Mary Marshall Clark

Mary Marshall Clark

Senior Research Scientist, INCITE (Interdisciplinary Center for Innovative Theory and Empirics), Director, Columbia Center for Oral History Research.

In addition to being the Director of the Columbia University Center for Oral History Research in INCITE,  Mary Marshall is the co-founding director of Columbia’s Oral History Master of Arts (OHMA) degree program (with Peter Bearman)  created in 2008-09, the first oral history master’s program in the United States. Mary Marshall has been involved in the oral history movement since 1991, and was president of the United States Oral History Association from 2001-2002. She was the co-principal investigator (with Peter Bearman) of The September 11, 2001 Oral History Narrative and Memory Project, a longitudinal oral history project through which over 1,000 hours of interviews were taken with eye-witnesses, immigrants and others who suffered in the aftermath of the events. She also directed related projects on the aftermath of September 11th in New York City. Mary Marshall has directed projects on the Carnegie Corporation, the Atlantic Philanthropies, the Council on Foreign Relations, and the Japanese Internment on the East Coast.  She founded the Guantanamo Rule of Law Oral History Project in 2009, through which over 350 hours of oral history was collected with advocacy and constitutional lawyers, lawmakers, judges, representatives from the department of state, former prisoners and psychologists who protested the American  Psychological Association’s involvement in torture. Mary Marshall was president of the national Oral History Association in 2001-2002, and participated in the founding of the International Oral History Association.  Mary Marshall has conducted life history interviews  with lead figures in the media, human rights, African American history, South Africa history and recorded women’s achievements in journalism, politics and the arts. Mary Marshall  directs Columbia University’s biannual Summer Institute in Oral History, which in 2013 focused on indigenous oral history. She writes on issues of memory, the mass media, trauma, and ethics in oral history. Mary Marshall is an editor of After the Fall: New Yorkers Remember September 11, 2001 and the Years that Followed, published by The New Press in September, 2011. She is a co-author of the human rights publication Documenting and Interpreting Conflict through Oral History: A Working Guide, co-produced by Columbia University and TAARII, the American Institute for Research in Iraq. She is editor of the Columbia University Press Oral History Series, announced in 2019. Currently, Mary Marshall is a co-principal investigator and interviewer on the Obama Presidency Oral History Project and is the director of the Human Rights Campaign Oral History Project, tracing the history of the Human Rights Campaign in advocating for the rights of LGBTQ people in the United States.

Working Group Affiliations

On the Frontlines: Nursing Leadership in Pandemics

The Rural-Urban Interface: Gender and Poverty in Ghana and Kenya, Statistics and Stories

Lauren J. DeVaughn

Lauren J. DeVaughn

DNP Candidate in Nurse Midwifery, Columbia University

Lauren is a DNP candidate in Nurse Midwifery at Columbia University. Her passion for improving Black maternal and infant outcomes both locally and globally is driving her to the field. She is a recent graduate from Columbia’s Master Direct Entry Program in Nursing, and is the current President of Columbia’s Black Student Nurses. Lauren earned a BA in Sociology, minoring in African American Studies.

Working Group Affiliation

On the Frontline: Nursing Leadership in Pandemics, Graduate Assistant

Jennifer Dohrn

Jennifer Dohrn

Associate Professor of Nursing and Assistant Dean of Global Initiatives, Nursing at Columbia University Irving Medical Center

Jennifer Dohrn is the director of the Office of Global Initiatives and an assistant professor at Columbia Nursing where she teaches community health. She oversees collaboration with Columbia Global Centers and leads the Columbia Nursing WHO Collaborative Health Center for Advanced Practice Nursing. Dohrn has worked as a nurse educator and nurse midwife for more than two decades. She previously served as the program director of the Nurse Midwifery program at Columbia Nursing and as project director for the ICAP Nurse Capacity Building Program/Nursing Education Partnership Initiative Coordinating Center at Mailman School of Public Health. For more than a decade at ICAP, she worked to improve the infrastructure for nurses and nurse midwives in 12 Sub Saharan African countries. She continues to contribute to the ICAP program and works at a community health center in the Bronx. She received MS and DNP degrees from Columbia Nursing.

Working Group Affiliation

On the Frontlines: Nursing Leadership in Pandemics, Project Director

Lia Mary Farrell

Lia Mary Farrell

Lia attended the University of Pittsburgh and graduated with a degree in psychology. Afterward, she worked as a research coordinator in obstetric anesthesiology, looking at the effect of pain on postpartum depression. Before starting the post-bac program at Columbia, she traveled for a year, backpacking through Asia and working in a refugee camp in Greece.

Working Group Affiliation

On the Frontlines: Nursing Leadership in Pandemics

Kurt Holuba

Kurt Holuba

Premedical Post Baccalaureate Student, General Studies, Columbia University 

Kurt Holuba is currently a premed postbac student in the School of General Studies. Previously, he attended Princeton University, earning a B.A. in Psychology. After graduation, Kurt immediately enrolled in the postbac program. He is interested in the intersection between psychology and physiology as it relates to response to stress. As part of his involvement with On the Frontlines, Kurt joined the group as a volunteer in September 2019 and took over as co-coordinator in July 2020. Kurt enjoys traveling and learning about other cultures.

Working Group Affiliation

On the Frontlines: Nursing Leadership in Pandemics, Coordinator

Wilmot James

Wilmot James

Senior Research Scholar at the Institute for Social and Economic Research and Policy (ISERP), College of Arts and Sciences, Columbia University

Wilmot James is a Senior Research Scholar at the Institute for Social and Economic Research and Policy (ISERP), College of Arts and Sciences, Columbia University. An academic by background with a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin at Madison, he was previously a Member of Parliament (South Africa) and opposition spokesperson on health. Wilmot is the author and/or editor of 17 books that include the policy-oriented Vital Signs: Health Security in South Africa (2020), a set of essays on the public understanding of science titled Nature’s Gifts: Why we are the way we are (2010), a coedited book Biotechnology and Health: South Africa’s aspirations in health-related biotechnology (2007) and a co-edited collection of Nelson Mandela’s presidential speeches Nelson Mandela In His Own Words (2003), the latter having the distinction of containing forwards by Bill Clinton and Kofi Annan and given to the late Nelson Mandela on his 85th birthday. Dr. James served on the Board of Trustees of the Ford Foundation between 1996-2008. He has teaching experience from the University of the Western Cape and University of Cape Town and post-doctoral and visiting professorial experience from Yale University, Indiana University, Edinburgh University and the California Institute of Technology. At Columbia University, he teaches a (spring) course on Pandemics, Ethics and Governance at the School for Professional Studies, conducts research on children’s health security with Drs. Larry Stanberry and Philip LaRussa in the Department of Pediatrics, Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, and convenes high-level meetings on planetary and catastrophic risks. Wilmot serves as a senior consultant in biosecurity to the Washington DC based Nuclear Threat Initiative.

Working Group Affiliation

On the Frontlines: Nursing Leadership in Pandemics, Project Coordinator

Susan Michaels-Strasser

Susan Michaels-Strasser

Assistant Professor, Epidemiology, CUMC and Senior Director, Human Resources for Health Development, ICAP

Photo courtesy of ICAP @ Columbia University

Dr. Strasser is a public health professional with 30 years of experience in nursing and public health. She is the senior director for human resources for health (HRH), providing leadership, guidance and direction for the development, implementation, and assessment of programs to develop human resources for health across ICAP's portfolio of programs. This work focuses on improving acute and chronic health care as well as management and mitigation of disease outbreaks. She is the Principal Investigator for CDC and HRSA-funded programs in the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Africa, South Sudan, Sierra Leone and Zambia. She has served at senior management and training levels at various locations throughout Southern Africa. Her areas of expertise include pediatric care and support, nurse training, and use of point of care diagnostics. She is a pediatric nurse practitioner, a member of the Sigma Theta Tau Honor Society for Nurses, a member of the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care, and a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing. Dr. Strasser holds a MPH and MSc in nursing from Yale University and a PhD in public health from the University of Cape Town.

Working Group Affiliation

On the Frontlines: Nursing Leadership in Pandemics

Stephen Nicholas

Stephen Nicholas

Professor, Population and Family Health and Pediatrics, Columbia University Medical Center

Dr. Nicholas, an academic general pediatrician, is a pioneer in the care of HIV-infected children and an advocate for the medically underserved in Harlem, Washington Heights, and the Dominican Republic, where his work has primarily taken place over the past 25 years. He has created innovative community-based educational experiences for medical and public health students and resident physicians. He was director of pediatrics at Harlem Hospital Center from 2000-2006, during which time he started the Harlem Children's Zone Asthma Initiative, funded by the Robin Hood Foundation. In 1999, Dr. Nicholas founded the Columbia University International Family AIDS Program, which introduced the first AIDS treatment for pregnant women (1999) and long-term AIDS care and treatment for families (2004) in the Dominican Republic. Today, its program in the province of La Romana has lowered the rate of mother-to-child HIV transmission to a rate comparable with New York's, and its clinic is one of the largest providers of care and treatment for children and adults in the Dominican Republic. Dr. Nicholas teaches "The Elimination of Pediatrics AIDS: A Global Approach" for graduate students at Mailman. He also participates in the organization of the summer practicum program for public health students in La Romana, Dominican Republic, and serves as a faculty mentor for the Heilbrunn Department of Population and Family Health.

Working Group Affiliation

On the Frontlines: Nursing Leadership in Pandemics

Annette Mwansa Nkowane

Annette Mwansa Nkowane

Former Technical Officer of Nursing and Midwifery, World Health Organization (WHO) Headquarters, Geneva, Switzerland

Annette Mwansa Nkowane is a nurse and a midwife from Zambia. During the Ebola outbreak, Mwansa served as the Technical Officer of Nursing and Midwifery in the World Health Organization's Health Workforce Department in Geneva. Previously, she worked with other WHO departments including Mental Health and Substance Use and Gender and Women's Health. Mwansa trained as a community health nurse before completing a masters in human resource development. Prior to her position at the WHO, Mwansa worked with International Federation of the Red Cross in the Health Department. As part of Columbia University's On the Frontlines project, Mwansa conducted interviews with Ebola nurses in Sierra Leone and Liberia in August 2019.

Working Group Affiliation

On the Frontlines: Nursing Leadership in Pandemics

Jeremy Orloff

Jeremy Orloff

Premedical Post Baccalaureate Student, General Studies, Columbia University

Jeremy Orloff is a premed postbac student in the School of General Studies. Prior to his interest in medicine, he studied political science and history at Johns Hopkins University. He later worked in local New York City government relations. As a postbac, Jeremy has been involved in clinical research around obesity and related diseases. As part of his participation in On the Frontlines, Jeremy joined the group’s research trip to Sierra Leone and Liberia in August 2019.

Working Group Affiliation

On the Frontlines: Nursing Leadership in Pandemics

Ming Pei

Ming Pei

Postbac Premed, School of General Studies, Columbia University

Ming Pei is currently a pre-health student in the Pre-Medical Post Baccalaureate Program at Columbia University. Previously, she attended University of California, Berkeley earning a B.A. in Statistics and B.A. in Economics. She is interested in public health research and aims to make an impact on healthcare policy making.

Working Group Affiliation

On the Frontlines: Nursing Leadership in Pandemics

Margaret Loma Phiri

Margaret Loma Phiri

Nursing and Midwifery Advisor, Seed Global Health/ Malawi

Margaret Loma Phiri is a nurse and midwife with a Masters in Nursing Education and Leadership from Teachers College, Columbia Universityx. She also holds a post – graduate diploma in Community Health from Medical University of Southern Africa (MEDUNSA) South Africa.  She has held a number of leadership positions including: Regional Advisor for Nursing &Midwifery for WHO- African Region; HRH Advisor, WHO- Swaziland Country Office; Regional Capacity Building Coordinator for East- Central & Southern Africa Health Community (ECSA- Health Community) & ECSACON for SADC Region; Quality Assurance Director and Senior Lecturer in Education and Leadership for University of Malawi, Kamuzu College of Nursing – Malawi; and Maternal and Child Health Advisor WHO/ Sierra Leone during the Ebola Recovery and Transition period.

Ms. Phiri has worked directly and collaboratively with key stakeholders to strengthen and improve the quality of nursing and midwifery education, practice, regulation, leadership and research for improved health care outcomes. Examples of her work include the development and facilitation of regional Professional Regulatory Frameworks; Competency – Based Nursing and Midwifery Regional Prototype Curriculum models; AFRO Nursing and Midwifery Strategic Direction; ICN/ECSA Health Community Leadership for Change Program; Interprofessional Education & Collaborative Practice WHO Collaborating Centre at Kamuzu College of Nursing; and nursing and midwifery policies and plans and promoting priority interventions in improving maternal health including EmONC interventions.

Currently Ms Phiri is working for Seed Global Health/Malawi as Nursing and Midwifery Advisor. In her work, she has provided key leadership for the development of effective, responsive and contextually relevant activities in close collaboration with Seed and academic and clinical partners in Malawi. With her deep ties to Malawi stakeholders, and breadth of experience as a leader, has helped advise and support the integration of US educators (nurses, midwives and physicians) into the academic and clinical environments in her native country to ensure success.

Ms. Phiri has taken a leadership role in supporting the 2020 Year of the Nurse and Midwife activities. As a member of the QUAD, (collaboration between regulatory, policy, education, and clinical leaders), she has been leading the development of the Nightingale Challenge to ensure young nurses and midwives mentorship in Leadership Development in these four areas.

She is also currently collaborating with a team for Africa and Center for the Study of Social Difference of Columbia University, New York, NY Nurse Leaders for an initiative “On the Frontlines: Nursing Leadership in Pandemics: The Ebola experience.

Victoria Rosner

Victoria Rosner

Dean of Academic Affairs for the School of General Studies; Adjunct Associate Professor of English and Comparative Literature, Columbia University

Victoria Rosner specializes in modernist literature and culture, with particular interests in architecture and design, gender and sexuality studies, and life writing.  She is the author of Modernism and the Architecture of Private Life (Columbia UP, 2005), winner of the Modernist Studies Association Book Prize.  She is also the editor ofThe Cambridge Companion to the Bloomsbury Group (Cambridge UP, 2014) andThe Global and the Intimate: Feminism in Our Time (Columbia UP, 2012; with Geraldine Pratt).  With Nancy K. Miller, she edits the Gender and Culture book series for Columbia University Press.  She is currently completing a book on interarts modernist aesthetics, forthcoming from Oxford University Press.

Rosner completed her bachelor of arts at Columbia College and her Ph.D. in English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. Rosner previously held a tenured position in the Department of English at Texas A & M University, where she worked closely with undergraduates and spearheaded a revision of the English department’s undergraduate curriculum. She has played a number of key administrative roles in her efforts to promote the quality of education and enhance the student educational experience.

Working Group Affiliation

On the Frontlines: Nursing Leadership in Pandemics, Project Director

Maureen Saylor

Maureen Saylor

Graduate Student, School of Nursing, Columbia University

Maureen Saylor is currently a student in the Master's Direct Entry program at Columbia University School of Nursing. She also graduated in May 2019 from Mailman School of Public Health with her MPH in Population and Family Health. Previously, she served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Botswana where she primarily worked on projects related to HIV/AIDS and issues surrounding gender-based violence. She is passionate about participatory qualitative research and hopes to pursue a career in community health upon graduating from the MDE program in summer 2020.

Working Group Affiliation

On the Frontlines: Nursing Leadership in Pandemics

Mina Shah

Premedical Post Baccalaureate Student, General Studies, Columbia University

Mina Shah completed her undergraduate degree with honors in Comparative Literature and her Master’s in African Studies at Stanford University. During her time at Stanford, she was selected twice as an African Service Fellow to work at the West Africa AIDS Foundation in Accra and Takoradi, Ghana. In her studies, she focused on representational ethos of the African continent and communities across the continent, especially as representation relates to spaces of development. After leaving Stanford, Mina pursued a Princeton in Africa fellowship at Kucetekela Foundation in Lusaka, Zambia. In her time there, she supported the social and emotional development of the sponsored students with whom she works, in addition to running tertiary application and work experience programs. She also coordinated conversation between the fundraising and program arms of KF so that the organization could work on maximizing its ability to use funds in supporting its students. As one of the Project Coordinators for the On the Frontlines working group, Mina aims to continue to center conversations about power, equity, and who we listen to when learning lessons about outbreaks of disease. She is now pursuing her post-baccalaureate pre-health certificate at Columbia University and will apply to medical school in 2021, with the eventual aim of becoming a global health-focused medical doctor.

Working Group Affiliation

On the Frontlines: Nursing Leadership in Pandemics, Coordinator

Lewis Rubin Thompson

Lewis Rubin Thompson

Lewis is a student associate of On the Frontlines: Nursing Leadership in Pandemics. He completed Columbia University’s post-baccalaureate pre-medical program in May 2019, and is currently in the process of applying to medical school. Prior to beginning his pre-medical studies at Columbia, Lewis graduated with a degree in Piano Performance from Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle, Washington and worked professionally as a pianist. He also spent several semesters studying harpsichord and is a proponent of early music performance. Lewis maintains an active life as a pianist and harpsichordist.

Working Group Affiliation

On the Frontlines: Nursing Leadership in Pandemics