Choudhury Sarkar-Dey Medal
The Choudhury Sarkar-Dey Support Fund for the Natural and Applied Sciences
The Choudhury Sarkar-Dey Support Fund for the Natural and Applied Sciences was established
in 2019 through the generous philanthropy of professor of mathematics and statistics
Dipa Sarkar-Dey, Ph.D. A portion of the fund supports students in the Natural and
Applied Sciences and part funds the Choudhury Sarkar-Dey medal, the first divisional
medal at Loyola University Maryland. This medal is presented to an exemplary undergraduate
senior majoring in the sciences who shows commitment to diversity and engagement with
community service and justice.
Dr. Sarkar-Dey retired in 2019 after 35 years as a member of Loyola’s faculty, serving as department chair for Mathematics & Statistics for 9 years. Her journey from Bangladesh to the U.S., challenges and experiences in academia are truly inspiring. We are incredibly grateful for Dr. Sarkar-Dey’s contributions to Loyola’s community and the Natural and Applied Sciences. Read more about Dr. Sarkar-Dey in Loyola Magazine.
2024 Choudhury Sarkar-Dey Medal Recipient
The reciepient of the 2024 Choudhury Sarkar-Dey medal is Brianna 
Hebeka, '24. She is a Biology and Forensic majors which accoirding to her these two majors complement
each other and enable to prepare her for medical school while learning about the justice
system and some of the main issues in Baltimore City. She narrates, "The most formative part of my time at Loyola has been my time with Health Outreach Baltimore (HOB), both on and off campus. I started as an HOB advocate during my second
year at Loyola, and I have continued serving the Baltimore community. I am now in
a leadership role as the Clinical Coordinator of the Mother and Baby Unit. Each week,
I visit Mercy Medical Center and work towards connecting mothers with resources in
the Baltimore community, such as food resources, childcare, and employment opportunities.
Through my work with HOB, I have become familiar with both the federal and local resources
that exist for families, and this opportunity has opened my eyes to the strength and resilience of the mothers of Baltimore."
2024 Choudhury Sarkar-Dey Medal Finalists
- Mia Aglieco (nominated by Biology)
- Gabrielle MacNeil (nominated by Engineering)
- Sajiv Gnanasekaran (nominated by Computer Science)
- Moira McKinley (nominated by Math & Statistics)
- Zachary Longamore (nominated by Chemistry and Biochemistry)
2023 Choudhury Sarkar-Dey Medal Recipients
Two graduating seniors received the 2023 Choudhury Sarkar-Dey Medal, Patrick McGinnis, '23, Biochemistry major and Sylvia Lei, '23, Biology major.
Patrick grew up in the Towson area, yet for him Baltimore City somewhere 'traveled to' and not 'lived'. He writes, "At Loyola, through Messina, sociology professors, Mercy hospital physicians, local Church attendees, York Road community advocates, loads of books and a few close friends, I learned more about Baltimore City as a home and community, not as a mere geographical neighbor. I spent the lion’s share of my first semester learning about the community, strength and diversity of Baltimore, but I wanted to have the experience of a ‘lived in’ and ‘worked in’ Baltimore. Research in both the humanities and in biology and biochemistry became a way of using my talents to address societal needs in a more comprehensive way. I was encouraged to not only ask, but pursue the answers to large questions I had encountered in college. In the humanities I researched and presented on the dignity of work in the Catholic tradition. Aside from the obvious link to Loyola’s Jesuit identity, this pursuit allowed me to understand the role that dignifying work and labor held in our society. Presenting my work to fellow burgeoning theologians helped me to connect my academic research to real life challenges like finding fulfillment in one’s labor, while reinforcing the duty to protect vulnerable members in my community from being exploited. In a second research project geared toward understanding how language and faith intersect with someone’s social identity, I explored the language and historical use of pro-slavery rhetoric in St. Paul’s scripture."
Sylvia shared that her past four years at Loyola have reshaped her goals for the future,.
She writes, "Initially I was pre-dental, now I am exploring environmental health careers.
I have always been passionate about environmental activism. During my courses and
clubs, I learned about the intersection between social justice and the environment.
My interest has now evolved toward environmental justice (EJ) advocacy. My most influential
class was Human Health and the Environment which explored humans’ interactions with
and effects on the environment and how the environment affects our health. There was
an emphasis on EJ because the consequences of climate change disproportionately affect
vulnerable communities—most often communities of color and those impoverished. In
my Environmental Philosophy and Christian Environmental Ethics courses we also consistently
discussed EJ. Each of these courses provided different perspectives on EJ and have
contributed toward the growing passion for this field."
2023 Choudhury Sarkar-Dey Medal Finalists
- Ashley Dwyer (nominated by Physics)
- Emily Hunt (nominated by Engineering)
- Hannah Mannering (nominated by Computer Science)
2022 Choudhury Sarkar-Dey Medal Recipient
The 2022 recipient of the Choudhury Sarkar-Dey medal is biochemistry major Alejandro Perez, '22. He has been actively involved in several organizations like Student Athletes for
Social justice (SA4SJ), Society for Underrepresented Pre-Health Students (SUPHS) where
he is the current co-president, and Health Outreach Baltimore (HOB). He also actively
involves in research on and off-campus. He was chosen to participate in a neuroscience
fellowship at the University of Michigan in the summer of 2021, where he did research
under the guidance of Dr. Patrice Fort and Dr. Lynda Elghazi. They studied the pathophysiology
of Diabetic Retinopathy and tried to identify some of the proteins that might be activated
within the Complement system as the disease progresses in human eyes. At the end of
summer, He presented the findings at a poster session and at an in-person presentation.
He is currently employed at the University of Maryland Medical School in the neurobiology
department, where he works as a research assistant in the Pina lab, where they study
dopaminergic circuitry (which is related to reward processes) in addictive behaviors
like alcohol and drug consumption. He writes, "I can confidently say that my past
4 years here at Loyola have encompassed how I would like to pursue the rest of my
career, as an intertwining between science and service to marginalized and underrepresented
communities. I am glad that these opportunities were available to me, and I hope to
share the same with the current and uprising students."
2022 Choudhury Sarkar-Dey Medal Finalists
- Julia Giampiccolo (nominated by Engineering)
- Naylah Jade Perodin (nominated by Computer Science)
- Mackenzie Russell (nominated by Biology)
2021 Choudhury Sarkar-Dey Medal Recipient
Biology major Brunilda Neufeld, '21 is the 2021 recipient of the Choudhury Sarkar-Dey medal. An actively-engaged member
of Loyola's community and the local Baltimore community, Bruni has served as a leader
for student groups including Loyola's Outdoor Adventure Experience (OAE) and the student
chapter of Doctor's Without Borders. According to Bruni, her most impactful experience
while at Loyola was time spent as an advocate and resource team coordinator for Health
Outreach Baltimore, a Loyola program in partnership with Mercy Medical Center, connecting
local clients with community resources. She writes, "My experiences at Loyola and,
in particular, my experiences as a Health Outreach Baltimore advocate have shaped
my understanding of what strong communities look like and feel like. These communities
have shaped me into the strong-willed, passionate woman I am today, and into the devoted
and compassionate physician, I hope to one day become. Baltimore will always be a
home away from home for me, and I am thankful I have been able to give back to a community
that has given me so much."
2021 Choudhury Sarkar-Dey Medal Finalists
- Romie Azor (nominated by Chemistry & Biochemistry)
- Ryan DeVillier (nominated by Engineering)
- Alexandra Fernandez (nominated by Computer Science)
- Hannah Grinblatas (nominated by Math & Statistics)
- Kenneth Marcelino (nominated by Physics)
- Brunilda Neufeld (nominated by Biology)
2020 Choudhury Sarkar-Dey Medal Recipient
The inaugural recipient of the Choudhury Sarkar-Dey medal is biology major Sarah Kujala, '20. Sarah is a stellar student and holds a special place in her heart for helping those
with special needs. She has developed a relationship between Loyola and Kennedy Kreiger
High School (KKHS), a special needs high school neighboring Ridley Athletic Complex.
Through this connection, she has fostered opportunities for disadvantaged and special
needs youth to experience university life and culture at Loyola as part of the Greyhound
family. Sarah writes, "As a student, I found myself immersed in the surrounding Baltimore
community in so many different ways. I began to understand how many people the 'community'
included, whether it was the students on campus, those living right next door, or
those in the hospital fifteen minutes down the street from our beautiful campus...
Loyola’s mission became a part of who I am in every aspect. Every moment from these
experiences will be with me as a persist on into my career in the medical field. I
know I can help those who are disadvantaged and not just those who are disabled, because
I have these values ingrained."
2020 Choudhury Sarkar-Dey Medal Finalists
- Ann Ernst (nominated by Engineering)
- Sarah Kujala (nominated by Biology)
- Chiara Maalouf (nominated by Computer Science)
- Zac Metzler (nominated by Mathematics and Statistics)
- Ethan Mullen (nominated by Physics)
- Jennifer Valencia (nominated by Chemistry and Biochemistry)