Two Students Awarded 2025 Dedrick Kon '96 Fellowship for Exploration of the Life Sciences

The science department is proud to announce that we have two recipients for the Dedrick Kon '96 Fellowship for Exploration of the Life Sciences for 2025: Miki C. ’26 and Matteo M. ’26.

 

Established to honor the life and spirit of Dedrick Kon ’96, this award seeks to encourage and support students who have an interest in any of the life sciences through a financial award to be used for their innovative research or meaningful exploration.

Dedrick was an anesthesiologist with a deep interest in the sciences. To the classmates who established this award in his memory, he represented everything they felt Poly wanted them to be: a well-rounded person who seized everything Poly offered—a scholar, athlete, and musician, in addition to being kind, caring, and a friend to all. This award recognizes a well-rounded student (or group/partnership) who embodies Dedrick’s spirit of embracing all that Poly has to offer. 

Please read on to learn more about the students’ projects.

 

Question: How effective is a data-driven platform at increasing breast cancer risk awareness and health data literacy among female-identifying adolescents and young adults (ages 14–25)?

Hypothesis: If female-identifying young women (ages 14–25) engage with a personalized risk-awareness survey and are guided through interactive tutorials on tools like SEER*Explorer, then their understanding of breast cancer risk factors and ability to interpret population-level cancer data will increase. As a result, they will be more likely to recognize personal risk, seek further information, and make informed health decisions.

 

Question: How does the inoculation of Arabidopsis thaliana with Actinobacteria impact the plant’s root and leaf biochemical production as measured by yellowness of Lactuca sativa protoplasts after exposure to root and leaf extracts?

Hypothesis: The inoculation of Arabidopsis thaliana with Actinobacteria will increase the plant’s root and leaf biochemical production greatly, shown by average Lactuca sativa protoplast yellow values of 50% in comparison to the uninoculated Arabidopsis biochemical production which will yield Lactuca sativa protoplast yellow values of only 10%. 

Matteo's project attempts to quench his interest in learning more about complex microbe-plant interactions and how these relationships have the potential to solve major environmental and ecological problems on a global scale.

 

We look forward to the work that these two young researchers will continue to do with the support of this fellowship!