Headlines for Alumni – April 15, 2025
Phil Dorsey ’10 Honored with 2025 Young Alumni Award
Phil Dorsey ’10 is one of the two recipients of the Alumni Association’s 2025 Young Alumni Award. He is a chemical engineer and synthetic biologist who is undertaking a career pivot to become a physician-scientist. He is seeking to translate his technical expertise in DNA nanotechnology, nanomaterial design, and vaccine formulation to help tackle challenging translational and clinical problems affecting the delivery of health care to patient communities. He is interested in leveraging health disparity research to develop innovative clinical care strategies to improve health outcomes in underrepresented communities. He additionally hopes to incorporate his research in neuroscience, gene delivery, and cell therapy with his medical training and education to improve patient treatment strategies and options.
Phil is an M.D. candidate at the University of Pittsburgh. At Princeton University, he earned a B.S. in Chemical and Biological Engineering. Later, at Johns Hopkins University, he earned a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. Phil’s dissertation can be read here: “Toward Spatial Computing and Chemical Information Storage in Soft Materials Using DNA Programming”
Alison Barton ’10 Honored with 2025 Young Alumni Award
Alison Barton ’10 is also a 2025 Young Alumni Award winner. She is currently a Fellow in David Reich’s Lab group at Harvard University studying population history, biology, and evolution using ancient DNA. She is part of a team working with archaeologists, local stakeholders, and others to study ancient peoples and cultures from all across the world to learn about humanity and answer questions about our shared past. At present, genome-wide ancient DNA analysis is so new and technically complicated that it can only be carried out by a small number of laboratories. David Reich’s Lab is committed to putting ancient DNA into the hands of archaeologists noting that “the more we learn about human populations, past and present, the more we can apply this knowledge to address practical needs such as targeting medical services to people who need it.”
Alison is a Postdoctoral Fellow in Human Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University. She holds a Ph.D. in Bioinformatics and Integrative Genomics from Harvard, a master of philosophy in Biological Science (Genetics) from the University of Cambridge, and a B.S. in Biology & Archeological Studies from Yale University.
Mason Levens ’25 Launches His Own Minor Course: “Analytical Approaches to Mathematics”
Mason Levens ’25 is in the midst of pursuing his passion for math instruction, partnering with Math Teacher Michael Omilian to design and teach a new minor course called “Analytical Approaches to Mathematics.” MFS strives to create an environment in which students have the freedom to pursue their passions.
Mason’s course, which began on January 24, quickly filled to capacity with 18 student participants. “I was first inspired by my research on how math is being taught analytically by some of the leading schools around the country,” Mason said. “I feel as though MFS does a really great job of teaching math to the why in their classes, but I want to try to experiment by applying the principles that go into the discussions and collaboration in humanities courses to math courses as well.” His class has a direct connection to his Capstone Project, which culminated in a book he authored called Analytical Approaches to Mathematics Instruction in which he goes into greater detail about how teachers can work on applying these concepts in their own classrooms.
Mason began the course with an introduction to fundamentals of mathematics such as algebra and geometry, and then shifted to talking about ideas that are traditionally more difficult. “I want to take concepts that are often stated as being really complex for students and give them an understanding of how to manipulate them and teach kids some cool tricks and understanding there,” he said. He believes that he’ll be able to work with students on anything even if they have basic level skills. Mason is deeply appreciative for the teachers who have supported him throughout his process. “I want to thank Librarian and Capstone Advisor Ms. Nicole Weber and Upper School Director and Capstone Advisor Mr. Noah Rachlin with a special thanks to Mr. Omilian for his willingness to build the course with me,” he acknowledged.
Article originally prepared by Marketing and Communications Department Intern Matthew Strauss ’27.