Lianna Marks
Doctoral Student, Global Health, Columbia University Medical Center
Lianna Marks is a Pediatric Hematology and Oncology Fellow at the Children's Hospital of New York and Columbia University Medical Center. She is a graduate of Columbia College and the Indiana University School of Medicine and completed her pediatric residency at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Her interest in Global Health has lead her to clinical work in Kenya, Guatemala, Costa Rica, and the Dominican Republic. Her research investigates using natural killer cell immunotherapy in the treatment of cancer.
Lianna Marks
Fellow, Pediatric Hematology and Oncology, Children's Hospital of New York and Columbia University Medical Center
Lianna Marks is a Pediatric Hematology and Oncology Fellow at the Children's Hospital of New York and Columbia University Medical Center. She is a graduate of Columbia College and the Indiana University School of Medicine and completed her pediatric residency at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Her interest in Global Health has lead her to clinical work in Kenya, Guatemala, Costa Rica, and the Dominican Republic. Her research investigates using natural killer cell immunotherapy in the treatment of cancer. She is also interested in how genetic sequencing can be used to identify targeted therapies and predict risk of relapse in patients with pediatric leukemia.
Working Group Affiliation
Liza McIntosh
PhD Student, English and Comparative Literature, Columbia University
Liza McIntosh is a PhD student in the department of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia. She is broadly interested in the culture and texts of the Early Modern period, with a focus on questions of gender, sexuality, and nature. She received her BA from Johns Hopkins University in English and Art History.
Liza McIntosh
Liza McIntosh is a PhD student in the department of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia. She is broadly interested in the culture and texts of the Early Modern period, with a focus on questions of gender, sexuality, and nature. She received her BA from Johns Hopkins University in English and Art History.
Working Group Affiliations
K. Melodi McSweeney
Graduate Student, Genetics and Development, Columbia University
K. Melodi McSweeney is a fourth year PhD candidate in Genetics whose research focuses on modelling the effect of mutations that cause neurological disorders. Melodi is originally from Belize City, Belize and moved to Chicago, IL in 2008 to finish her Bachelor’s Degree in Molecular Biology at Loyola University Chicago. Melodi went on to complete a Post-Baccalaureate Research Education Program at the University of Michigan in the Human Genetics department where she studied atypical progeria and DNA damage due to hydroxyurea, a treatment for sickle cell anemia.
K. Melodi McSweeney
Graduate Student, Genetics and Development, Columbia University
K. Melodi McSweeney is a fourth year PhD candidate in Genetics whose research focuses on modelling the effect of mutations that cause neurological disorders. Melodi is originally from Belize City, Belize and moved to Chicago, IL in 2008 to finish her Bachelor’s Degree in Molecular Biology at Loyola University Chicago. Melodi went on to complete a Post-Baccalaureate Research Education Program at the University of Michigan in the Human Genetics department where she studied atypical progeria and DNA damage due to hydroxyurea, a treatment for sickle cell anemia. Melodi started her PhD in 2012 through the University Program in Genetics and Genomics at Duke University and then joined Dr. David Goldstein’s lab in 2013. Melodi relocated to Columbia University with Dr. Goldstein’s group in 2015 and is currently continuing her PhD research on the effect of microRNA manipulation on neuronal activity and the functional consequences of mutations in the ATP1A3 gene.
Working Group Affiliation
Ariel Merkel
Sociology, The New School for Social Research
Ariel Merkel is a Sociology PhD candidate at the New School for Social Research, with a focus on disability studies. She earned her MA at NSSR in May 2011, and holds a BA (cum laude) in Cultural Anthropology from Wells College, a small women’s college in the Finger Lakes region of New York State. Upon graduation in 2005, she was awarded the Carter A. Woods Prize for her thesis, which analyzed the strategies of Kanaka Maoli (indigenous Hawaiian) activists involved in the Cultural Revitalization Movement.
Ariel Merkel
Sociology, The New School for Social Research
Ariel Merkel is a Sociology PhD candidate at the New School for Social Research, with a focus on disability studies. She earned her MA at NSSR in May 2011, and holds a BA (cum laude) in Cultural Anthropology from Wells College, a small women’s college in the Finger Lakes region of New York State. Upon graduation in 2005, she was awarded the Carter A. Woods Prize for her thesis, which analyzed the strategies of Kanaka Maoli (indigenous Hawaiian) activists involved in the Cultural Revitalization Movement. Ariel supplemented this research with a six-week ethnographic study in O’hau and the Big Island where she conducted interviews with “houseless” Kanaka Maoli, who reside in beach-tents as a result of the land-struggle throughout the islands. Prior to returning to graduate school, Ariel worked for People Inc., a non-profit agency that serves the developmentally disabled, where she spent four years administrating and managing residential facilities (IRA and SIRA) and served as a Medicaid Service Coordinator (MSC) for the northern region of Buffalo, NY. She was also involved in Deaf Adult Services during her time in Buffalo, and enrolled in several American Sign Language courses and is able to have basic conversations in ASL. Her current research stems from her previous nonprofit work with people with disabilities, specifically feminist disability theory. She is fascinated by how disability, a malleable identity which shifts spatially and temporarily and yet is so deeply rooted to the body and literally embedded in bone, intersects with other identities that are typically conceptualized as socially constructed performances.
Working Group Affiliation
John Michalczyk
Sociology, The New School for Social Research
John Michalczyk is a doctoral student in Sociology at the New School for Social Research, currently working on a project exploring disability in virtual worlds. His other interests include social interaction, ethnography, and identity formation. John combines his academic research in Sociology on disabilities, hidden and visible, with his interest in documentary filmmaking.
John Michalczyk
Sociology, The New School for Social Research
John Michalczyk is a doctoral student in Sociology at the New School for Social Research, currently working on a project exploring disability in virtual worlds. His other interests include social interaction, ethnography, and identity formation. John combines his academic research in Sociology on disabilities, hidden and visible, with his interest in documentary filmmaking. His work includes a short documentary on Keith Jones, a musician and disabilities advocate (Keith Jones: Un-Rapping Disability) and a nearly completed documentary on the artist, Edwina Sandys (Recreating Life in Art). His current film project focuses on music and disabilities.
Sean Murray
Musicology, CUNY Graduate Center
Sean Murray is a doctoral student in musicology at the CUNY Graduate Center. He has presented numerous conference papers on race and gender in American music, and published on the relationship between the nineteenth century piano industry and the African ivory and slave trades. His dissertation examines the intersection of race and disability in American music. Sean was the recipient of a graduate student fellowship at the National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian Institution.
Sean Murray
Musicology, CUNY Graduate Center
Sean Murray is a doctoral student in musicology at the CUNY Graduate Center. He has presented numerous conference papers on race and gender in American music, and published on the relationship between the nineteenth century piano industry and the African ivory and slave trades. His dissertation examines the intersection of race and disability in American music. Sean was the recipient of a graduate student fellowship at the National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian Institution.
Akemi Nishida
Doctoral Student, Social Personality Psychology, CUNY
Akemi Nishida is a doctoral student in the social personality psychology PhD program and an adjunct lecturer in Psychology and Disability Studies at City University of New York. Using frameworks of social justice studies and critical disability studies, her work focuses on the politicization of disabled people and community building in relation to intersecting oppression and privilege. She is also a performer in a project ‘GIMP’ by Heidi Latsky Dance and a starting member of DISLABELEDtv, a media organization by disabled youth/young adults.
Akemi Nishida
Social Personality Psychology, CUNY
Akemi Nishida is a doctoral student in the social personality psychology PhD program and an adjunct lecturer in Psychology and Disability Studies at City University of New York. Using frameworks of social justice studies and critical disability studies, her work focuses on the politicization of disabled people and community building in relation to intersecting oppression and privilege. She is also a performer in a project ‘GIMP’ by Heidi Latsky Dance and a starting member of DISLABELEDtv, a media organization by disabled youth/young adults. Through her activism-oriented scholarship and art, she works toward disability justice and larger social justice.
Isin Önol
Curator, Oral History and Art, Elgiz Museum of Contemporary Art Istanbul
Işın Önol is a curator and writer based in New York. She has been working as an independent curator (predominantly in the USA, Austria and Turkey) since 2009. Before that, she led the Elgiz Museum of Contemporary Art Istanbul as its director and curator. (2006-2009). Her curatorial research focuses on interconnecting archival information with oral histories to create platforms for collective memory through collaborative art practices
Işın Önol
Curator, Educator, and Writer - New York, NY
Işın Önol is a curator and writer based in New York. She has been working as an independent curator (predominantly in the USA, Austria and Turkey) since 2009. Before that, she led the Elgiz Museum of Contemporary Art Istanbul as its director and curator. (2006-2009). Her curatorial research focuses on interconnecting archival information with oral histories to create platforms for collective memory through collaborative art practices. She is a research scholar at the Center for the Study of Social Difference, Columbia University, and a lecturer at Montclair State University, Department of Art & Design. Önol co-founded and directs the Nesin Art Village, an independent art school in Turkey. Her recent exhibitions include Thinking Food Futures (New York), Women Mobilizing Memory (Istanbul, Vienna, New York, Madrid), and When Home Won’t Let You Stay (Vienna). She curated the International Sinop Biennial in 2012 and 2014. She has produced more than 50 exhibitions internationally, and published on the intersection of social justice and art. Önol holds an MFA from Sabanci University, Istanbul, a MAS from Zürich University of the Arts, and is a PhD candidate at the University of Applied Arts, Vienna. Isin Önol has been elected to the Board of Directors of Roberto Cimetta Fund for the period 2018-2021 and 2021-2024. https://isinonol.com/
Working Group Affiliation
Zip Code Memory Project: Practices of Justice and Repair, Social Engagement Project
Syed Raza
Doctoral Student, Public Health, Columbia University
Syed Raza is a master of public health candidate in the department of Sociomedical Sciences at Columbia University where he is also completing a certificate in the Social Determinants of Health. His work focuses on the political economy, sociocultural aspects, and research methodologies of public health. His research interests include historical sociology, geopolitics, science and technology studies, social epidemiology, world-ecology analysis, and critical animal studies.
Syed Raza
Graduate Student, Sociomedical Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University
Syed Raza is a master of public health candidate in the department of Sociomedical Sciences at Columbia University where he is also completing a certificate in the Social Determinants of Health. His work focuses on the political economy, sociocultural aspects, and research methodologies of public health. His research interests include historical sociology, geopolitics, science and technology studies, social epidemiology, world-ecology analysis, and critical animal studies. For his master's thesis, he will examine the links between population health, precision medicine, health paradigms, health disparities, and political economy.
Working Group Affiliation
Leticia Robles
Doctoral Student, Performance Studies, New York University
Leticia Robles-Moreno is a PhD student at New York University’s Department of Performance Studies. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Humanities with emphasis in Linguistics and Literature from the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú. She also holds a Master’s degree in Latin American Literature from the University of Colorado at Boulder, and has taught Spanish, Latin American culture, and Writing classes in several college levels.
Leticia Robles
Performance Studies, NYU
Leticia Robles-Moreno is a PhD student at New York University’s Department of Performance Studies.. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Humanities with emphasis in Linguistics and Literature from the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú. She also holds a Master’s degree in Latin American Literature from the University of Colorado at Boulder, and has taught Spanish, Latin American culture, and Writing classes in several college levels. In addition to her academic background, Leticia studied Theater Arts in the Club de Teatro de Lima, and has participated in various workshops on improvisational theater, storytelling, and Theater of the Oppressed techniques. Her MA thesis, “Staging Real Time: Absent Presences in Forging/Inhabiting Fragmented Bridges through Video Chat Connections,” explored the ways in which new technologies might be used to generate alternative political subjects, communities, and spaces of belonging. She has published articles in Latin American Theatre Review and Contemporary Theatre Review. Her doctoral research is focused on the role of theater groups of "creación colectiva" in recent Latin American socio-political contexts -- particularly in Peru (Grupo Cultural Yuyachkani), Colombia (Teatro La Candelaria), and Ecuador (Teatro Malayerba) -- exploring their networked practices as strategies of survival, from a combined Performance Studies and Affect Studies perspective. She is always lost in translation.
Working Group Affiliation