With help from recent graduate Beatriz Goncalves, FCRH ’23, and her mentor Professor Ipsita Banerjee, Ph.D., Phan looked into how specific peptides—strings of amino acids—could potentially mitigate an enzyme that contributes to ALS from “misfolding,” or failing to function properly.

The goal of the project was to design new peptide-based drug molecules on a nanoscale level that would limit that misfolding so that it wouldn’t disrupt the other proteins from working properly within and outside the cells, according to Goncalves and Banerjee. Goncalves and Phan showed that the molecules that they developed were able to reduce oxidative stress in cells, and that some of the molecules could mitigate misfolding over time.

“The results have been exciting,” Goncalves said.

Phan and Goncalves were just two of the students who spent the summer conducting research in Banerjee’s lab in John Mulcahy Hall at Rose Hill.

Banerjee, the chair of the chemistry department and program director of Biochemistry, said her students have been working on drug delivery systems, particularly those that target tumors and cancerous cells, and developing new biomaterials for tissue engineering as well as targeting protein misfolding in neurodegenerative diseases.

In the lab, the students have access to a variety of scientific equipment, such as a 3D bioprinter, which allows them to replicate tissue growth and investigate these tissue models for their research.

“My biggest passion at Fordham is working with students in the research lab, and preparing them to become next-generation scientists,” Banerjee said, adding that she mentors students throughout the year, both in the lab and in her classes.

From the Lab to a Ph.D.

For Goncalves, who was a biology major and biochemistry minor, the experience in Banerjee’s lab helped her get accepted into numerous Ph.D. programs. She chose to pursue her Ph.D. at the University of Pennsylvania, going for cell and molecular biology where she will work on immunotherapeutic research for targeting cancer.

“I’m an undergraduate student who had the experience and who has the resume to be able to go straight into a Ph.D. That’s an opportunity that was offered to me at Fordham that I probably would not have had at other schools,” she said. “I would probably have to take a gap year or do something else like a master’s in order to have the resumé I have now.”

Goncalves published at least five research papers with Banerjee at Fordham, including a few where she was the first author on the project. She and Molly Murray, FCRH ’23, who majored in chemistry and psychology, said that they spent 10-12 hour days in the lab in summer 2022 and during the school year working on a variety of projects, such as developing ways to deliver drugs into glioblastoma tumor cells as well as developing new peptide based drug molecules for targeting breast tumor cells. The pair also spent this past summer in the lab wrapping up their research projects.

“Beatriz and I last summer, we probably spent about 80 hours a week here,” Murray said. “There were a lot of times where we were here past midnight, but I feel like we’re both very well prepared for going into Ph.D. [programs] and that kind of time commitment.”

Murray, who was also accepted to several programs and will start a Ph.D. in chemistry at the University of North Carolina next fall, said that before working in Banerjee’s lab she had minimal lab experience.

“I think she definitely challenges us a lot—especially when you’re first coming into the lab, there’s a ton of stuff to learn right off the bat,” she said. “We’re a lab that helps each other out a lot, but there’s also that part of it that you have to investigate by yourself, so having that push is definitely helpful.”

Research on Cancer, Aging, and More

Many students working in the lab over the summer were focusing on drug or treatment delivery systems that could target cancer cells. Murray focused on ovarian cancer, while Amrita Das, a sophomore biology major, started a research project investigating lung cancer.

“I plan on going to med school,” Das said, “so I wanted to get exposed to a research lab setting to get experience.”

Sophomore Aigerim Mukhit’s summer research focused on skin regeneration and aging, particularly around cells called fibroblasts.

The goal of her research was to investigate the impact of peptide conjugates on aged fibroblasts to examine if they enhance can express characteristic proteins, which are indicative of regeneration.

“I just want to contribute to biomedical research—I want to study aging, not only skin aging, but overall aging,” she said.

“Our body essentially is like a laboratory—you have chemical reactions going on 24/7,” said Ipsita Banerjee, Ph.D., chair of the chemistry department and professor of chemistry. “Biochemistry is essentially a study of what reactions are going on in your body; how do we actually stay alive?”

Banerjee said that after she became chair of the chemistry department in 2018, she and a team of faculty members from the biology and chemistry departments worked to develop the minor in biochemistry, which was launched in 2020.

After the COVID-19 pandemic, she worked on developing the major with a team of chemistry faculty members, who developed new courses for the Biochemistry major. The major was approved by the New York State Department of Education this summer.

The major will be open to all students starting this fall. For now, incoming first-year students who are interested in the major will come in as undeclared, though they can still begin to take classes toward it. Beginning next fall, first-year students will be able to enter as biochemistry majors.

Preparation for Biotech, Medical Industries

Banerjee said that biochemistry studies will help prepare students for the expanding biotech industry, which has seen massive growth post-COVID.

“There are so many diseases today that we still don’t have a cure for—Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, cancer, to name a few,” she said. “While there has been progress made, much more needs to be done to understand how these diseases work, you really have to understand how things work at the molecular level—that’s what biochemistry does.”

Banerjee said that the degree will also help prepare students for graduate and medical school as well as careers in areas such as biochemistry, forensic science, pharmacology, biomedical engineering, biomedical sciences, and other health-related fields.

She noted that there’s been a real interest from students in this type of major.

“Many of the STEM students are interested in a career in medicine, allied health fields, or health professions, so biochemistry essentially ties into that,” Banerjee said.

Hands-On Learning in Biochemistry

The major has an interdisciplinary focus, according to Banerjee, as it integrates lessons from both biology and chemistry and adds new courses to broaden students’ exposure to the subject. This allows students to “approach it in a way that is interesting to [them].”

There are two tracks within the major—an American Chemical Society (ACS) certified track and a general track. Students who are interested in chemistry and advanced structural and molecular aspects of biochemistry may choose the ACS track, while students who are inclined more toward cell, molecular, and structural aspects of biochemistry and physiological approaches may pursue the general track.

Students will start by taking introductory STEM courses in biology, chemistry, physics, and calculus to lay the foundation for their work, she said.

“The upper-level courses are where they can really start immersing themselves,” she said. Those include Molecular Biology, Physical and Computational Models of Biochemical Systems, Biochemistry I and II, Methods of Biochemical Research, and more.

Research Opportunities

Biochemistry majors can also work to join research laboratories, such as Banerjee’s and those of other faculty members who are doing chemical biology, biophysical, and cell and molecular biology-related research.

This gives students opportunities to gain hands-on experience and potentially publish their work in peer-reviewed scientific journals, Banerjee said, as students will be engaged in challenging research projects and feel an ownership toward their projects.

“My biggest passion at Fordham is working with students in the research lab, and preparing them to become next-generation scientists,” Banerjee said. “Research is a big part of our department as a whole, so students will have ample opportunities to do research with the mentor of their choice.”

STEM Partnerships in NYC

Banerjee said that she believes this major will help elevate the University’s connections to growing STEM industries.

“I think one of the things we’re really trying to do, given the location of Fordham being in New York, is expand into the biotech industry, have partnerships with the larger community within New York as well as the suburbs, Westchester, all those areas,” she said. “I think by having this biochemistry major it will also provide, in addition to working with faculty mentors here, internship opportunities for students.”