When Brendan Kosztyo ’25 was a first-year biological sciences student at Cornell, the pressure of a particularly demanding course was overwhelming. He recalls thinking: “Oh my gosh, there are so many things we have to do. Is it going to get done in time?”

Someone told him about the department’s Student Advisors Program, which matches select juniors and seniors with first-year students. With the help of an advisor, Kosztyo learned how to navigate the course, and together they created a study plan that set him back on track.

“I was a freshman with a lot of questions, and they did a fantastic job easing my anxieties about class,” he says.

The experience stayed with him—so much that Kosztyo, now a fourth-year student planning to pursue a PhD in cell and molecular biology, became an advisor himself. He has guided groups of six to 10 first-years through the critical early semesters of college. Some struggle like Kosztyo did and need some help creating a study plan. Others are debating what career path to take—such as premed or research—and want guidance to find the right fit. He also leads a first-year seminar course that helps students assimilate to college-level coursework.

For Kosztyo, each student encounter is an opportunity to pay it forward.

“It’s serving as that older mentor who’s been through the same problems and can speak to the questions they might have in a way that a faculty resource just wouldn’t have, with the recent lived experience,” he says.

A native of Clifton Park, N.Y., Kosztyo is a second-generation Cornellian. His father, David Lance Kosztyo ’92, graduated from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Attending Cornell was not a foregone conclusion—Kosztyo sent applications to a number of schools—but he knew Cornell had unique strengths in biology, so he was excited when he was accepted.

Receiving the Carl E. Ladd Memorial Scholarship* as part of his financial aid package made it possible for him to cover the costs of attending Cornell.

“I’m really grateful for the Carl E. Ladd Scholarship. It allowed me to have opportunities to study at Cornell, and all the different experiences that I’ve had,” Kosztyo says. “And it’s definitely eased the financial burden for me and my family, which I’m super grateful for.”

Mapping disease

When he came to Cornell, Kosztyo was interested in medicine, but he didn’t want to be a doctor. He enjoyed the practical applications of biology, and he saw biological research as an opportunity to be involved in both medicine and health care.

During semesters and summer breaks since his sophomore year, Kosztyo has studied the role of proteins in nuclear structure as an undergraduate research assistant in Professor Eric Richards’ epigenetics lab at the Boyce Thompson Institute. This experience has made him even more sure that researching cell and molecular biology and genetics is the career direction he wants to take.

“It’s been a fantastic experience, and it confirmed my interest in graduate education too,” he says. “Just about two weeks ago, we were able to publish a paper talking about this protein across plants and streptophytic algae, which was super exciting. It’s been a fantastic experience, and I was super happy to contribute to it.”

The paper was published in Genome Biology and Evolution, the journal of the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution.

With an eye toward boosting his computational skills in the lab, Kosztyo has taken a series of specialized computer classes.

“Data analysis can guide experiments in the wet lab. That’s a really cool field and can be really powerful,” he says. “There’s a lot of work that can be done with genetics and genomics, or protein identification—which is what I’ve worked on as an undergrad. That can be used to set up experiments or genetic screens.”

One course, Dynamic Systems in Biology, focused on mathematical modeling of biological systems. He enjoyed it so much he’s decided to focus on the intersection of bioinformatics and molecular biology in graduate school—an unexpected outcome, he says.

“It was really challenging, but I honestly think it was one of the most rewarding classes that I’ve taken here. It was understanding evolution on a mathematical level.”

Kosztyo aims to apply data analysis to a cause he is passionate about—cancer research.

“In molecular biology, when the systems go wrong, we say it basically causes cancer. I want to go into molecular genetics, and I also have this interest in health: It seems like the perfect intersection of the field I’m going into and the main problem that exists inside of it.”

Helping outside the lab

Kosztyo seizes opportunities to help solve problems outside of the lab too. One of his passion projects is Art Beyond Cornell (ABC), a student-run organization that brings art and writing projects to residents of MacCormick Secure Center, a high-security juvenile prison near Ithaca. Kosztyo is the club’s president.

“We go there and provide an outlet for creativity and self-expression, and give the guys a peer connection they might not otherwise have,” he says.

Club members present a show of residents’ art on campus with the goal of raising awareness of the U.S. carceral system and its impact on youth. ABC also works with the Prisoner Express Program, housed in the Center for Transformative Action, an independent nonprofit affiliated with Cornell. Prisoner Express’ monthly newsletters are filled with art, poetry, and journal writing by prisoners across the country, and ABC has extended this outlet to MacCormick residents.

“There are so many different issues in the justice system that being able to contribute, even in our small way, is really rewarding,” Kosztyo says. “I’ve definitely become more passionate and involved. Going forward, I’m going to carry it with me, and wherever I am, there are going to be ways that I personally can get involved.”

Kosztyo also serves as marketing chair in Alpha Iota Gamma—a co-ed professional healthcare fraternity. Members volunteer for health initiatives in Ithaca and on campus, such as a swab drive for bone marrow donors and care packages for a local safe-needle exchange.

“Cornell, for me, has been an eye-opening experience that I really couldn’t have expected as a prospective incoming student,” Kosztyo says. “The things that I got involved in ended up surprising me. If you’re willing to do what you’re interested in—taking a leap of faith and looking at things that might be new to you—you never know what will become a passion.”

*The scholarship supports students in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.

Written by Sally Parker, a freelance writer for Alumni Affairs and Development