Contributors

Sean Mangion

PhD Candidate, University of South Australia

PhD Candidate, University of South Australia Sean Mangion is a PhD candidate at the University of South Australia, researching in the field of skin therapeutics. He is also a medical student at the University of Sydney. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Sean-Mangion

Sylvan Baker

Senior lecturer, Royal Central School of Speech & Drama

Senior lecturer, Royal Central School of Speech & Drama Dr Sylvan Baker is an Artist, Practitioner and Researcher who has been working in Applied Arts & social justice for over 30 years. He is a Senior Lecturer at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, London. Beyond Central, his practice has taken place in the UK and globally in sites across Brazil and the US. He has delivered projects in a diverse range of communities and contexts from favelas to hospitals, and has a specific interest in participatory collaboration, transitional justice and interventions in sites of conflict. His current research projects work with young researchers with experience of the UK care system, and separately with neurodivergent young people to develop resources to support positive adolescent mental health.

Sneha Shah

Assistant Professor of Molecular Medicine, UMass Chan Medical School

Assistant Professor of Molecular Medicine, UMass Chan Medical School In my long standing experience as a bench scientist I am skilled in molecular biology, RNA and epigenetic studies, neuroscience, genetics, Ribosome profiling and cell biology. My current focus is studying autism and Fragile X Syndrome in mouse and human patient derived iPSC cells.

Samantha Jane Dawson

Assistant Professor, Clinical Psychology, University of British Columbia

Assistant Professor, Clinical Psychology, University of British Columbia Dr. Samantha Dawson is an Assistant Professor in the Clinical Psychology program at the University of British Columbia. She is a registered psychologist with expertise in sex and couple therapy. Since 2009, her research program has focused on identifying mechanisms contributing to sexual function in individuals and couples, with the goal of using these mechanisms to develop targeted interventions for sexual dysfunction.

Sofya Aptekar

Associate Professor of Urban Studies, City University of New York

Associate Professor of Urban Studies, City University of New York I am a sociologist who studies immigration, the military, urban public spaces and gentrification, race and ethnicity, and alternatives to capitalism. In 2023, I am focused on sharing the findings of my new book, Green Card Soldier: Between Model Immigrant and Security Threat (MIT Press). The research for this book has allowed me to become an expert on immigrant enlistment in the US military, including through special programs like MAVNI, the role of race, gender, and immigrant status in the experience of military work and separation, and deportation of veterans. I also write about diversity discourse in the military, topical because of SCOTUS decisions on affirmative action in college admissions, which the US military consistently opposes. With Dr. Hsin, I have examined the experience of undocumented college students in New York. We have published our findings in several articles, focusing on the experience of understudied groups, such as Asian undocumented youth. We have also published our findings on the tensions between college staff's understandings and goals in supporting undocumented students and the students' experiences and needs. We also developed the concept of stratified entry into illegality, analyzing the role of how one becomes undocumented on subsequent trajectories. My first book, The Road to Citizenship: What Naturalization Means for Immigrants and the United States (Rutgers) contains a unique analysis of naturalization ceremonies, as well as analysis of why immigrants seek citizenship and inequities in its acquisition. While much of my recent work is centered on immigration, I have also researched and written about gentrification and public space. My research on community gardens, public libraries, parks, and farmer's markets has been well received, and I continue to engage with these subjects as a reviewer, book review editor, and in the classroom.

Stephen G. Alexander

Associate Professor of Physics, Miami University

Associate Professor of Physics, Miami University My group's research centers around computational astrophysics, where we attempt to solve astronomical problems employing computational physics. These problems have consisted of many issues associated with the formation of solar systems and the orbital and rotational evolution of planetary satellites. Recently, we adapted our codes to study self-bound gravitating systems like stellar clusters and galaxies. Here, we are simulating the motion of stars in Dwarf Spheroidal Galaxies using an alternative to the dark matter paradigm, i.e. Modified Newtonian Dynamics (MOND).