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Student Ambassadors
Student Ambassadors are USJ students who have engaged in research and creative activity and want to help other students get involved. Student Ambassadors are happy to share advice about getting started with and engaging in research, scholarship, and/or creative projects. If you’re looking to get involved in these activities, it is extremely valuable to hear directly from other students about their experiences.
Undergraduate Ambassador
Friedrich “Fred” Feldrappe ’26 is an Honors Program student studying Psychology with a minor in child studies. He is also working on earning the Data Analysis Certificate offered by USJ.
Fred’s first experience with research came through the psychology major’s required coursework. As part of the PSYC 261/262: Statistics and Research Methods for Behavioral Sciences class, he was required to design and conduct his first study. Being a student-athlete on the men’s basketball team, he chose to combine his two interests: sports and psychology. Fred conducted a study investigating self-other agreement in personality ratings. He found female student-athletes to self-deprecate their scores more than male student-athletes in personality traits that are valued more by society. This study suggests that women may be socialized to be more modest about their personality traits than men. He received the Outstanding Undergraduate Oral Presentation in Social Sciences and Humanities for presenting his work at USJ’s Symposium Day 2024.
Alongside his professor, Dr. Kristin Cistulli, Fred continued his research efforts (in courses PSYC 295: Exploratory Independent Study, PSYC 495: Advanced Independent Study, INTD 375: Honors Junior Independent Study, and HDFS 495: Advanced Independent Study). Starting in the fall semester of his junior year, he shifted his research focus to Trust among Teammates in Competitive Situations. Currently, no tools exist to empirically measure this type of trust, but Fred and his mentor, Dr. Cistulli, are attempting to close that gap in the literature. This research is still an ongoing process. He presented his initial findings at the Eastern Psychological Association’s (EPA) Annual Meeting 2025 in New York City (NY), at the Northeast Regional Honors Council’s (NRHC) Annual Meeting 2025 in Harrisburg (PA), and at USJ’s Symposium Day 2025. The travel cost to the EPA conference was covered by the Margaret Walsh Caulfield fund at USJ, while the travel to the NRHC conference was covered by the Honors Program. It is Fred and Dr. Cistulli’s goal to finish development of the study and publish it one day.
Additionally to being a student-researcher, Fred is also a student-athlete, president of the Psi Chi chapter, Honors peer-mentor, and tutor at USJ. After graduating, he wants to play professional basketball and attend graduate school in a field related to psychology or neuroscience, but is still debating what subfield of research he wants to enter.
If you have any questions about beginning or presenting undergraduate research at the University of Saint Joseph, feel free to contact Fred at [email protected]!
Graduate Ambassador
Mahnoor Khan ’26 is a Doctor of Pharmacy and Master of Public Health graduate student at the University of Saint Joseph. Upon completing her dual-degree program, Mahnoor plans to pursue postgraduate training in pharmacy with the goal of specializing in oncology.
Mahnoor’s academic and professional interests center on clinical pharmacy, oncology, and translational research, with a strong commitment to advancing patient-centered care through scientific innovation and interdisciplinary collaboration. Her interest in research began during her first year of pharmacy school, under the mentorship of Dr. Anisha Gupta at the University of Saint Joseph. Her research focuses on the design and development of nucleic acid–based therapeutics for cancer therapy. Through this work, she has gained hands-on experience in molecular biology techniques, including cancer cell culture and gene expression analysis, and proficiency with scientific tools such as BioRender and EndNote.
Her research experiences have resulted in multiple national and international conferences, including poster presentations at the American Pharmacists Association (APhA) Annual Meeting and the RNA Society Meeting. She is also a co-author of peer-reviewed research, including a manuscript published in Cell Reports Physical Sciences focused on antisense therapeutics for multiple myeloma. These experiences have strengthened her scientific communication skills and reinforced the importance of research in advancing evidence-based pharmacy practice.
In addition to her research involvement, Mahnoor has completed diverse pharmacy practice experiences in acute care, ambulatory care, oncology, community pharmacy, and hospital settings. These experiences have allowed her to integrate research principles into clinical decision-making while collaborating closely with multidisciplinary healthcare teams to optimize patient outcomes.
As a Student Research Ambassador, she is passionate about mentoring students, promoting professional student involvement, and encouraging students to explore research opportunities through the SRCA. She looks forward to supporting students interested in presenting their work, applying for research funding, and building the confidence needed to support their future academic, clinical, and professional goals.
If you have any questions about getting started in research at USJ, please do not hesitate to contact Mahnoor at [email protected].