This week, we are featuring the 2015 Falvey Scholars and giving you the chance to get to know these bright young adults up close and personal. Not only are they very smart – they’re very interesting! Just last week, Falvey Memorial Library, the Center for Undergraduate Research and Fellowships, and the Honors Program announced the 2015 Falvey Scholars Award winners: Katie Kline, Elizabeth Long, Jessica Swoboda, Nicholas Ader, Joseph Schaadt and John Szot. These six remarkable senior students have been selected from a pool of candidates from various disciplines for their outstanding undergraduate student research projects at Villanova University. Click here for a listing of their projects as presented at the 2015 Falvey Scholars Awards Presentation and Reception Ceremony.

Featuring Nicholas Ader

Graduating this May, Nicholas Ader will further his studies in biology and biochemistry through a co-mentored PhD program at the University of Cambridge and the National Institutes of Health through his NIH-Marshall Scholarship. He plans to study the cellular basis for neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s.

Project Title: “Comparison of Human Nrf2 Antibodies: A Tale of Two Proteins” and “Novel Activators of the Nrf2 Pathway: A Quinone Alone?”

I am inspired by the endless possibilities to discover, not only in science, but also in the lives of other people through conversation and companionship.

If I could be any person for a day, I’d be Pete Souza, the Presidential Photographer.

My favorite Villanova memory is too hard to identify.

While working on my research project, I was challenged by finding a balance between being a full-time student and a scientist. Between coursework and experiments, it’s hard to find time for anything else!

Today I’m feeling the color green.

Jason Isbell via Wikimedia Commons

I’m listening to Jason Isbell. It’s usually Taylor Swift in the lab.

One Summer Adventure I’m daydreaming about is an epic road trip with my friends out West. We’re calling it “Take the West with No Rest.”

Happiness is making a friend smile.

Everyone should know how to put themselves in the shoes of another person.

I am amazed by the dedication of my fellow Villanovans striving continuously to make the world a better place.

Thanks, Nicholas!