“I’m still not over it, I don’t think,” said Biggs, who has contributed to six other publications as a coauthor.

Targeting Tumors

The publication is also good news in the fight against cancer: It describes a possible new method for treating tumors without the side effects that sometimes accompany chemotherapy. Biggs and her coauthors—Fordham students and alumni and her research mentor, biochemistry professor Ipsita Banerjee, Ph.D.—show how peptides derived from living organisms can be designed to precisely target tumors with chemotherapy drugs. It’s an alternative to a less precise method involving a barrage of synthetic peptides, which can cause damage to cells surrounding the tumor.

After developing a series of naturally derived peptides, the team tested them using computer models and by applying them to tumors grown in their lab. The next step would be testing their efficacy in animals. Biggs and her team members have shared the research at national and regional conferences while working toward publication, “and to have it published is really the culmination of all of that hard work,” she said. 

But the research might still be far back in the pipeline, working its way toward publication, if not for a funding award Biggs received last year. 

A Gift Toward Science Education at Fordham

In fall 2021, Fordham received a $250,000 gift from the Blavatnik Family Foundation, established by Ukrainian-born industrialist Len Blavatnik to support the arts, culture, and the sciences at institutions around the globe. The gift in support of STEM education at Fordham included funds for student research fellowships, one of which was awarded to Biggs in fall 2023.

It proved a crucial accelerant to her research, making “a world of a difference,” she said. 

“I can’t really overstate the level of impact that it had,” she said. “I was able to really devote a lot more time and energy to my research as a direct result of having that funding. It really let me have that one-track-mindedness that I think research requires sometimes.”

Without the fellowship, she would have had to devote more time to paid work, and the research “likely would’ve taken a lot longer,” Biggs said. “It may not have reached the publication stage as quickly as it did.” The fellowship also supported her work on other projects for which she’s now a published coauthor, all of which involved peptides that target different types of tumors, she noted.

Today she’s applying to doctoral programs, possibly with a focus on plant biochemistry. “I’m enormously grateful” for the Blavatnik award, she said, and also expressed gratitude for other financial help that Fordham has provided her. “I wouldn’t have gotten to this point,” she said, “without that robust support.”

Here’s a look at four Fordham College at Lincoln Center graduates, three faculty members, and one former Denzel Washington Chair in Theatre who are among the nominees for Broadway’s highest honor. 

This year’s awards ceremony will take place at the David H. Koch Theater—across the street from Fordham’s Lincoln Center campus—on Sunday, June 16.

Marjuan Canady, FCLC ’08
Hell’s Kitchen

Canady, a Fordham Theatre graduate, is a co-producer of Hell’s Kitchen as part of Score 3 Partners. The musical, from Grammy Award winner Alicia Keys, is a coming-of-age story based on her experiences growing up in New York City. The production received 13 total nominations. 

John Johnson, FCLC ’02
Stereophonic

Johnson, who returned to his alma mater this spring to teach a new course called Creative Producing, is an eight-time Tony Award-winning producer. He’ll be looking to earn his ninth for Stereophonic, which was nominated for Best New Play. It follows a fictional 1970s rock band on the cusp of superstardom and dealing with pressures that could “spark their breakup or their breakthrough.” The production received 13 total nominations. 

Tom Pecinka, FCLC ’10
Stereophonic

Pecinka, a Fordham Theatre grad who is making his Broadway debut, was nominated for Best Featured Actor in a Play for his role as Peter in Stereophonic. The New York Times called his performance “riveting.”

Morgan Steward, FCLC ’19
Suffs

Steward is an associate producer and co-producer of Suffs, which was nominated for Best New Musical after opening on Broadway last month. She graduated from Fordham only five years ago, earning a degree in new media and digital design and communications while interning at the NY1 show On Stage. On April 10, she addressed a group of Fordham alumni and guests at a private reception before they attended a preview of the show. Suffs tells the story of the American women’s suffrage movement in the first decades of the 20th century. The production received six total nominations. 

Dede Ayite
Adjunct Professor, Fordham Theatre
Appropriate, Jaja’s African Hair Braiding, Hell’s Kitchen

Ayite, who teaches Costume Design at Fordham, was nominated for two Tony Awards for her work on three productions—Best Costume Design of a Play, for both Appropriate and Jaja’s African Hair Braiding; and Best Costume Design of a Musical, Hell’s Kitchen.

Santiago Orjuela-Laverde
Adjunct Professor, Fordham Theatre 
Appropriate, An Enemy of the People

Orjuela-Laverde, who teaches Design and Production at Fordham, was nominated for two Tony Awards for his work with dots, a design collective that specializes in creating “environments for narratives, experiences, and performances.” He and his colleagues Andrew Moerdyk and Kimie Nishikawa, are up for Best Scenic Design of a Play for their work on Appropriate and Best Scenic Design of a Play for their work on An Enemy of the People.

Steven Skybell
Adjunct Professor, Fordham Theatre
Cabaret

Skybell, who currently teaches an Acting Shakespeare course, was nominated for Best Featured Actor in a Musical for his role as Herr Schultz in Cabaret. Variety said the romance between his character and Bebe Neuwirth’s “elegant and maternal” Fraulein Schneider “spins a sweet and aching emotional thread” in the latest revival of the 1966 musical. Skybell has starred on Broadway in productions including Fiddler on the Roof, Pal Joey, and Wicked, and his numerous Shakespeare credits include the title role in Hamlet. 

Kenny Leon 
Former Denzel Washington Chair in Theatre
Purlie Victorious

Leon served as the Denzel Washington Chair in Theatre at Fordham in fall 2014, the same year he earned a Tony Award for his direction of A Raisin in the Sun. This year, he’s been nominated for his work as director of Purlie Victorious: A Non-Confederate Romp Through the Cotton Patch, which is up for Best Direction of a Play and five other Tonys. The three-act play tells the story of a Black preacher’s efforts to reclaim his inheritance and win back his church.