Frontiers of Inquiry
Charting new intellectual territories across disciplines
Volume 1, Issue 2 — December 2025
Published December 2025
ISSN: 3069-8200
The Princeton Journal of Interdisciplinary Research (PJIR) presents its second issue, Frontiers of Inquiry, concluding the journal’s inaugural publishing year.
This issue builds on the momentum of Voices in Convergence by exploring the expanding boundaries of interdisciplinary thought. Through scientific innovation, social exploration, and theoretical reflection, Frontiers of Inquiry represents the next chapter in PJIR’s mission to amplify the voices of undergraduate and early-career researchers worldwide.
In recognition of outstanding scholarly contributions, Frontiers of Inquiry awards two Best Paper Awards in this issue. The first Best Paper Award is presented to "Burning with Purpose: Rethinking Power and Justice in Prescribed Burning" by Somtochukwu Arthur Attama of Pennsylvania State University, and the second Best Paper Award is presented to "The Paradox of Free Higher Education:
Examining the Impacts of No-Cost College Policy" by Joel Paulin Mendoza of Harvard Graduate School of Education. These papers exemplify intellectual rigor, originality, and the journal’s commitment to interdisciplinary research.
Editor’s Note
In a world where information moves quickly and knowledge is increasingly specialized, the work of research often begins with learning to look closely. We are trained to refine our focus, to define narrower and narrower questions, to master the language and methods of a specific field. This specialization has brought extraordinary progress. It allows scientists to map genetic pathways with precision, historians to reconstruct overlooked narratives, and philosophers to sharpen conceptual tools with clarity and depth. The ability to delve deeply is, without question, one of the great strengths of modern scholarship.
Yet there is also another truth: when the scope of research becomes too narrow, we risk losing sight of the broader landscape of inquiry. We may become experts in isolated systems of thought, fluent only in the conversations that circulate within a single discipline. But knowledge does not naturally exist in isolation. The world itself is interconnected—its questions overlap, its challenges rarely fall neatly into disciplinary categories. Climate change is not simply a scientific problem; mental health is not only a psychological one; technological advancement is not just an engineering achievement. Each demands ethical, cultural, historical, and humanistic reflection.
To “push the boundary” of research, then, is not to cast aside the value of specialization. Rather, it is to recognize that expertise becomes more powerful when it is placed in conversation with other forms of expertise. Interdisciplinary work invites us to step outside the familiar frameworks of our fields and to encounter different ways of thinking.
This requires humility and curiosity. It requires the patience to listen to concepts expressed in unfamiliar vocabulary, the willingness to approach a problem from an angle that may feel unconventional, and the openness to let our assumptions be unsettled. It is in these moments that new ideas first take shape—emerging not from the comfort of certainty, but from the meeting point of perspectives, methods, and questions.
As a research community, we benefit most when we ask not only “What do I know?” but also “What can I learn from others?” The conversations that arise from such questions are what enable scholarship to evolve—to move beyond repetition and toward discovery.
As a journal committed to fostering thoughtful, rigorous, and imaginative inquiry, we hope to serve as a space where such conversations can unfold. We welcome contributions that cross disciplinary thresholds, challenge inherited categories, and illuminate new ways of seeing.
PJIR Editorial Team
Articles in This Issue
Cutting Out the Middleman in American Healthcare: Comparative Insights into PBM-Free
Cancer Drug Pricing
Authors: Aidan A. Le¹ and Nureldin Mohamed²
Affiliations: ¹University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Los Angeles, CA, USA, ²Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA
Keywords: cancer drug affordability, pharmacy benefit managers, direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical models, drug pricing disparities, Cost Plus Drug Company
Abstract: Cancer drug affordability remains a pressing global health challenge, often exacerbated by monopolistic control and pharmaceutical supply chains. In the United States, where pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) negotiate drug prices, final costs remain disproportionately high...
Identification of Genetic Biomarkers for Colorectal Cancer Risk in Inflammatory Bowel Disease in Patients
Authors: Arav Shelat¹, Francesca Perrone, Ph.D.²
Affiliations: ¹Jericho High School, Jericho, New York, USA
²Wellcome Sanger Institute, Wellcome Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridge, UK
Keywords: IBD, colorectal cancer, biomarkers, CRISPR
Abstract: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic condition associated with an increased risk of colorectal cancer (CRC), driven by inflammation-induced genetic mutations. This study identifies genetic biomarkers linking IBD to CRC and explores their functional roles in cancer progression...
Contestations and Ambivalence:
Religion, Nationalism, and the Politics of
Belonging in Nigeria
Author: David Idowu
Affiliation: Harvard Divinity School, Harvard University.
Keywords: nationalism, religion, violence, belonging, contestations
Abstract: The nationalist agitations that characterize the modern Nigerian state, many would argue are far from the anti-colonial struggle that resulted in the country’s independence from European colonizers. The state of “nationalisms” in Nigeria currently reflects the deep polarization along religious, ethnic and regional lines and has often been accompanied with violence...
A Review of Stearoyl Coenzyme A Desaturase in
Parkinson’s Disease: Linking Lipid Metabolism
to α-Synuclein Aggregation
Author: Hussain Haider
Affiliation: Cambridge Centre for International Research (CCIR)
Keywords: Parkinson’s disease, α-synuclein aggregation, stearoyl-CoA desaturase, lipid metabolism, neurodegeneration, monounsaturated fatty acids, saturated fatty acids
Abstract: Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder characterized by the loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra and the accumulation of misfolded α-synuclein (αS), forming Lewy bodies. Growing evidence suggests that lipid composition plays an important role in αS aggregation...
Citation for This Issue
Princeton Journal of Interdisciplinary Research. (2025). Volume 1, Issue 2 — Frontiers of Inquiry. PJIR.
https://www.princeton-press.com/pjir/issues/vol-1-issue-2
Open Access Statement
This journal is fully open access. All articles are freely available to read, download, and share without subscription or access barriers. We encourage scholars to cite and engage with the research published here, as such scholarly exchange plays an important role in supporting emerging and early-career researchers and advancing ongoing academic conversations.