Carolina Gallani Pontes, FCLC 2026

Major: Psychology

Bio: Carolina was born and raised in Brazil and later lived in Portugal before moving to New York City. She is currently majoring in Psychology on the pre-med track. After graduating from Fordham, she plans to pursue a medical degree while continuing her involvement in scientific research. Being part of this research experience sparked a strong interest and passion for the field, motivating her to further pursue research in her future career.

Title of Research: Cell Senescence and Morphological Changes in Human Skin Cells

Mentor: Dr. Deborah C. Luckett, Natural Science

Research Partner: Michelle Kordov

Abstract: This study investigated the senescence and morphology changes at different passage numbers in BJ and Detroit 551 skin fibroblast cells. Each cell line was cultured in Eagle’s Minimum Essential Medium (EMEM) with Hank’s Salts and supplemented with 10% Fetal Bovine Serum, 1% penicillin-streptomycin, and 1% Non-Essential Amino Acid (NEAA) using T25 and T-75 flasks. The cells were subcultured at 75% confluence with 0.25% trypsin and 0.53mM EDTA.   

The Senescence-associated β-Galactosidase (SAβ-gal) assay was performed using Lab-Tek 2-well and 4-well chamber slides. Senescent cells were indicated by a blue color in the cytoplasm. We also looked at the morphological changes in these cell lines using Phalloidin and DAPI Stains. The actin filaments appeared red, and the nuclei were blue. The actin filaments were observed and photographed using the Leica Fluorescent Imaging Microscope. Senescence and morphological changes were found in both lower and higher passage numbers.