SUNY Old Westbury Biological Sciences majors Benjamin C. Durisile ‘26 and David A. Mabruki ‘26 took home two poster award prizes for their research in neuroscience in back-to-back conferences during the Spring 2026 semester.
Durisile and Mabruki won first place in the 2026 Sigma Xi Northeastern Regional Research Conference held at Western Connecticut State University in April and the 2026 Advancing Cross-disciplinary Outreach in Neuroscience’s 7th Annual Northeastern Regional Conference at Rutgers University in May. Durisile and Mabruki presented their original work, “The effects of neurodevelopmental lead exposure on skull formation, fontanelles, morphology, and XRF-elemental analyses.”
“Winning two awards back-to-back and communicating the dangerous effects of lead on brain and bone development in the early stages of life was really rewarding,” said Durisile. Mabruki added, “This experience taught me the importance of perseverance, collaboration, and scientific communication, while allowing me to grow both academically and personally.”
The work was supported by Old Westbury’s Laboratory Manager Eric Doucet who provided the students with direct training on the X-ray fluorescence analytical technique to determine elemental composition of materials. The project was mentored by Professor Lorenz S. Neuwirth of the campus’ Psychology Department and the SUNY Neuroscience Research Institute.
As students, Durisile and Mabruki became immersed in the science program at Old Westbury as members of the Collegiate Science and Technology Entry Program and OW Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics.
Computer & Information Science student Enamul Ahsan ‘27 also earned an award for his research, “Advancing a Phage Structural Biology Through High Resolution 3D Printing.” He won third place in the Life Sciences category at the Sigma Xi Northeastern Regional Research Conference. Ahsan was mentored by Professor Fernando Nieto of the Biology department.
“It is special to see such hard-working students enter the laboratory with little to no neuroscience training and leave a few years later doing highly skilled work, contributing significant research to the public good, and reinforcing their confidence and skills by winning such notable awards,” said Neuwirth.