, came to York from Abia State, four years
ago and quickly acclimated to a busy college life of research and co-curricular activities.
Early on, her impressive GPA caught the attention of Amy Wolfe
in the Academic Advisement Center, which led to tutoring jobs in the
Mathematics lab and Academic Achievement Center, where then-director
Steven Tyson, told her that with her grades she could become
valedictorian of her class.
"I
didn’t know what that meant," said Udensi. "But I didn’t want him to
know that I did not know. So I looked it up when I got home and told
myself I would do it."
While searching online for the meaning of
the impressive word, Udensi also came across Tony Wan’s TV interview
when he was York’s valedictorian in 2012. That sealed her commitment.
"I
didn’t know about things to apply for,” said Udensi. But Dr. Tyson
motivated me to apply for internships and came in on a Sunday to do a
recommendation letter for me. He motivated me to apply for all these
opportunities."
"These opportunities" would go on to include a
research internship at Stony Brook University; a Thurgood Marshall
College Fund Leadership Institute internship and a dizzying list of
awards received through York.
She received the Prof. Eugene
Levin Scholarship for Excellence in Science and Paid Summer Internship;
became a member of the Honors Program, Wells Fargo Scholar, and Mildred
Cooper Scholar; and made the Dean’s List throughout her four years at
York (2012-2016) and Sigma Alpha Pi 2014-2016.
Udensi, the
second of five children in her family, also made time for membership in
the Chemistry and the Pre-Med Clubs. She was tailor-made for rigorous
academic work at York even before coming to York. Throughout her
education in Nigeria, Udensi attended school Mondays through Saturdays
and the summer months as well; and says it was “compulsory.”
"I felt at home when I came to York," said Udensi, who now lives in Hollis, Queens. "The professors were very helpful."
Among those “helpful” professors have been her research
mentor, Dr. Ruel Desamero; and Dr. Yolanda Small, Dr. Adam Profit and
mathematics professor Dr. Farley Mawyer. According to Desamero, Udensi
shows great promise for medical school.
"She
worked on studying the mechanism behind protein aggregation,” he said.
“[It] is an interesting field because many diseases, like Type II
diabetes, Alzheimer’s, Mad Cow, Parkinson’s…are caused by protein
aggregation. While she was in the lab, she worked hard and learned
techniques very quickly."
The busy scholar was also
accepted into the 10-week American Society for Pharmacology and
Experimental Therapeutics-Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship
(ASPET-SURF) program at Sony Brook University in April 2015. Her mentor
there, Dr. David Talmage’s research is based on type III
neuregulin1-ERBB4 interactions.
At Stony Brook, Udensi
researched on “Neuronal Type Specific Gene Therapy: Engineering Novel
Cell Tropism in AAV.” I synthesized adeno-associated virus (AAV), which
is specific to Trk A receptor and carries the gene responsible for the
production of acetylcholine.
"Neuronal gene therapy
with AAV, if feasible, will open doors for a lot of improvement in gene
therapy for Alzheimer disease patients," she explained.
Her
research presentations at York have included, “As Certain as Day Turns
to Night,” which highlights the experiments done by Heisenberg,
Schrodinger’s Cat and the mathematical derivation of Schrodinger’s
Equation; and “Zinc Fingers,” at the Natural Science presentation.
"Our students have the ability to do well," said Tyson. "They just need someone to believe in them and give them opportunities."
Udensi’s mother, Mrs. Kalu Udensi, still lives in Nigeria and will be watching her daughter’s valedictory speech live with the aid of technology. Her father, Mr. Udensi and her four siblings all reside in the United States.
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