When Beckam Polis ’28 decided to attend Syracuse University, he saw a world of possibilities—and decided he would go after all of them. So far, so good. A Coronat Scholar and Renée Crown University Honors student in the College of Arts and Sciences, he is majoring in neuroscience, biochemistry and statistics on a premed track and charting a path for a career as a neurosurgeon. “Syracuse was just the perfect fit for me,” he says. “I’m glad I chose it because I have all the resources that I need.”
At a university large enough to offer nearly anything and small enough for a student to walk into a faculty office and ask, he found open doors.
Polis’ interest in medicine has led him to ongoing research internships with a neurosurgeon in Arizona, a neuroscientist at SUNY Upstate Medical University and a pulmonologist at Johns Hopkins Medicine in Baltimore.
Syracuse has made room for the rest of the opportunities, too. He has studied abroad in Madrid, serves as a resident advisor for the Honors Living Learning Community, works as a crew chief for Syracuse University Ambulance (SUA), serves on the University Senate and is the vice president of academic affairs in the Student Government Association, which allows him to create more access to research opportunities for students. He also plays intramural soccer and flag football at Syracuse and referees basketball and soccer games when he’s home in Pennsylvania. “I don’t want to be staring at a computer all the time,” he says. “I like to play sports and keep myself active.”
Seat at the Table
Beckam Polis ’28 works with Dr. Marie Bechler of SUNY Upstate Medical University. His interest in neuroscience led him to Bechler’s lab, where he’s a research assistant.
An active member of Syracuse University Ambulance, Polis earned his certification as an emergency medical technician and currently serves as a crew chief. “It’s been a great experience,” he says.
For Polis, medical research is a driving force that sparks his curiosity about the “complexities of medicine.” Looking to supplement his neuroscience classroom learning with hands-on lab experiments, he began working in his second semester as a research assistant in the lab of Upstate neuroscientist and cell biologist Dr. Marie Bechler, who studies the formation of myelin sheaths, protective membranes that wrap around nerve cells and support a healthy nervous system. “We look at the pathway of forming myelin, and when we inhibit parts of the pathway, we see what the downstream effects are,” he says.
In summer 2025, Polis expanded his research activity through a Syracuse connection. An SUA mentor and friend who’s now a SUNY Upstate medical student connected him with a specialist in endovascular neurosurgery. Through a hybrid internship, he’s worked on research papers, abstracts and posters for conference presentations. He recently completed a paper reporting on the clinical outcomes of a new stent used to treat aneurysms, examining whether the aneurysms reoccurred or were occluded, sealing off the aneurysm from blood flow with the stent redirecting the flow through the healthy artery. “Our results show about 80% of patients achieved complete occlusion—which is really good for aneurysm treatments,” he says. “It’s been really fascinating.”
Designing His Own Study
Polis has an insatiable curiosity about medical research. Through a program with Johns Hopkins Medicine, he studied sarcoidosis and created a research project examining the co-infection of sarcoidosis and HIV.
Since last summer Polis has also immersed himself in ongoing research through the Student Hospitalist Academic Research Program at Johns Hopkins Medicine. Along with shadowing a variety of specialists, he has worked with Dr. Michelle Sharp, whose research team studies sarcoidosis, a rare inflammatory disease that triggers immune cell growth in many parts of the body. “This was something I didn’t know anything about, and I was super intrigued by it,” he says.
I’m inspired to help other students with their journeys. I want them to start early—figure out what they like, what they don’t like—so that Syracuse is successful for everyone who comes here.
Beckam Polis ’28
Polis has contributed to a longitudinal study that includes building a patient registry with clinical data and a focus on their adherence to taking their prescribed medications. Then he asked for more. This past year, with Sharp’s guidance, he also designed his own research study from scratch, examining the co-infection of sarcoidosis and HIV, which is characterized by immune dysregulation. From researching the issue and creating a proposal approved by Johns Hopkins’ Institutional Review Board to identifying patients and examining lab results, treatments and hospitalizations, Polis completed his analyses this summer and wrote a paper that he hopes to publish. “Basically, the overarching theme is that since we have such an unusual population, we need to look at these patients in a different way because there’s competing effects,” he says, advocating for further studies. “Sarcoidosis enhances our immune system—there’s more inflammation and the immune system’s more overactive, whereas in HIV, the immune system is brought down.”
Teaching Others to Ask
At the Syracuse Summit Showcase in September, Polis discusses a poster presentation of the research he does with Dr. Bechler at Upstate.
Polis continues his research efforts and looks forward to attending conferences and giving presentations. He appreciates the support he’s received from faculty and staff and enjoys mentoring other students, drawing on his experiences to guide them. His advice to peers is the same approach that has worked for him: get to know faculty, ask for the internship, explore your interests and don’t wait for permission.
“I’m inspired to help other students with their journeys,” Polis says. “I want them to start early—figure out what they like, what they don’t like—so that Syracuse is successful for everyone who comes here.”
