Impulsive behavior, antibiotic resistance, AI and the law—research into these and other areas took center stage at a Fordham awards ceremony that highlighted the knowledge created by the University’s faculty.
“We have a lot to celebrate this year,” said Fordham President Tania Tetlow at the Research Day Celebration held Monday at the Rose Hill campus. In introductory remarks, she praised faculty for their hard work on research carried out “in the grand Jesuit tradition of challenging assumptions and questioning authority.”
Research: ‘What Drives Us’
“You do this work … in the truly Fordham way, which is to lean into the wisdom of our disciplines, but to be curious enough to seek the insights of other disciplines, to know that we do this work not just to seek status and recognition,” she said. “We do it because we care, because it is who we are, because it is what drives us. So that work proudly continues. We do it for all the right reasons, and we always have here.”
She announced that the University secured $41 million in external research funding in the first three quarters of this year—surpassing the total raised in the entirety of last year.
The event, organized by the Office of Research, included distinguished research awards in the humanities, interdisciplinary studies, science and mathematics, and social sciences, as well as an award for a junior faculty member. Each recipient gave a short presentation.
The Renaissance Wasn’t Just a European Thing
History professor Sarah Elizabeth Penry, Ph.D., the humanities award recipient, showed how Renaissance ideals were absorbed and shaped in countries beyond Europe. Her focus was present-day Peru and Bolivia, where the missions of the Jesuits helped spread these ideals, which dovetailed with their own philosophy of civic humanism.
Penry gave the example of a wealthy woman in the Andean city of Potosí who, through her major gift to a Jesuit college and correspondence with Jesuit superiors in Rome, “projected a Renaissance-style self-awareness, conscious of her civic role, her legacy, and the impact her wealth could have on her community,” Penry said.
The Law Is More Uncertain Than AI Thinks It Is
Fordham Law School professor Courtney Cox, D.Phil., recipient of the interdisciplinary studies award, spoke about how AI’s computational models of the law in America might fail to capture the uncertainty judges face when making rulings. Some rulings are basically seen as a coin-toss, she said, because of the equally compelling arguments on either side.
“You might end up with systemic underestimation of the uncertainty in the law” if this feature of judicial opinions is ignored, she said. Describing a separate research project, she also spoke about how the law can be used to tackle fraud that results not just from outright deception but also from powerful forms of manipulation available today.
Cell Replication Could Hold the Key to Better Antibiotics
Elizabeth Thrall, Ph.D., from the chemistry and biochemistry department, showed a technique used in her lab for illuminating the proteins within Bacillus subtilis bacteria to track how they assemble new DNA as each bacterium prepares to replicate. Her lab is also studying the replication of damaged DNA.
Her lab, where several students work, takes a “basic science” approach, “just asking fundamental questions about how things work,” said Thrall, who received the junior faculty award. One possible application, she said, is developing new techniques for keeping antibiotic-resistant bacteria from replicating.
The Science of Impulsivity Could Help Address Cocaine Addiction
Biology professor Eduardo Gallo, Ph.D., described his research into “a tiny region of the brain [that] is really critical for the way in which dopamine regulates impulsive behavior”—with implications for treating cocaine use disorder, for which there are no FDA-approved treatments as of yet, he said. Gallo received the research award in the science and mathematics category.
‘Techno-Intensive’ Roles Are Changing the Media Biz
Allie Kosterich, Ph.D., professor of communications and media management in the Gabelli School of Business, discussed her research into new types of “techno-intensive” roles emerging in media organizations—roles that don’t displace traditional ones or fade away with the next fad.
Her current study looks at how some roles “come to be taken for granted within a profession, while other job roles that emerge during periods of disruption fail quickly,” said Kosterich, who received the social sciences award.
