Christine Mirzayan Science and Technology Policy Fellows

Fall 2007 Fellow Biographies

Robin Ackerman (CSTL/PGA) graduated from Northeastern University School of Law with a JD in May of 2007.  Before law school, she earned a SM in environmental health, concentrating in occupational health at the Harvard School of Public Health and an MS in nursing at Simmons College, through a traineeship from the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health.  Robin is currently working in the Directorate of Standards and Guidance at the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, within the U.S. Department of Labor. (Updated 4/09)

Boonchai Boonyaratanakornkit (BCST/DELS) graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with a PhD in chemical engineering in June 2006.  Boonchai hails from a Thai-Chinese background hence the long last name.  His doctoral research focused on the cultivation of extremophiles from deep-sea hydrothermal vents and the elucidation of genes that allow for survival in such extreme environments.  Boonchai received his BS in biochemical/chemical engineering at the University of California, Davis where he got to enjoy the rural life, bike around campus, and research air quality and viticulture.  He recently worked as a postdoctoral fellow at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab and explored enzymatic and electrochemical means to convert carbon dioxide into dense, carbon-neutral liquid fuels.  He is excited to be living on the East Coast and learning about the interrelationship between policy and research instead of doing bench science.  During his time at BCST, he hopes to apply and expand his speaking and writing skills in order to pursue possible careers in scientific writing and patent law.  In his free time, he enjoys working out, reading, learning new languages, writing chorales, and playing tennis, basketball, and softball. (Updated 4/09)

Sarah Case (Fall 2007, BEES & DEPS EO/DEPS) is a program officer with the Nuclear and Radiation Studies Board (NRSB) of the National Academies.  Sarah’s professional interests focus on nuclear waste management as well as nuclear security and nonproliferation issues. Sarah joined the staff at the National Academies in December of 2007.  With both the NRSB and the Board on Energy and Environmental Systems (BEES), she has worked on projects related to nuclear energy, the electrical transmission and distribution systems, and domestic nuclear security.  Her graduate research focused on experimental fluid dynamics, and in particular, her thesis work involved the development of an electrical method to study the earliest stages of the coalescence of two droplets of salt water.  She received her PhD in physics from the University of Chicago, and her AB from Columbia University.  In her free time, she enjoys running, bicycling, and cooking.  Contact by email. (Updated 3/10)

Mark Fleury (Fall 2007, CASEE/NAE) completed his PhD in biomedical engineering at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland where he studied the role of small convective flows in the promotion of cancer metastases and new blood vessel formation.  He received an MS from Northwestern University in chemical engineering as well as a BS in the same field from Kansas State University.  Mark is a licensed professional engineer and prior to graduate school he worked for Cargill Incorporated as a process engineer in the corn sweetener industry and as a project engineer with experience in wastewater treatment design.  After his Mizayan Fellowship, Mark took a post-doctoral research position at MIT studying immune cell signaling. He was involved in policy at MIT and returned to Washington, D.C. in 2009 for a AAAS Congressional Fellowship.  He currently works as a staffer for Senator Claire McCaskill. In his free time Mark enjoys travel, cooking, black and white photography, reading, and exploring D.C.  (Updated 3/10)

Jennifer Flexman (GUIRR/PGA) completed her PhD in Bioengineering at the University of Washington in August 2007, where she used molecular imaging techniques to study cellular and molecular processes.  Specifically, she studied neural stem cell migration in the brain using non-invasive magnetic resonance imaging.  She completed a B.Eng. in Electrical Engineering at McGill University and working in the field for two years in Boston, MA. While in graduate school, she was a Co-Director of the Forum on Science Ethics and Policy (FOSEP), a student and post-doctoral fellow group devoted to promoting dialogue among scholars, policy experts, and the public about the role of science in society.  Jennifer also represents over 3,500 students as Student Representative to the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society.  She completed the Program on Technology Commercialization at the University of Washington, where she developed a business plan for an emerging bioengineering technology.  Because of her interests in science policy, commercialization and the translational aspect of her discipline, Jennifer hopes to learn more about university-industry relationships through working with GUIRR.  A native of Vancouver, Canada, she enjoys just about any sport involving snow, reading, jogging and traveling to new places.  Contact by email.  (Updated 4/09)


Shikha Gupta (NMAB/DEPS) is currently finishing a Ph.D in the Applied Science and Technology Program at the University of California, Berkeley. Her interdisciplinary doctoral work focuses on the development of experimental and numerical microscale materials characterization methods for both natural and synthetic orthopaedic biomaterials, particularly for biological tissues from small animal models. During her time as a graduate student, Shikha has also been involved in engineering education research that focuses on the assessment and evaluation of cognitive sophistication in project-based engineering instruction. Prior to joining graduate school, Shikha spent a year working, volunteering, and traveling in Bangalore, India. She received her B.S. in Materials Science & Engineering from MIT. Shikha is quite fond of research, and hopes to continue her scientific endeavors in the future in a national lab setting or in academia. Shikha is excited about her tenure with the National Materials Advisory Board at the National Academies--she is eager to apply her technical expertise outside the laboratory setting and to add a new, enriching dimension to her education by interfacing with both lawmakers and scientists in a policy-making capacity. In addition to her left-brained work, Shikha engages herself in a variety of right-brained athletic and musical pursuits, including tennis, hiking, salsa dancing and singing.

Kofi Inkabi (BICE/DEPS) is currently completing his PhD in civil and environmental engineering at the University of California, Berkeley.  His doctoral research examines human and organizational influences on engineered water resource systems like dams and reservoirs.  Kofi received his BS in civil engineering from the University of California, Davis in 1999 and his MS in structural engineering from the University of California, Berkeley in 2000.  He then worked as a structural designer and assistant project manager for Parsons Brinckerhoff Quade & Douglas before returning to Berkeley, where he participated on the forensic investigation of the New Orleans flood defense failure following Hurricane Katrina with the generous support of the National Science Foundation.  While a Mirzayan Fellow, Kofi's perspective and knowledge of infrastructure risk analysis and the implications it potentially has for national and state policy was greatly enhanced by assisting on the study Assessment of the Bureau of Reclamation's Security Program.  In his free time, Kofi enjoys cycling, hiking, tennis, sailing, skiing, swimming, and discussing politics.  Contact by email.  (Updated 4/09)

Bridget Kelly (Fall 2007, BCYF/DBASSE) is a program officer in the Institute of Medicine’s Board on Global Health, where she is currently the study director for the committee on cardiovascular disease in developing countries and the deputy study director for the committee planning the evaluation of U.S. global HIV/AIDS programs, known as PEPFAR.  Prior to joining the Board on Global Health in September 2008, she worked as staff in the Board on Children, Youth, and Families for projects on prevention of mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders among children, youth, and young adults; on depression, parenting practices, and child development; and on strengthening benefit-cost methodology for the evaluation of early childhood interventions.  She holds both an MD and a PhD in neurobiology, which she completed as part of the Medical Scientist Training Program at Duke University.  She received her bachelor’s degree in biology and neuroscience from Williams College, where she was also the recipient of the Hubbard Hutchinson Fellowship in fine arts.  She is a modern dancer and choreographer and has more than ten years of experience in grassroots nonprofit arts administration in addition to her background in science and health.  Contact by email.  (Updated 3/10)

Julia Kregenow (STS/PGA) completed her PhD in astrophysics at the University of California, Berkeley, finishing in May 2007.  Her stated mission in life is to bring science and math to the masses.  She is now an education researcher and instructor in physics at Ithaca College and Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y.  In the fall of 2009, Julia will begin a faculty job in the astronomy department at Penn State University.  Julia is an easygoing gal who likes cheese, gardening, science phenomena as metaphors, and sweatshirts with pockets. (Updated 4/09)

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Divine Kumah (BISO/PGA) has been working on his PhD in applied physics at the University of Michigan.  He is investigating the internal structure of novel ferroelectric and semiconductor materials using x-rays.  He completed his master's degree in electrical engineering at Michigan, and received his bachelor's degree in physics at Southern University.  During his Mirzayan fellowship, he sought a different perspective on how scientific research can be applied in developing policy on a global scale for energy sustainability.  He plans to help less-developed countries develop sound policies in the areas of energy, science and technology.  Divine loves to travel, read and play soccer and chess.  Contact by email.  (Updated 4/09)


Frank Hiroshi Ling (Koshland Science Museum/NAS) is currently a visiting researcher at the Climate Policy Project at the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES) in Hayama, Japan.  He has done postdoctoral work at the Energy and Resources Group at the University of California at Berkeley and Lawrence Berkeley National Labs where he studied energy technologies and policies for a lower carbon future.  He holds a PhD in chemistry from UC Berkeley and a BS in chemical engineering from Caltech.  Frank also produces the Berkeley Groks science radio show and podcast from the campus radio station.  He was previously a AAAS Science Media Fellow during which he interned at the Voice of America.  Frank speaks Japanese and Chinese.  Contact by email.  (Updated 4/09)

Beth Masimore (Fall 2007, BPA/DEPS) is an analyst at Discovery Logic, a Thomson Reuters company.  Typical projects include designing and implementing data-driven program evaluations and teaming with software developers to design tools to facilitate informed science policy decisions.  She earned her PhD in physics in May 2008 from the University of Minnesota.  Her thesis research focused on adapting theories and techniques developed for condensed matter physics for use with neurological data.  She has been involved with an interdisciplinary neuro-physical-computational sciences group at the University of Minnesota including receiving an NSF-IGERT Fellowship for interdisciplinary research.  (Updated 3/10)

John McMurdy (CASEE/NAE) recently completed his PhD in biomedical engineering at Brown University under the support of a NASA Graduate Student Researcher Program Fellowship.  The scope of his research while at Brown has been in the clinical testing of spectroscopic techniques and the design of compact and inexpensive optical sensors to non- invasively measure blood components.  Concurrent with his graduate work, John co-founded Corum Medical and currently serves as the Chief Scientific Officer responsible for development of a handheld device to monitor total blood hemoglobin from the inner eyelid.  John also was a Mirzayan Fellow in the Fall of 2007 at the Center for the Advancement of Scholarship on Engineering Education in the National Academy of Engineering.  Prior to coming to Brown, John worked for Digilab, LLC in Randolph, MA as a field service engineer for Digilab's Fourier-Tranform infrared spectrometers, infrared imaging systems, Raman spectrometers, and UV/Visible spectrometers.  John completed his BSc and MSc in optics from the University of Rochester with the support of the Rush Rhees Scholarship.  Contact by email.  (Updated 4/09)

Cesar Perez-Gonzalez (Fall 2007, COSEPUP/PGA) is currently an intramural training program manager in the Office of the Scientific Director at the National Eye Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).  He is responsible for managing and advising the Institute’s graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and other trainees, providing them with information on funding possibilities, educational resources, and career advice.  He holds a PhD in evolutionary biology from the University of Rochester and a BS in genetics from Iowa State University.  His research work focused on the dynamics of retrotransposable elements in both Drosophila and humans.  Prior to his Mirzayan Fellowship, Cesar was a postdoctoral fellow at NIH and a volunteer with the NIH Fellows Committee and the National Postdoctoral Association’s Diversity Committee.  After his postdoctoral fellowship, he spent the better part of a year doing temporary work with the National Academies (DELS/BESR) and later with the Montgomery County (Md.) Department of Health and Human Services’ Aging and Disability Services.  He also served as an editor with American Journal Experts.  In his spare time Cesar enjoys listening to music of all genres, writing, going to wineries, and making his way through his Netflix queue.  He and his new wife Laura live in northern Montgomery County, Md. with their two cats.  Contact via email.  (Updated 3/10)

Julia Skapik (PHPHP/IOM) is in the first year of her residency in internal medicine at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.  She completed her MD and MPH at the Johns Hopkins Schools of Medicine and Public Health.  Originally from Licking County, Ohio, she attended New College of Florida, graduating with dual BAs in biology and psychology in 2001.  Subsequently, she spent a year at the FDA in Bethesda performing viral and vaccine neurovirulence research.  Since then, she has worked on many research projects at the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, primarily examining medical errors and the junction of mental and medical illness.  She is also the author of the chapter "Psychotic Disorders, Severe Mental Illness, and HIV Infection" in the Comprehensive Textbook of AIDS Psychiatry and was an editor and author of the sixth edition of the review book First Aid for Step 2 CK and the fourth edition of First Aid for the Wards.  She previously served Health Policy Action Committee chair for the American Medical Student Association, promoting legislation and education about universal health care, medical quality improvement, smoke-free indoor air, student activism, nutrition policy, and climate change.  As a Mirzayan Fellow, she worked primarily with the Roundtable on Environmental Health Sciences, Research, and Medicine as a primary organizer of the workshop, "Environmental Health, Energy, And Transportation: Bringing Health To The Fuel Mixture."  She also worked on global water and its environmental impact, Hurricane Katrina, and also collaborated briefly with the Roundtable on Evidence-Based Medicine. (Updated 4/09)

Albert Swiston (COSEPUP/PGA) has been currently pursuing a PhD in polymer science and rechnology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.  He holds a BS and MSE in materials science and engineering from Johns Hopkins University.  Albert’s graduate research focuses on the application of ultra-thin polymer films in biological applications, such as immune system engineering.  With the generous support of an NSF Fellowship, Albert has had the opportunity to pursue several different projects, including the surface modification of custom-made ocular devices in conjunction with the local non-profit Boston Foundation for Sight.  On campus, Albert co-founded the MIT Science Policy Initiative, which seeks to educate graduate students in the US innovation system; as part of the Initiative, students travel to Washington to participate in the legislative process by speaking with their elected representatives and their staff.  During his Mirzayan Fellowship, he hoped to learn more about how science and government interact.  Albert is an avid outdoorsman, and always eager to go cycling, backpacking, canoeing, or rock climbing.

Antwuan Wallace (EEC/NAE) is completing a PhD in policy analysis at Milano, The New School for Management and Urban Policy.  His doctoral research, Digital Inclusion from Margin to Center, expands digital divide scholarship by examining how federal, state and local telecommunication, cable and information service policies reinforce structural barriers that impair the socio-economic mobility prospects of inner-city, ethnic-minority youth in low-income households.  Antwuan appreciates the Mirzayan Fellowship as an occasion to learn about and inform the creation and implementation of U.S. technology policy. Antwuan’s career goals include opportunities within and outside academia that utilize emergent technology and socio-cultural work to elevate and achieve equitable policy innovations and solutions. He serves as an advisor to Consumers Union’s HearUsNow.Org, the Association for Community Networking (AFCN) and the UCC Media Empowerment Project (MEP).  Antwuan earned a bachelor's degree from Hampton University, a master's degree in public administration from Indiana University, and a master's degree in survey methodology from the University of Michigan. Antwuan lives to play tennis.  Contact via email.  (Updated 4/09)