Student Spotlight
Dr. Brandon Zsigray ’14, Dr. Courtney Sullivan ’17 & Dr. McKenna Chalman ’19
As part of TCU’s 150th anniversary celebration, the University has been highlighting significant Horned Frog alums with a series of hand-painted murals in cities across the country. The murals are part of TCU’s national brand campaign “Lead On: Celebrating 150 Years of TCU,” and they epitomize the university’s mission and pledge to create leaders who are conduits for the greater good.
Three extraordinary health care professionals that were the product of TCU’s College of Science & Engineering Pre-Health Professions Institute were featured on the latest in the series. Serving as leaders at the individual and community level in their current roles, these alumni are fittingly represented as larger-than-life in painted portraits in downtown Chicago.
Caitlyn Lightle & Meenal Cascella
Undergraduate senior Caitlin Lightle has been working alongside Stewart as a lab assistant since freshman year. Lightle says, “Working with Dr. Stewart as a research mentor the past couple of years has been a rewarding experience.
Undergraduate senior Meenal Cascella emphasized her gratitude to be able to work alongside Stewart. She says, “I’ve really enjoyed working with and learning from Dr. Stewart during these past few years. She’s a great mentor and has taught me so much about the process of conducting research.
Joseph Mellberg, Mariana Nguyen, Allison Regan, Macyn Willingham
The CSE Honors Research Symposium took place last Friday, April 14 and featured 38 presentations from students taking departmental honors. As part of the Symposium, CSE was tasked with selecting four student presenters to compete in the university-wide Boller Award Competition for Best Honors Presentation.
Luke Hamilton
Undergraduate biology major Luke Hamilton is participating in SRS for his second year. He says, “I think it is an amazing opportunity that TCU provides for students. I’ve been working on my research project for two years now, and it’s great to have built-in opportunities to practice presenting my research in a lower-stakes environment.
Kynnedy Brown & Kayla Thomas
Kayla Thomas majored in biology and child development. She is graduating with honors. During her time at TCU as a STEM Scholar, Thomas studied abroad in Rwanda and started a high school mentoring program for women of color pursuing degrees in STEM. Thomas says it was the access to tutors, mentors and academic professionals that contributed to her success.
Christina Mantsorov & Jack Bonnell
Chemistry Club students Christina Mantsorov and Jack Bonnell worked closely with Dr. Jeff Coffer, TCU chemistry professor, to get the program scaffolded to the University of Cambridge collaborators vision. These two students then worked with a team of Chemistry Club members that visited Burton Hill Elementary School weekly for their after-school science club
Annmarie Thompson & Robert Molina
Senior biology major, Annemarie Thompson, founded Crafts & Conversations through her EPIC Grant. Its objective is to connect students with seniors at Trinity Terrace, a Fort Worth retirement community, through fun crafting projects and conversation.
Robert Molina, another EPIC Grant recipient, is pursuing a B.S. in biology. He created the Junior STEM Scholar Mentoring Program that is partnered with two local high schools in the surrounding DFW area with a goal to support underrepresented demographics that are interested in pursuing a degree within the avenues of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
Spencer Requa
Dr. Spencer Requa ‘12 graduated from TCU and went on to medical school at University of North Texas Health Science Center. He is currently in his third year as an emergency medicine resident in Corpus Christi, Texas. This is his final year of training, and he will hold his first attending job this summer.
Britni Williams
Dr. Britni Williams ‘12 (biology) is currently working as an emergency medicine resident at University Hospitals St. John Medical Center in Westlake, Ohio. When news of COVID-19 originally broke, Williams recognized the importance of activities that people should do daily, including washing hands, covering sneezes, and getting a flu shot.
Ally Lunich – Sawyer Diaz
Ally Lunich and Sawyer Diaz, two pre-health students, have been working to create volunteer opportunities for their peers during the pandemic. Lunich is a biology major with a cultural awareness in health & healthcare minor, and Diaz is a biology major with chemistry and Spanish for health professions minors.
Lisa Nash
Lisa Nash ’87 graduated from TCU with a degree in biology. Originally from Brock, Texas, a small town just west of Fort Worth, she grew up hearing about TCU. Since she was a small child, Nash always knew she wanted to be a doctor.
Jessica Boyce
Jessica Boyce ’20 graduated from TCU with a biology major and minors in Spanish and anthropology. Boyce is from Charlotte, North Carolina, and came to TCU on the pre-health track. In high school, she enjoyed science classes and always knew that she wanted to go into the medical field.
Joyce Akinnibosun
Joyce Akinnibosun is a senior nutrition major with a biology minor, on the pre-dental track. Despite the challenges of the pandemic and shifts to virtual learning, she has been accepted to every dental school in Texas.