NEW YORK, NY – It’ll be a summer studying in London for John Jay College of Criminal Justice sophomore John (Anthony) François '21, who earned a Frederick Douglass Global Fellowship (FDGF) along with nine other students from across the country.
Francois says the Fellowship will help him learn how to view situations from a different cultural perspective and make him more sensitive to the people around him, skills that he says will assist in his quest to understand cultural barriers to cancer treatment.
See What John (Anthony) Francois Says About John Jay
A cell and molecular biology major, Francois is a member of the John Jay Honors Program and plans to pursue a Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences. He is also a member of John Jay’s Program for Research Initiatives in Science and Mathematics (PRISM) where he conducts research with Professor Lissette Delgado-Cruzara. In addition, he is a research intern at NYU’s Spatial Epidemiology lab and a varsity volleyball player at John Jay.
“My research interests include studying diseases and environmental factors, as well as social stressors that contribute to the biological processes that cause the onset and perpetuation of those diseases” Francois said. “I intend to focus my work primarily on lymphoid malignancies, as I am particularly interested in learning about the way lymphatic cancer cells develop.”
“What many people don’t realize is that something that usually affects the mortality rate is people’s willingness to take part in cancer treatments, which can be affected by cultural differences,” added Francois, who attended high school at St. Mary’s College High School in Castries, on the Caribbean island of St. Lucia.
The FDGF is operated jointly by the Council on International Educational Exchange (CIEE), the nation’s largest non-profit facilitator of studying abroad, and the Penn Center for Minority Serving Institutions (CMSI). Each year, the Fellowship is awarded to 10 outstanding students that attend a Minority Serving Institution (MSI).
The Fellows were nominated by their college presidents and selected during a national competition. The winners have demonstrated high academic achievement, possess exemplary communication skills, display the hallmarks of self-determination, exhibit characteristics of bold leadership, and have a history of service to others.
The Frederick Douglass Fellowship, which launched in 2017, is representative of efforts by CIEE and CMSI to increase diversity in study abroad by breaking down the barriers of cost, curriculum, and culture that prevent students from participating in international education experiences. Data from the Institute of International Education shows that students of color largely miss out on international education experiences that can play a critical role in their personal growth, as well as academic and career success.
Named for the African American social reformer, abolitionist, orator, writer, and international statesman Frederick Douglass, the Fellowship encourages students to use his life as a model to becoming bold, globally conscious and service-oriented leaders.
