70 | LEHIGH ALUMNI BULLETIN | CLASS NOTES tions by emailing the other offices all over the world (basically wherever English was spoken). The Sydney office was eager to have her join its team of international employees. The company sponsored her visa and set her up with a relocation package to support her move. After six months of preparation, Maya finally landed in Sydney to move into an apartment in Bondi Beach with an Aussie flatmate her age, who then introduced Maya to her friends and family. Currently, Maya works in the office three days per week and two days remotely. She is so happy with the amazing experience and the support she had from her coworkers and family along the way. Her favorite things about Sydney are beach sunrises, sushi conveyor belts and runs along the shore. Nicole Malofsky graduated with a B.S. in bioengineering on the biomaterials and biomechanics track. Eager to expand her knowledge of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, she pursued a bioengineering master’s degree at Lehigh. During graduate school, she worked diligently to develop biomaterial-based corneal implant technologies that eliminate the need for donor tissue. Nicole was inspired by the impact that work could have — how it could make dramatic life differences, allowing folks to continue and achieve an enjoyable life. In spring 2021, Nicole was awarded the prestigious National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship (NSF GRF). This fellowship “recognizes and supports outstanding graduate students” in STEM fields. Starting in summer 2021, Nicole began pursuing a biomedical engineering Ph.D. as an NSF fellow at Vanderbilt University. She joined the Haselton Lab, where she could diversify her research portfolio. Her group’s efforts accelerate the development of global health technologies in a multidisciplinary research environment, addressing the needs of patients and physicians in low-resource settings. Nicole’s project specifically aims to develop infectious disease diagnostics, including SARS-CoV-2 and tuberculosis, for low-resource settings. She is inspired by how translatable her research is and hopes to pursue a career in the industry upon completing her Ph.D. in a few years. In an effort to translate her technical science background to industry, Nicole has begun working as a biotech research analyst for a hedge fund in Nashville. The fund, CUREX Capital, invests in mid-cap life science companies, and she supports the group’s research effort. Nicole conducts fundamental research on current portfolio holdings as well as new investment ideas. Her primary role is to analyze, interpret and report scientific and financial data published by companies that are developing products across a multitude of disease areas and therapeutic modalities. Nicole’s most successful investment pitch in spring 2022 has resulted in an over-200% stock rise to date since purchase. Nicole’s entrepreneurial spirit extends to volunteering with a Cincinnati-based startup incubator, Alloy Development Co., as a biomedical engineering expert. In this role, she mentors start-up companies in weekly “sharktank” style investment pitches and provides feedback on how they can further develop their business model, technology or go-to-market strategy. While in Nashville, Nicole has been able to capitalize on her passion for philanthropy. She serves as a student mentor and volunteer STEM teacher for elementary and high school students at a variety of Nashville schools. One of her most rewarding philanthropic efforts has been volunteering with a cancer support organization, Gilda’s Club of Middle Tennessee, as an associate board member and executive co-chair of volunteering. Nicole’s mom is a three-time cancer survivor, so keeping ties to an organization like Gilda’s helps her give back to a community that has done so much for her and her family. Another fun volunteering connection to Lehigh has been serving as the vice president of Lehigh’s Kappa Delta sorority chapter, advising the women on community service efforts, recruitment, alumni engagement and accreditation. One of her favorite hobbies she has picked up since living in Nashville is running! She dove right into the running community and has since trained for three half marathons, a handful of 10Ks and a 1/3 iron aquathlon. During her half-marathon training cycles, she has fundraised for St. Jude’s as well as the American Cancer Society, tying together her passion for running and philanthropy efforts. She helped plan a 5K benefit run for Gilda’s Club held April 1, 2023. Nicole is jazzed to share that all of these athletic feats will hopefully culminate to her new year’s resolution of completing a triathlon. ’20 Evan Choy egc320@alum. lehigh.edu Happy summer, Class of 2020! For those of you still pursuing degrees, congratulations on completing another year, especially those who graduated (I’d love to hear about it!). I hope each of you gets a few days to relax, take some vacation and enjoy the weather. By the time of publication, I hope to have also seen some of my fellow classmates at the reunion! Speaking of pursuing degrees, Jessica Foy was accepted into a clinical psychology Ph.D. program starting this fall! While at Lehigh, Jess served as president of Alpha Gamma Delta, a tour guide coordinator with the Office of Admissions, an orientation leader and a Gryphon. After graduating with a double major in psychology and health, medicine and society, she now resides in Philadelphia and works as a clinical research coordinator at CHOP’s Center for Autism Research. By the time of publication, Jess will have just returned from presenting research at the International Society of Autism Research Conference in Stockholm, Sweden. Fellow New Yorker Sara Kujalowicz is now an ad sales finance manager at NBCUniversal. Sara double-majored in accounting and finance. During her time at Lehigh, she was heavily involved in both the TRAC Writing Fellow program and Phi Sigma Pi. Nowadays, Sara is training to run the 2024 NYC marathon. While I’ll be cheering her on from my fire escape, we’re wishing her the best of luck on the race and the new job! This note’s last highlight is Jess Fitter—recent purchaser of a campervan. Jess was a double major in finance and economics. She fondly remembers her involvement in the TRAC Fellows program, Greek life and the investment management group. After graduation, she moved to New York and worked at Bank of America in sales and trading, further staying involved with the Lehigh Wall Street Council. However, Jess is putting her recent purchase to good use: she’s quit her corporate job and is off to travel the country for the next few months. Jess started her journey in the beginning of April. To see where she is now, follow her blog at thejessicar.com or on Instagram @thejessicar! ’21 Anmol Shrestha, shrestha.anmol.as@ gmail.com or @anmolshres on Instagram and Twitter; and
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