CCNY trio wins CUNY-wide Jonas Salk scholarships for medical school

Graduating senior Tzippora Chwat of the Macaulay Honors Program, and the Class of 2020’s Miguel Chavez and Mathiu Perez are The City College of New York recipients of Jonas E. Salk Scholarships awarded by The City University of New York (CUNY). They are among eight 2021 CUNY winners of the scholarships that recognize exceptional students who plan careers in medicine and the biological sciences.

As Salk Scholars, each will receive $8,000 over four years to defray the tuition costs of their graduate studies or medical training.   

Following are bios of City College’s three Salk Scholars:

Tzippora Chwat:
CCNY’s Division of Science Valedictorian is graduating with a BS in biology. She will attend Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences and pursue a PhD in biology. Her research paper is entitled: “Optimizing an Irradiation Protocol to Study DNA Damage Responses by ATM and MSH2.” Chwat credits the work she did with Assistant Professor Bao Q. Vuong in his immunology laboratory: “We observed a potential synthetic lethality caused by the loss of two critical DNA repair proteins.” Later, despite COVID-19-related restrictions on the laboratory, she was able to continue her DNA studies. As an eighth-grader, she prepared for a science fair by covering a table in her family’s home with flatworms to study regeneration.

Miguel Chavez:
The biochemistry major will also attend Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences to pursue an M.D./Ph.D. degree. His research paper is entitled: “Proton Pathway Involvement in Gating Mechanism of Voltage-Gated Potassium Channel.” His goal is to study stem cells to help those who suffer from heart disease and lupus, a goal related to illnesses suffered by both his family and his mentor. Chavez also hopes to help underserved communities and be “at the forefront of the scientists who help improve their quality of life.”

Mathiu Perez:
The recipient of numerous honors in his four years at CCNY, Perez’ latest accolades see him headed to Oxford University and the University of California, San Francisco. There he will pursue an M.D.-Ph.D. degree, as an NIH Oxford-Cambridge Scholar. The latter is a highly competitive fellowship that combines the Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP), National Institutes of Health training, and a PhD at Oxford or Cambridge University in Britain. His research paper is entitled: “Needle in a Haystack: Antibacterial Activity-Guided Fractionation of a Potato Wound Tissue Extract.” His focus is to innovate and expand medicine through the lenses of emerging analytical, biophysical and quantitative methods. 

About the Salk Scholarship Program
The Salk Scholarship is named for Dr. Jonas Salk, a 1934 graduate of City College, who developed the first polio vaccine in 1955. Dr. Salk turned down a tickertape parade in honor of his discovery, and asked that the money be used for scholarships instead. New York City provided initial funding for the scholarships that year. 

About the City College of New York
Since 1847, The City College of New York has provided a high-quality and affordable education to generations of New Yorkers in a wide variety of disciplines. CCNY embraces its position at the forefront of social change. It is ranked #1 by the Harvard-based Opportunity Insights out of 369 selective public colleges in the United States on the overall mobility index. This measure reflects both access and outcomes, representing the likelihood that a student at CCNY can move up two or more income quintiles. In addition, the Center for World University Rankings places CCNY in the top 1.8% of universities worldwide in terms of academic excellence. Labor analytics firm Emsi puts at $1.9 billion CCNY’s annual economic impact on the regional economy (5 boroughs and 5 adjacent counties) and quantifies the “for dollar” return on investment to students, taxpayers and society. At City College, more than 16,000 students pursue undergraduate and graduate degrees in eight schools and divisions, driven by significant funded research, creativity and scholarship. CCNY is as diverse, dynamic and visionary as New York City itself. View CCNY Media Kit.