Psychology > Undergraduate > Honors and Awards > 2021 Awardees
2021 Award List
The Dr. Moira Fitzpatrick LeMay Memorial Scholarship
For a student of junior standing who demonstrates academic excellence.
Winner: Erin Slomnicki
Erin Slomnicki is a Student Ambassador and is highly involved in Jewish teaching. She is an assistant teacher in Judaic studies at a private school. Erin will continue this career path, and intends to pursue a graduate degree in Jewish education.
The Gregory Razran Award
For the highest Psychology GPA and an overall GPA of at least 3.50.
Winner: Jesus M. Vasquez
Jesus Vasquez graduates with a perfect 4.0 GPA. In addition to his Psychology major, he has a minor in Student Services and Counseling. He was a Peer Counselor where he actively served on committees and participated in fundraising and recruitment. Jesus will begin the Mental Health Counseling Master’s Program at Queens College this fall.
The Harold Schuckman Memorial Award
For a student who will be attending a graduate program in Psychology.
Winner: Allison H. Book
Allison graduates with honors in Psychology. During her time at QC, she was a research assistant in a Neuropsychology lab, a member of Psi Chi, and created a student club called PsychMinded. This fall Allison will start the Psy.D. School Psychology program at Adelphi University.
The Thomas E. Frumkes Award
For excellence in Psychological research.
Winner: Manail Tanvir
Manail graduates with a major in Biology and Neuroscience, and a double minor in Psychology and Health Sciences. Manail was a member of Dr. Kerstin Unger’s lab where she helped on EEG studies, and she was a member of the accelerated Master’s degree program in Behavioral Neuroscience. For her honors thesis, Manail investigated age differences in mechanisms underlying the control of working memory output. In the future, Manail hopes to become a Physician Assistant.
The Wilma A. Winnick Award
For a student who has made substantive contributions to the Psychology department.
Winner: Norma Degante
Norma majored in Psychology, and was a double-minor in Sociology and Student Personnel. Norma served as a Peer Counselor and Peer Advisor for the Psychology Department. She also participated in SIBS club where she worked with autistic children. In the fall, Norma will start her graduate training in the Applied Behavioral Analysis program at Queens College.
The John V. Conti Award
For a student who will be attending a graduate program in psychology or a related profession.
Winner: Nemesio Flores
Nemesio graduates with honors in Psychology and a minor in Student Personnel. He volunteered at the QC Psychological Center and was a part of the Peer Counseling program. Mental health is important to Nemesio but so is physical health; he enjoys professional wrestling and once attempted to become a professional wrestler. Nemesio’s long-term goal is to work with Hispanic students transitioning to higher education. This fall, he will begin the Mental Health Counseling graduate program at Queens College.
The Mitchell L. Kietzman Award
For excellence in Psychological research.
Winner: Jeenia A. Zaki
Jeenia is a Macaulay Honors student majoring in Biology and Neuroscience, with a quadruple minor in Chemistry, Health Sciences, Anthropology, and Psychology. She was senior Research Assistant in Dr. Yoko Nomura’s lab where she worked on the Child Health in Pregnancy Study. She presented research twice as a first author at various undergraduate research conferences. Jeenia’s honors thesis explores the interactions between prenatal stress, cannabis exposure, and heart rate variability. Jeenia’s future goal is to become a physician.
The Max and Edith Weiner Award
For work with Alzheimer’s disease patients.
Winner: Melissa Pocsai
Melissa is a second-year doctoral student in Clinical Neuropsychology. She works under the supervision of Dr. Nancy Foldi in the Neuropsychology Laboratory of Aging and Dementia. Melissa’s research interests include understanding brain-behavior relationships in the risk and progression of Alzheimer’s disease. She is passionate about the integration of both clinical and neurobehavioral mechanisms of psychopathology in better serving vulnerable populations. Melissa intends to use this award to attend conferences, and to facilitate her transition to clinical work as she begins seeing patients at the Queens College Psychological Center.
The Arthur A. Witkin Award
For a student who has done well in the field of Psychology and plans to attend a graduate program in Psychology.
Winner: Marisol Flores-Ortega
Marisol was head Research Assistant and Research Coordinator in Dr. Valentina Nikulina’s lab where she conducted an independent research project on the role of anxiety and depression in intimate partner violence. This fall she will begin the Mental Health Counseling graduate program at New York University.
The Daniel V. Caputo Award
For a student who is committed to pursuing a doctoral degree in Clinical Psychology.
Winner: Joseph Brier
Joseph earned honors in Psychology. At Queens College, he was a research assistant in Dr. Yoko Nomura’s lab on the Stress in Pregnancy study. Joseph also worked for the past six summers in the Diamond Summer Program, which is a behavioral modification program for children. This Fall he will begin the Clinical Psychology Psy.D. program at LIU Post.
The David Friedman Neuroscience Award
For a student who will be attending a graduate program in Psychology or Neuroscience devoted to human research.
Winner: John M. Betancourt
John received honors in Psychology and was active in Neuropsychological research in Dr. Maral Tajerian’s lab. He presented research at academic meetings on numerous occasions. John was also a MARCU-STAR program scholar at Queens College, where he was able to further develop his research skills. In Fall 2021 he will begin the Neuroscience Ph.D. at Weill Cornell Medical College.
The William N. Schoenfeld Award
For the second highest Psychology GPA and an overall GPA of at least 3.50.
Winner: Jaime Landsman
Jaime was a Student Ambassador Leader and was highly involved in Jewish learning and teaching. In addition, she is a certified phlebotomist and participated in shadowing and volunteering opportunities in the medical field. Jaime will continue her involvement in Jewish education and the health care field, and intends to pursue a nursing degree.
The Andrea Li Memorial Award
For a student who has demonstrated excellence in psychological research and has served the college and/or community.
Winner: AnaCristina Bedoya León
AnaCristina is a double major in Psychology and Neuroscience who graduates summa cum laude. She was a research assistant in Dr. Yoko Nomura’s lab where she assisted on the Stress in Pregnancy Study. From this experience she has a manuscript under review and has presented research at ten conferences. AnaCristina’s thesis addresses the physiological correlates of externalizing behavior in children exposed to Hurricane Sandy. AnaCristina has also been involved in various student outreach programs, including QC’s First Year Experience. This fall, AnaCristina will begin the Criminal Justice and Criminology PhD program at the University of Massachusetts where she aspires to conduct policy-informing research.
The Sara Mayes and Phyllis Glanz Endowed Fellowship for Alzheimer‘s Disease Research
For a graduate and doctoral student pursuing research on Alzheimer’s Disease.
Winner: Aditya Kulkarni
Aditya is a fourth-year doctoral student in the Clinical Psychology Ph.D. program. He works under the supervision of Dr. Nancy Foldi in the Neuropsychology Laboratory of Aging and Dementia, where he researches the influence of genetic risk factors on brain-behavior relationships of Alzheimer’s disease. He is passionate about translating research into clinical practice and aspires to become a board-certified neuropsychologist.
The Sara Mayes and Phyllis Glanz Endowed Fellowship for Alzheimer‘s Disease Research
For a graduate and doctoral student pursuing research on Alzheimer’s Disease.
Winner: Vivian Quynh Nhu Chu
Vivian is a first-year doctoral student specializing in Neuropsychology in the Clinical Psychology Ph.D. program. Under the mentorship of Dr. Nancy Foldi in the Neuropsychology Laboratory of Aging and Dementia, Vivian is investigating the cognitive markers and brain-behavior relationships of Alzheimer’s disease. Her research interests include extending etiological models of preclinical Alzheimer’s disease by identifying neuropsychological changes that are indicative of underlying neurodegeneration and predictive of cognitive decline.
Honors
| Juliette Abramov | Chava Cohen | Alexandra Iskhakova | Michelle Markman | Andrea Silverstein |
| Leila Adames | Sergine Constant Marsala | Amina Islam | Jennifer Martin | Chyna Smith |
| Jennifer Aghavian | Melissa Cordova | Tasnim Islam | Bridget McCann | Gabrielle Sober |
| Kerry Aguero | Diego Cordova | Jaber Islam | Kathryn McCarthy | Nicole Solemanyan |
| Suravi Ahmed | Adriana Crino | Amina Islam | Kordei Karesa McLean | Erica Solemanyan |
| Sara Alexander | Taslima Dal | Aalya Ismail | Lauren Melman | Marissa Soomdat |
| Charles Allegretto | Tamy Davidova | Avraham Izrailov | Najet Miah | Hadassa Spira |
| Riyadh Ally | Autumn Decker | Jaisy James | Dimitri Mimy | Gabriella Spirgel |
| Asma Amin | Myndee Diamond | Rachel Janfar | Skyler Montoya | Mark Spivak |
| Ariel Aminov | Crystal Diaz | Tiffany Jee | Deena Motechin | Rebecca Steinmetz |
| Nicole Andrade | Molly Digiacomo | Clementina Jose | Rafeena Muntaz | Stephanie Sukhdeo |
| Argelia Angeles | Liat Dilamani | Julia Kammerer | Jyot Nagpaul | Yaakov Sulimanov |
| Nicole Anglin | Elena DiLorenzo | Arsh Kamran | Sandra Nandoo | Nahima Sultana |
| Ioanna Apostolidis | Miranda Draves | Joshua Kantrowitz | Tooba Naveed | Cristina Talarico |
| Daniela Ariza | Michelle Dupont | Birjot Kaur | Linda Nicaj | Ivana Tamarim |
| Sarah Aryeh | Melissa Dutan | Jasharmindar Kaur | Paige Nichols | Yardena Tammam |
| Michael Avizov | Elianna Ebrani | Ramandeep Kaur | Kayla Nieves | Lauren Tanzman |
| Iliana Ayala | Briana Echevarria | Mariana Kazarian | Seedia Noor | Robin Tassler |
| Hannah Backer | Kelly Eng | Isaac Kestenbaum | Johanna Ortega | Laura Tellez |
| Kevin Baek | Yessica Espinosa | Diana Khaimova | Natasha Overton | Nyakuome Thichiot |
| Satmir Bajraktari | Franky Fang | Aqsa Khalid | Grisel Palacios | Nicole Thompson |
| Aliyah Baksh | Andrew Farrell | Desiree Kim | Vladimir Paramoshin | Justin Toro |
| Aviva Barth | Melissa Feder | Esther Klein | Manuel Peguero | William Torres |
| Sandra Basiratmand | Michal Feldman | Alicia Ko | Stacey Persaud | Katelyn Urena |
| Anacristina Bedoya | Bryan Fernandez | Ilan Kogan | Renee Pines | Jesus Vasquez |
| Michelle Beer | Lourdes Ferro | Vanessa Kordmany | Allison Polansky | Jenny Velastegui |
| Rikki Belsky | Nicole Figueroa | Sophia Kotkes | Tamar Pollock | Jiane Villarosa |
| Ilana Berger | Nemesio Flores | Heeraj Kumar | Hasina Rahi | Mariia Voianova |
| Yael Berkowitz | Lynn Fortune | Michelle Kvital | Kiritin Ramnarace | Max Von Schmeling |
| Chava Berkowitz | Naomi Fox | Katelyn Kwong | Christina Ramos | Melissa Wade |
| John Betancourt | Gianna Fraccalvieri | Jaime Landsman | Farnoush Rastegar | Jina Wang |
| Allison Book | Melanie Galeano | Charlene Lau | Rebecca Raynor | Atara Weiner |
| Naomi Bracho | Gabrielle Gelbstein | Alexandra Lelis | Amanda Reda | Risa Weiss |
| Joseph Brier | Kayla Geyer | Emily Leong | Shameer Riaz | Yael Weiss |
| Caleb Brown | Kathia Giardullo | Sophia Lettieri | Cianni Rivera | Henry Weng |
| Gabriela Caceres | Iya Gindiya | Miriam Levy | Telissa Rosario | Kimberly Wyllie |
| Jayne Calderon | Brenda Gomez | Aaron Leyman | Kizzy Rostant | Elizebeth Yassin |
| Kevin Campbell | Avital Goodman | Jason Li | Rebecca Russo | Solaman Yousuf |
| Melissa Carbo | Rebecca Gorovoy | Christina Litos | Meshel Rustam | Xinru Yu |
| Angelica Cardona | Jennifer Gourdji | Chanecy Lliguicota | Benjamin Saakyants | Rebecca Yunusova |
| Laurie Cartagena | Batya Temima Gros | Rachel Lovy | Xochil Sanchez Rodriguez | Shazia Yusuf |
| Farheen Chandio | Victor Guandique | Lucero Luciano | Pamela Sarner | Ahmad Zeidieh |
| Lili Chang | Michelle Haas | Himesh Maharjan | Batsheva Schottenfeld | Sara Zelmanovitz |
| Kiana Cheng | Wenting He | Kimberly Maldonado | Meredith Schwalb | Zoey Zhang |
| Min Jung Choi | Ernie Henriquez | Siddharth Malviya | Dahlia Schwartz | Yuerong Zhou |
| Sharon Choi | Judith Horowitz | Kayla Mandelbaum | Grace Sciretta | Katherine Zhou |
| Sharon Chon | Mashruf Hossain | Raman Mann | Kaniz Shadia | Rebecca Zimmermann |
| Amanda Clarke | Ricky Huang | Xiaoying Mao | Payal Shah | Marie Ziskin |
| Giselle Ibanez | Skylar Marinos | Eliana Sidlow |