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Albert Boaitey

Lecturer in Global Agri-food Supply Chains, Newcastle University
I am food and agricultural economist with an interest in food choice, carbon and animal welfare.

I studied agriculture (agricultural economics major) at the University of Ghana in Accra. I moved to Saskatoon, Canada to study for an Msc degree at the University of Saskatchewan before joining the PhD program at the Department of Resource Economics and Environmental Sociology (REES), University of Alberta (U of A), in Edmonton. While at the U of A, I was an inaugural Teaching Fellow at the Peter Lougheed Leadership College.

From Alberta, I moved down south to the University of Wisconsin-River Falls as Assistant Professor in 2017. In 2023, I joined the Applied Social Science Group at the Centre Of Rural Economy, Newcastle University, England as Lecturer (US- assistant professor rank) in global agri-food supply chains. My research focuses on understanding stakeholder incentives in the uptake of sustainable innovations in food supply chains, consumer decision-making pertaining to ethical food attributes and the design of emerging carbon offset schemes.

I enjoy teaching and learning, and have designed and taught courses in leadership, food marketing, agribusiness management, trade and supply chains, and natural resource economics.

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Albert HiuKa Fok

Postdoctoral Fellow in Neuroscience, McGill University
I obtained my bachelor degree of biomedical sciences in the University of Hong Kong in 2016. I started my master right away and fast-tracked to obtain my PhD in neuroscience in 2021, during which I got involved in 6 publications, in 2 of which I am the first-listed author. I received extensive training in the cutting-edge theory about neurodevelopment, cognition, memory formation and neurological diseases. From 2022 until now, I am a postdoctoral fellow at McGill University, where I continue contributing to solving the questions regarding the nervous system in its health and also diseases. I have had profound experience in experimental neuroscience, especially with transgenic rodent models and non-human primate models, as shown in my previous publications. My research covers the finest scale of molecular biology to the holistic scale such as animal behaviours. I have been successful in discovering mechanisms which control memory formation in animals with state-of-the-art in vivo imaging techniques and will continue contributing to understanding the code our brain utilises to process complex information in our everyday reality.

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Albert Leung

Professor and Head of School of Dentistry, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences
Professor Leung is Professor of Dentistry and foundation Head of the School of Dentistry at RCSI, University of Medicine and Health Sciences.

Professor Leung leads the School of Dentistry in advancing plans to launch a Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) programme in 2025, to become the first community-based undergraduate dentistry degree in Ireland.

Professor Leung served as Dean of the Faculty of Dentistry RCSI between 2020-2023, and was RCSI Vice Chancellor's Strategic Advisor in Dentistry between 2023-2024. He was Professor of Dental Education, Head of Continuing Professional Development and Programme Director of the Restorative Dental Practice Masters at University College London (UCL) Eastman Dental Institute, having successfully supervised over 100 Masters' Dissertations.

Professor Leung qualified in Dentistry (BDS) from Dundee University. He holds an MA from King’s College London, an LLM from Cardiff University, and a PhD from Portsmouth University. He has also gained Fellowship in General Dental Surgery from RCSI; Fellowships in Dental Surgery from RCS England and RCPS Glasgow; Fellowship of the College of General Dentistry, and Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy.

He has achieved international distinction including receipt of the Association for Dental Education (ADEE) Excellence in Dental Education Mature Career Award – one of the highest international accolades in dental education.

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Albert Malukisa Nkuku

Associate researcher, University of Antwerp
I am Dean of the Faculty of Political Science at the Catholic University of Congo and an Associate Researcher at the University of Antwerp. My research focuses on urban governance, police sector reform and informal economy in the Democratic Republic of Congo. My research can be accessed here: https://repository.uantwerpen.be/desktop/irua

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Albert D. Marshall

Elder and research partner

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Albert Fox Cahn

Practitioner-in-Residence, Information Law Institute, New York University
Albert Fox Cahn is the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project’s (S.T.O.P.’s) founder and executive director. He is also a Practitioner-in-Residence at N.Y.U Law School’s Information Law Institute and a fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Carr Center For Human Rights Policy, Yale Law School’s Information Society Project, Ashoka, and TED.

As a lawyer, technologist, and activist, Albert has become a leading voice on how to govern and build the technologies of the future. He started S.T.O.P. with the belief that local surveillance is an unprecedented threat to public safety, equity, and democracy.

Albert is a frequent commentator, with more than 100 articles in the New York Times, Boston Globe, Guardian, WIRED, Slate, NBC Think, Newsweek, and other publications. His TED Talk has been viewed hundreds of thousands of times. He frequently lectures at leading universities and speaks at leading technology governance forums. Albert previously served as an associate at Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP, where he advised Fortune 50 companies on technology policy, antitrust law, and consumer privacy.

Albert also serves on the New York Immigration Coalition’s Immigrant Leaders Council, IEEE Standards Association P3119 AI Procurement Working Group, and is an editorial board member for the Anthem Ethics of Personal Data Collection. He was also a founding member of the the New York Immigrant Freedom Fund’s Advisory Council. Albert received his J.D., cum laude, from Harvard Law School (where he was an editor of the Harvard Law & Policy Review), and his B.A. in Politics and Philosophy from Brandeis University.

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Albert Van Wijngaarden

PhD Candidate, Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge
I am a PhD candidate at the Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge. My research focusses on the social and ethical questions that arise alongside attempts to study ideas to artificially intervene in elements of the climate system in the Polar regions: Who is included such projects, and who isn't? What kind of questions are being asked, and how are uncertainties and risks treated? And how do these ideas relate to each other, and to more conventional adaptation or mitigation schemes?

My current academic journey officially takes place within the bounds of a Geography department, but I have a background that spans various social sciences and humanities disciplines, and have also made some forays into the earth sciences.

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Alberta SJ van der Watt

Researcher, Stellenbosch University
I am an interdisciplinary researcher. While my main area of interest is posttraumatic stress symptoms and interpersonal relationships, I have also conducted research on mood and anxiety disorders (longitudinal data), traditional and faith healers, adolescents’ experiences of a posttraumatic stress disorder intervention, and HIV and neurocognition (longitudinal data). I have conducted research using both quantitative and qualitative methods, including functional magnetic resonance imaging. I am currently working on research projects focusing on continuous traumatic stress among adolescent-parent dyads; neurocognition trajectories in women with compared to women without HIV and the role trauma plays in this trajectory; and the moderating role of attachment in breakup distress among emerging adults following a romantic relationship dissolution.
I recently obtained my PhD in psychiatry from Stellenbosch University. However, my background is in psychology, where I obtained a master's in psychology by thesis (focusing on women's experience of being single). My undergraduate degree was BComm Psychology (also from Stellenbosch University). I also have a 3-year diploma in fashion design.

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Alberto Domínguez

Investigador en Astrofísica, Universidad Complutense de Madrid

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Alberto Mirisola

Associate Professor of Social Psychology, University of Palermo
Alberto Mirisola is an Associate Professor of Social Psychology at the University of Palermo. His current research focuses on political ideologies and worldviews as external sources of compensatory control, social cognition, and the social and psychological consequences of criminal organizations’ influence.

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Alberto Molina Pérez

Alberto Molina Pérez es investigador postdoctoral en el Instituto de Estudios Sociales Avanzados (IESA-CSIC). Anteriormente, fue investigador "Juan de la Cierva Formación" en la Universidad de Granada. Se doctoró en 2017 en Filosofía por la Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. Realizó estancias de investigación en las universidades de Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (Francia) y de Lausanne (Suiza). Sus principales áreas de investigación son los modelos de consentimiento para la donación de órganos cadavéricos y los criterios de determinación de la muerte. En el primer caso, se trata de entender cómo funcionan los modelos de consentimiento tanto en la ley como en la práctica, especialmente cuando se tienen en cuenta los deseos de los familiares, y de explorar el conocimiento y las actitudes del público hacia dichos modelos. En el segundo caso, se trata de analizar los criterios médicos y legales de determinación de la muerte desde una perspectiva epistemológica y, en particular, de analizar el uso del concepto de función en dichos criterios.

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Alberto Pirrera

Professor of Nonlinear Structural Mechanics, University of Bristol
Alberto Pirrera is an Associate Professor of Nonlinear Structural Mechanics at the Department of Aerospace Engineering of the University of Bristol, where he has been a faculty member since 2013, holding an EPSRC Early Career Research Fellowship (2015-2020), and where he completed his PhD in 2011. Before that, Alberto obtained his Master’s in Aerospace Engineering from Università degli Studi di Palermo, in Italy. His academic home is the Bristol Composites Institute (ACCIS), where he is a co-director of the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Composites Science, Engineering and Manufacturing. A modeller and a theoretician specialising in engineering science, Alberto’s research interests lie in the area of structural analysis, design and optimisation. In recent years, he has focused on well-behaved nonlinear structures, on morphing, adaptive and shape changing devices and on wind turbine blades.

Research Interests & Expertise:
• Structural & Solid Mechanics,
• Nonlinear Mechanics,
• Structural Stability,
• Computational Mechanics,
• Morphing and Adaptive Structures,
• Composite Structures,
• Wind Turbine Blade Structures.

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Alberto Prati

Assistant professor, UCL
Alberto Prati is an assistant professor in economics at the University College London, where he teaches economic psychology. He also serves as a research fellow at the University of Oxford and as an associate researcher at the London School of Economics.

He works on interdisciplinary issues related to improving wellbeing measurement, understanding how people form opinions, and promoting sustainability.

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Alberto Fijo Cortés

Profesor de Narrativa audiovisual e Historia del Cine, Universidad Villanueva
Doctor en Artes Visuales. Profesor de Narrativa Audiovisual e Historia del Cine en los grados de Comunicación y Publicidad de la Universidad Villanueva.

Escritor cinematográfico. Dirige desde su fundación en 1998, FILA SIETE, revista de crítica de cine, series y cultura audiovisual y su portal www.filasiete.com

Autor o coautor de veinte libros sobre cine. Entre ellos: «El Western renacido del siglo XXI» (2023), “El cine agraciado de Terrence Malick” (2021), el estudio más completo y actualizado sobre el director norteamericano y “A 120. Un viaje por las grandes películas estrenadas entre 1900 y 2020” (2020). Coordinador y autor de la colección “Cine pensado” siete libros con estudios de las películas más interesantes de cada año (2015-2021).

Desde 1999 trabaja en la agencia Aceprensa, donde ha sido jefe de la sección de cine, cultura y artes. Miembro del Círculo de Escritores Cinematográficos.

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Alberto Nájera López

Profesor de Radiología y Medicina Física en la Facultad de Medicina de Albacete. Coordinador de la Unidad de Cultura Científica y de la Innovación (UCLMdivulga), Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha
Licenciado en Física por la Universidad de Salamanca (2000) y doctor en Neurociencias por la Universidad de Salamanca (2005). Desde 2001 es profesor de la Facultad de Medicina de Albacete de la Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha (UCLM), tras pasar por la empresa privada en una multinacional tecnológica.

En su tesina estudió la relación entre mortalidad y contaminación atmosférica (con la que obtuvo el Grado de Salamanca) y, aunque en su tesis desarrolló un modelo computacional que reproducía la respuesta de la membrana basilar en la cóclea, esencial en el proceso auditivo, desde 2009 investiga y divulga sobre campos electromagnéticos de radiofrecuencia y sus posibles efectos sobre la salud.

Es socio de las sociedades científicas Bioelectromagnetic Society (BEMS) y de la European Bioelectromagnetic Association (EBEA). Es coordinador de la Unidad de Cultura Científica y de la Innovación de la UCLM (UCLMdivulga) y vocal del Comité Científico Asesor en Radiofrecuencias y Salud (CCARS) del Colegio Oficial de Ingenieros de Telecomunicación (COIT). Además, es miembro de la Junta Directiva de la Asociación de Profesores de Radiología y Medicina Física (APURF), socio de la Asociación Española de Comunicación Científica (AECC), del Círculo Escéptico y de la Sociedad para el Avance para el avance del Pensamiento Crítico (ARP-SAPC).

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Aldert Vrij

Professor of Social Psychology, University of Portsmouth
My main research interest is deception, resulting in more than 600 publications and more than 30,000 citations (H-factor 87). I received grants from British Research Councils, Trusts and Foundations, Insurers, Federal Bureau of Investigation and American, British, Dutch, and Singapore Governments, totalling > $11,500,000. An overview article of 100 years deception research published in Applied Cognitive Psychology in 2022 (doi: 10.1002/acp.3971) showed that I have the most publications and the most citations in the field.

I work closely with practitioners (police, security services and insurers) in terms of conducting research and disseminating its findings. My book Detecting Lies and Deceit: Pitfalls and Opportunities (published by Wiley) is a comprehensive overview of research into (non)verbal and physiological deception and lie detection.

In 2016 I received the International Investigative Interviewing Research Group (iiiRG) Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of my significant contribution to investigative interviewing.
I was awarded my PhD in 1991 at the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam (the Netherlands) and came to the UK in 1994, when I joined the Psychology Department as a Senior Lecturer. In 1996 I was promoted to Reader and in 2000 to my current position: Professor of Applied Social Psychology.

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Aldo Musacchio

Professor of Management and Economics, Brandeis University
Aldo Musacchio is a Professor of Management and Economics at the Brandeis International Business School and a Faculty Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER). Prior to joining Brandeis he was an Associate Professor and Marvin Bower Fellow at the Harvard Business School. He is currently a lead economic consultant on state-owned enterprises on several projects at the Inter-American Development Bank and the World Bank. His current work focuses on tracking and facilitating the energy transition in large state-owned enterprises.

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Aldo Zammit Borda

Currently Senior Lecturer in International Law at Anglia Ruskin University. My areas of specialization include Public International Law and International Criminal Law.

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Alebachew Kemisso Haybano

Assistant Professor and a faculty in the Center for Comparative Education and Policy Studies, Addis Ababa University
lebachew Kemisso Haybano is an Assistant Professor and a faculty in the Center for Comparative Education and Policy Studies (CCEPS) at Addis Ababa University (AAU), Ethiopia. He has got PhD in International and Comparative Education from Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia. His research focuses on how national education systems deal with issues of identity development and the integration/inclusion of refugees. He has consulted with various organizations including Danish Refugee Council, Jesuit Refugee Service, UNICEF, Education International, and UNHCR, among others, on studies related to refugees in across sub-Saharan Africa. Alebachew has extensive experience working with refugees in the camps and urban areas of Ethiopia, and excellent insider knowledge of the refugee operation and refugee management systems in Ethiopia. Alebachew’s postdoctoral fellowship in the Center for African Studies focuses on studying the promises of Ethiopia’s new policy for inclusion of refugees into national education systems and the challenges of its local implementation using evidences from the Gambella region in the Western border of Ethiopia. His research project aims to explain how historical experiences of refugee inclusion/integration inform the implementation of the new policy; understand how diverse meanings of inclusion and different approaches for inclusion affect the implementation of the new policy; analyze hopes and fears of refugees and host communities related to the implementation of the new policy; and investigate existing capacities and incentives in the Ethiopian education system that can facilitate or hinder implementation of the new policy for inclusion of refugees into national education system.

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Alec Zuo

Associate Professor, School of Economics and Public Policy, University of Adelaide
A/Prof. Alec Zuo is an applied economist specialising in agricultural, environmental, and resource economics. Alec’s research has addressed issues and questions that are fundamental to UN World Development Goals and Australian National Research Priorities. His research has contributed significantly to understanding the impact of climate change and resources on irrigation farming, farmer adaptation strategies, and market-based instruments for water resource management. His research has been published in leading international journals (e.g., Global Environment Change, American Journal of Agricultural Economics, European Review of Agricultural Economics, Energy Economics, etc.) and he has collaboration with researchers from over 20 organisations worldwide on agricultural, resource, environment and development issues across 11 countries in four continents. Alec has substantial experience in initiating and managing large research projects. His research has been funded by the Australian Research Council (currently an ARC Future Fellow), the Australian National Commission for UNESCO, the National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility, the federal Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research, the Australian Consumer & Competition Commission, and the Murray Darling Basin Authority.

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Alecia Simmonds

Lecturer, Faculty of Law, University of Technology Sydney
Dr Alecia Simmonds is an inter-disciplinary scholar in law and history. She has published in national and international journals on the relationship between intimacy, imperialism and law in Australia and the Pacific. Her current postdoctoral research at UTS examines the legal regulation of love through the lens of breach of promise of marriage cases from 1824 to 1975. Dr Simmonds also writes columns and articles for the popular press, including Fairfax Digital and her book Wild Man: A True Story of a Police Killing Mental Illness and the Law won the 2016 Davitt prize for best crime non-fiction.

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Aleena Wojcieszek

Clinical Perinatal Epidemiologist, The University of Queensland
Aleena is a clinical perinatal epidemiologist and science communicator. She has expertise in synthesising evidence and translating it into clinical practice guidelines, implementation resources, and advocacy and communications materials. Aleena works as an independent consultant who partners with research institutes and national and international health bodies to improve maternal and newborn health at the global level. She has worked with the World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), US Agency for International Development (USAID), and various professional organisations. She has also worked with the International Stillbirth Alliance (ISA), including as the lead writer of “Preventing and addressing stillbirths along the continuum of care: a global advocacy and implementation guide.” Aleena is also an honorary senior research fellow at The University of Queensland Faculty of Medicine, working with the Centre of Research Excellence in Stillbirth.

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Alejandra Marquez Guajardo

Assistant Professor of Spanish, Michigan State University
Alejandra Márquez is an Assistant Professor of Spanish in the Department of Romance and Classical Studies at Michigan State University. She earned her Ph.D. in Romance Languages and Literatures from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2018. She also has an M.A. in Spanish from Texas A&M International University. Her research interests span a wide range of topics, including contemporary Latin American literature, queer/cuir studies in Latin America, contemporary Mexican chronicle, gendered narratives of northern Mexico, gender identity and transgressions, depictions of state-sponsored violence, and Latinx literature and culture. She has published articles in academic journals such as Revista de Literatura Mexicana Contemporánea, Chasqui, iMex, and the Latin American Literary Review. She has also published a book chapter on gender violence in northern Mexico in the edited collection Senderos de violencia. Latinoamérica y sus literaturas armadas. Her current book project focuses on representations of lesbian desire in contemporary Mexican literature.

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Alejandro Milcíades Peña

PhD (City University London), M.A. (University of Lancaster), M.Sc. (FLACSO Argentina), M.Eng. (ITBA)

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Alejandro Moreno-Rangel

Lecturer in Building Performance Evaluation and net Zero Design, University of Strathclyde
Alejandro’s main research interests are net zero buildings and the indoor environment – indoor air quality (IAQ) and thermal comfort –, particularly Passivhaus homes. Ultimately, the connections between sustainable architecture to health, urban and human behaviours to create healthy homes through design research methods. Alejandro has developed an interest in using low-cost sensors as research tools and their effect on residential behaviour, design, and human health & well-being. Alejandro is also a certified Passivhaus Designer.

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Aleksandra Kostina

Postdoctoral Researcher in Quantitative Health Sciences and Engineering, Michigan State University
Aleksandra Kostina obtained her Ph.D. in Cardiovascular Sciences at the University of Verona. In March 2022, she joined Aguirre Lab as a postdoctoral researcher. Her project aims to increase the complexity of human heart organoids and uncover early cardiac developmental events affected by medications taken during pregnancy, resulting in embryo heart defects.

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Aleksandra Jessica Dolezal

PhD Candidate, Integrative Biology, University of Guelph
I am an ecologist and entomologist with experience in habitat restoration, environmental analysis, insect taxonomy and genomics. My PhD research investigates plant-insect interactions in agroecosystems. I have 11 years experience with research in insect community ecology, conservation and scientific communication.

I work at the University of Guelph's Centre of Biodiversity Genomics. One of my PhD chapters focuses on analyzing the DNA of spider gut contents to explore their potential as bio-insecticides in agriculture.

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Aleksi Ylönen

Professor, United States International University
Aleksi Ylönen is a researcher at the Center for International Studies, Iscte-Instituto Universitário de Lisboa, a professor at the United States International University-Africa, and an associate fellow at the HORN International Institute for Strategic Studies. He is an expert in international politics and specializes in the greater Horn of Africa. Dr. Ylönen’s work has appeared in numerous scholarly publications and various outlets for the wider public.

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Alemayehu Weldemariam

Ph.D. Fellow, Center for Constitutional Democracy, Indiana University
Alemayehu Fentaw Weldemariam, a Ph.D. Fellow at the Center for Constitutional Democracy at Indiana University, Bloomington, is an experienced educator, lawyer, peacebuilding practitioner, and country expert contributing to Ethiopia Insight and various media outlets, recognized for his astute observations in the Horn of Africa.

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Alessandra Casarico

Associate Professor of Public Economics, Bocconi University
I am Associate Professor of Public Economics and Associate Editor of the Journal of Economic Inequality. I am the Academic Director of the World Bachelor in Business, a joint undergraduate program of Bocconi, HKUST and USC. I am the scientific coordinator of the Social Inclusion Lab at the Dondena Research Center on Social Dynamics and Public Policy at Bocconi. I am CESifo Research Fellow and member of the Scientific Advisory Council of Ifo, Munich.

I hold a D.Phil in Economics from the University of Oxford and a MSc in Economics and Social Sciences from Bocconi University.

My research interests are in public and gender economics. I have published research in international refereed journals, and I have contributed to books published by national and international editors. I am active in the policy debate on gender inequality and I am managing editor of the information site lavoce.info.

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Alessandra Sutti

Associate Professor, Institute for Frontier Materials, Deakin University
Alessandra is a materials scientist with a passion for all things space, snorkelling, microscopy, the environment, environmental and STEM Education. Alessandra leads a team of researchers with interests in polymers, textiles and sustainable materials. They work closely with industry partners to increase the sustainability of the textile and manufacturing industry. When Ale is not in the office, she is most likely training teachers and students on how to identify microplastics in the environment, or hunting microplastics herself, equipped with a snorkelling mask, a set of fins, lots of sampling bottles and a keenness to understand what it takes to look after this (only livable!) planet a bit better.

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Alessandra Tanesini

Professor of Philosophy , Cardiff University
I did my undergraduate work at Bologna University (Italy) and gained my PhD on Quine at the University of Hull (UK). In the meantime I studied and taught for a couple of years at Syracuse University (US) before coming to Cardiff in 1992.

In 1996 I was a Visiting Senior Lecturer in School of Philosophy (General Philosophy) at the University of Sydney, and in 1997 I was Visiting Assistant Professor in the Philosophy Department at Georgetown University (US).

My current work lies at the intersection of ethics, the philosophy of language, and epistemology and focuses on epistemic vice, silencing, prejudice and ignorance. My latest book is The Mismeasure of the Self: A Study in Vice Epistemology (Oxford University Press, 2021).

Research interests

virtue and vice epistemology
social epistemology
epistemic injustice and the epistemology of ignorance
silencing
anger and affective polarization

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Alessandro Manduca-Barone

Research Associate - Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Lethbridge
Dr. Alessandro Manduca-Barone is a Research Associate in the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Lethbridge. His academic background is in economics, philosophy, and biomedical ethics. He has had the opportunity to work in various health and health policy arenas, including as a Policy Analyst for the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario, and as a Strength, Conditioning and Injury Recovery Specialist for those with complex health issues. He currently sits on the Board of Directors as the Vice Chair for the Stonegate Community Health Centre. His research interests have included: ethical issues pertaining to consent and capacity, competency assessments, clinical research with terminally ill subjects, medical assistance in dying, and care issues for those living in a continuing care context.

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Alessandro Poletto

Lecturer in East Asian Religions, Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis
Alessandro Poletto (he/they) specializes in the social and religious history of premodern Japan, with an emphasis on Buddhism in the early medieval period (tenth to the thirteenth century). He earned his PhD from Columbia University in 2020 with a dissertation entitled “The Culture of Healing in Early Medieval Japan: A Study in Premodern Epistemology,” in which he examined discourses and practices concerning healing and disease, with particular attention to the relationship between Buddhist healers and other technicians involved in the treatment of illness, namely court physicians and onmyōji. His other research and teaching interests include the understanding and ritual resolution of natural disasters in premodern East Asia, the history of the cultural exchanges between the Korean peninsula and the Japanese archipelago, and Buddhist material culture and archeology in East Asia.

His current research focuses on the material and textual dimensions of various types of deposits — within statues or under the ground — in order to get a grasp of Buddhism as practiced by lay Buddhists in early medieval Japan. Dedicatory or votive materials discovered inside Buddhist statues or in underground deposits (commonly known as kyōzuka) illustrate the motivations behind the undertaking of a certain burial of sutras, or the production of a copy of a specific sutra, allowing us to see the hopes, aspirations and anxieties of the people engaging in such practices, but also the ways in which they attempted to shape their destinies, and those of deceased dear ones, through their dedicatory good acts.

Before joining Washington University, Alessandro was a JSPS postdoctoral fellow at Kyoto University. He holds a B.A. from the University of Naples “L’Orientale,” and an M.A. from Osaka University.

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Alessandro R Demaio

Medical Doctor; Co-Founded NCDFREE and festival21; Associate Researcher, University of Copenhagen

Dr Demaio trained and worked as a medical doctor at The Alfred Hospital in Australia. While practising as a doctor he completed a Masters in Public Health including fieldwork in Cambodia to develop and evaluate a community-based, culturally appropriate health intervention for noncommunicable diseases, particularly diabetes.

In 2010, Alessandro relocated to Denmark where he completed a PhD with the University of Copenhagen, focusing on noncommunicable diseases. His doctoral research was based in Mongolia, working with the Ministry of Health. He designed, led and reported a national epidemiological survey, sampling more than 3500 households to better understand national knowledge, attitudes and practices on noncommunicable diseases and risk factors and provide policy recommendations to address them.

Alessandro held a Postdoctoral Fellowship at Harvard Medical School from 2013 to 2015, and was assistant professor and course director in global health at the Copenhagen School of Global Health, in Denmark. He has established and led the PLOS blog Translational Global Health, and has served on the Advisory Board of the EAT Initiative: the global, multi-stakeholder platform for food, health and environmental sustainability. To date, he has authored over 20 scientific publications and more than 80 blog articles.

In his pro bono work, Dr Demaio co-founded NCDFREE, a global social movement against noncommunicable diseases using social media, short film and leadership events – reaching more than 2.5 million people in its first 18 months. Then, in 2015, he founded festival21, assembling and leading a team of knowledge leaders in staging a massive and unprecedented, free celebration of community, food, culture and future in his hometown Melbourne.

In November 2015, Alessandro joined the Department of Nutrition for Health and Development at the World Health Organization (Geneva), as Medical Officer for noncommunicable conditions and nutrition.

While a staff member of the World Health Organization, Alessandro alone is responsible for the views expressed in this column, and they do not necessarily represent the decisions or policies of the World Health Organization.

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