ortheast Regional Honors Council
2026 Conference Speakers
2026 Keynote Speaker
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Dr. Carolyn M. Macica
MS, PhD is the Director of Research Operations and Development at Connecticut Children’s Research Institute (CCRI). She also serves as Co-Director for the Scientific Center for Rare Disease at CCRI.
Dr. Macica completed her doctoral training in pharmacology at New York Medical College, followed by post-doctoral fellowships in pharmacology/neuroscience and endocrinology at Yale University School of Medicine. Dr. Macica is a Professor at the University of Connecticut and maintains joint appointments at the Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine and Yale University School of Medicine.
In addition to her commitment to medical education, Dr. Macica is a funded research scientist in basic, clinical, and translational research in rare metabolic disorders. She has published many peer-reviewed journal articles in top-ranked journals and authored several textbook chapters in bone biology and disease. She has presented her research in regional, national, and international meetings and served on professional advisory committees. She also serves as a scientific advisor, educator, and advocate for patients and families who are impacted by rare diseases. Notably, Dr. Macica chairs and executes an annual CME-accredited Rare Disease Day Symposium. She maintains a strong commitment to the creation and execution of STEM and mentoring programs for underrepresented youth in Connecticut and has been recognized for work in this domain.
2026 City as Text Speaker
Colin Caplan
Colin M. Caplan is an entrepreneur, architect, author, historian, educator and tour operator running Taste of New Haven food tours and events, Elm City Party Bike and Paddle Pub cruises, as well as tour operations in Florida. He is author of six books on New Haven history including Pizza in New Haven. He is a National Historic Register consultant and was a visiting professor at Wesleyan University.
Caplan's work as a film and media producer includes the documentaries Pizza, a Love Story (2019) and Slice of America (2024). He spearheaded declaring New Haven the Pizza Capital of the United States, making Connecticut The Pizza State, and creating the Connecticut Pizza License Plate. Caplan holds the Guinness World Records title for Largest Pizza Party and was featured on 60 Minutes.
Caplan continues to help build and raise his native Elm City through teaching students, researching & writing history and providing opportunities to communities, businesses and residents through grants and events.
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Activist Talk
Andy Sarkany
Endre (Andy) Sarkany was born in Budapest, Hungary on October 31, 1936. The building he lived in was located inside the Budapest ghetto which is where he remained during the Holocaust. The building housed a nursery/kindergarten on the ground floor. The school was affiliated with the Jewish Agency of Hungary and was led by Mr. Eugene Polnay. The building also housed on the top floor a dance, acrobat and ballet studio. These facts were significant in Endre’s survival and that of at least 150 orphaned children. Endre’s father was taken to Mauthausen concentration camp in the spring of 1944, fortunately he did survive. After WWII, Hungary became a communist nation. Although Endre graduated high school in 1955, he was not accepted to university because he was deemed an undesirable element of society. This label was given to anyone who owned a business before the communists took over the country.
Endre was fortunate to escape Hungary after the October 1956 uprising and was able to immigrate to the United States. He received his bachelor’s degree from Tusculum College in Tennessee and his Master of Science degree in Applied Mathematics and Computer Science from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. Endre worked for both the McDonald Douglas Corporation and the IBM Corporation.
Over the past 10 years, Endre has been speaking to students about his personal experiences during the Holocaust, living under the brutality of the Soviet regime in Hungary, and finding a home in the United States.
Mr. Sarkany is married, has a daughter and son, and five grandchildren.