On any given day, junior Mackenzie Russell might be dissecting a mouse brain in UD’s Science Center or defending a striker on the soccer field. The center back from Cleveland is majoring in biology and neuroscience with a minor in management, an active leader in UD’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and an undergraduate researcher with her sights set on medical school. She credits the community at University of Dayton for making all of it possible.
“Everyone who goes to UD just loves it,” Russell said. “Everyone is just so passionate about Dayton.”
A Scientist Takes Shape
Russell’s path into research began with a chance encounter. When a doctoral student came to speak to her first-year class, Russell saw an opening, the same instinct she uses as a center back.
“I was like, do you need anybody else to come work in your lab?” she said. “And he was like, oh yeah, of course, come whenever.”
It turned out her academic advisor, Aaron Sathyanesan, ran the lab. She has been there ever since. 
Russell is now completing funded research via the dean’s summer fellowship through UD’s College of Arts and Sciences, working in Sathyanesan’s lab on a project titled "Neural Connections Across Disease and Aging: Cancer, the Cerebellum, Down Syndrome, and Emerging Cancer Neuroscience." The work focuses on the cerebellum, the part of the brain that governs motor control, coordination and balance, skills Russell definitely uses on the soccer field.
Beyond the fellowship, Russell is developing her independent research project, building on observations she made while conducting surgeries and tissue analysis in Sathyanesan’s lab. Since joining the lab, she has assisted on several doctoral students’ and other undergraduate projects, learning the procedures and experiments that drive the lab’s cerebellum research.
Now she has “graduated” from being a trainee, she serves as a mentor for new lab students — while also pursuing her work. UD’s Stander Symposium, an annual celebration of undergraduate research, is something she hopes to be a part of.
A Support System Like No Other
Russell grew up playing three sports and has had no shortage of coaches and teachers in her life. But she says the support she has found at UD is different.
“At Dayton, I’ve had a support system like no other,” Russell said. “Everyone wants to know you and wants to see you succeed. I’ve learned so much about myself and how I learn best, both on the field and in the classroom.”
She points to the size of campus as part of what makes that possible, with most of her classes concentrated in UD's Science Center and relationships built with faculty during multiple semesters.
“Ever since I committed, I’ve felt completely supported,” she said.
More Than a Student-Athlete
Off the field and out of the lab, Russell is one of the more active student-athletes in UD’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. This year she is co-chair of community service on UD’s committee and UD’s representative to the Atlantic 10 Conference Student-Athlete Advisory Committee where she will serve as incoming vice president.
A Flyer Through and Through
Heading into her junior year, Russell is balancing preseason, a research fellowship, the start of her business coursework and student-athlete advisory committee leadership. She says UD is shaping who she is becoming.
“I’m definitely taking away a lot from my experience at Dayton,” Russell said. “I’m so glad I chose to go here.”
Whether she’s researching in the lab or scouting the next opponent, Russell brings the same curiosity to both.