our team
Ona Ambrozaite
President
Ona Ambrozaite is a Ph.D. Candidate in the Department of Chemistry at the Krieger School of Arts & Sciences of Johns Hopkins University. Ona is a National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellow with a focus on developing novel semiconducting materials with unique optoelectronic properties for quantum information science and technology applications.
Ona is an Amgen Scholars alumna, where she participated in the Amgen Scholars Program in 2018 at Kyoto University in Japan. While in Kyoto, Ona led a study on HIV-1 retroviral reproductive cycle by investigating the proteins involved in the production of viral particles. The following summer, Ona led a study on mesoporous silica nanoparticles in Strasbourg, France, at the Supramolecular Science and Engineering Institute.
The extensive international experience inspired Ona to spearhead the science diplomacy branch of the Johns Hopkins Science Policy & Diplomacy Group (JHSPDG) right after starting her Ph.D. program at Johns Hopkins. Since then, Ona has successfully led large-scale collaborative science diplomacy projects with partners at Ghent University in Belgium as well as Embassies of Belgium, France, Switzerland, Finland, Japan, Singapore, Taiwan, the Netherlands, and India, with more collaborations coming in the future.
Ona is serving as the 2023-2024 President of the JHSPDG, leading the science diplomacy branch of the group. Ona is looking forward to promoting the role of science diplomacy as a tool for cooperation, monitoring and expertise at the service of development, innovation and global issues.
Email: oambroz1@jhu.edu
Vivian Su
(She/Her)
Vice President of Science Policy
Vivianis a Ph.D. student in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the Whiting School of Engineering of Johns Hopkins University. She works on the development of a novel drug testing platform to provide effective and equitable solutions that address preterm births.
Vivian is also an advocate for a just and sustainable food system as a leader of the Alternative Protein Project at Johns Hopkins. She is interested in the role of food policies and has spearheaded education initiatives, moderated panels with experts and industry leaders, and collaborated on policy memo writing projects.
Vivian currently serves as the JHSPDG VP of Science Policy. As a previous Science Diplomacy Coordinator, Vivian has supported the Meetups at the Embassy series by leading visits and writing grants. She hopes to foster an inclusive community that promotes science communication at state, federal, and global levels and drives positive change.
Twitter: @vivian_h_su
Nick
Zhang
(He/Him)
Vice President of Science Diplomacy
Nick is a Materials Science Ph.D. Candidate at Johns Hopkins University. As an NSF Graduate Research Fellow, his work focuses on carbon utilization—turning greenhouse gases into sustainable fuels using electrochemical methods.
Nick is passionate about science policy and diplomacy relating to energy, climate, technology, and education. He has worked on a STEM outreach program in Kenya and mentored students across the world through Project SHORT Program. He also serves as the student ambassador at COP28 in Dubai, UAE, to promote climate policy & diplomacy projects.
Before starting his Ph.D., Nick obtained a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from UC Berkeley. He was a research fellow at Berkeley and Brookhaven National Labs, working on bio-imaging and battery projects. He has also worked in AgTech and BioTech in Silicon Valley before coming to Hopkins.
At JHSPDG, Nick has worked on several projects—drafting science policy reviews, writing grants, organizing Embassy visits, and facilitating and supporting large-scale events. In this role, Nick hopes to leverage his technical expertise to lead science diplomacy initiatives and increase engagement across Hopkins community.
Twitter: @nickhzhang
Email: hzhan155 (at) jhu (dot) edu
Brendon Davis
Science Policy Coordinator
Brendon is a Ph.D. Candidate in the Cellular, Molecular, and Developmental Biology and Biophysics (CMDB) program at the Krieger School of Arts & Sciences of Johns Hopkins University. Brendon's research focuses on stem cell epigenetics, specifically histone dynamics during DNA replication and the epigenetic mechanisms that specify cell fate during stem cell division. In addition to his research, Brendon is interested in bioethics conversations surrounding the use of novel genetic and stem cell treatments, as well as federal and local policy to support foundational research and improve environmental sustainability. Prior to enrolling at Johns Hopkins, Brendon received bachelor's degrees in biology and mathematics from the University of Washington, where he was a Mary Gates Research Scholar.
Brendon is also on the leadership board of symBIOsis, providing biology graduate students with academic and professional development, and he assists with scientific outreach projects to students in Baltimore public schools through the BioEYES Project. He additionally organizes high-profile scientific speaker visits as part of the Thomas Hunt Morgan Lecture Committee. In his free time, Brendon enjoys powerlifting, traveling, reading, and petting his two cats.
Lauren Hesse
Science Policy Coordinator
Lauren Hesse is a first-year PhD student in the biomedical engineering program and a recent graduate of the University of Michigan. Prior to attending Johns Hopkins, Lauren was a member of the Shea lab, in which she mainly worked to develop tissue engineering scaffolds as minimally invasive tools to surveil and modulate the immune system in transplant rejection and pregnancy complications. Broadly, her research interests include the immunological mechanisms of disease progression, maternal-fetal medicine, neurodevelopment, and reproductive immunology. She is extremely passionate about science policy, as it shapes the direction of scientific research. She is particularly interested in advocating for K-12 STEM outreach and education, in addition to advocating for driving funding towards under-studied areas of science. She is a prolific writer about topics she is passionate about, and she even managed to get one of her letters to the editor published in The Washington Post! She is extremely excited to get to work with members of the group interested in writing science policy proposals. She will also work hard to resurrect the Capitol Hill advocacy days and provide many opportunities for members to participate in scientific communication across disciplines.
Milad
Razavi-Mohseni
Science Policy Coordinator
Milad is a PhD candidate in Biomedical Engineering at the JH School of Medicine (JHSOM), with a focus on computational biology. He uses machine learning and genomics to understand how genes regulate the activity of each other in cancer.
Milad is an International Student At Hopkins (ISAH) ambassador where he has been collaborating with JH Center for Diversity & Inclusion to improve the international students experience at Hopkins. For the past couple of years, he has been leading an effort under the guidance of the deans of Graduate Education at the JH School of Medicine to introduce a policy for the JHSOM to award intermediate (en route) Master's degree to eligible PhD students. Prior to that, he was advocating for this policy as a member of the Biomedical Engineering PhD Council and his program’s representative to the JHSOM Graduate Student Association (GSA).
With respect to scientists and scientific organizations, Milad is passionate to understand the rights and laws that apply in a given situation, where the limits are, and what realistic changes can be made to improve. He is especially interested in policies and regulations related to the biotech industry as well as the clinical settings.
Corinna Torabi
Science Policy Coordinator
Corinna is a Ph.D. candidate in Mechanical Engineering at Johns Hopkins University Whiting School of Engineering. Her research focus is engineering nanoscale extracellular vesicles for personalized medicine applications through a novel electroporation mechanism. Additionally, she has extensive experience with microfluidic droplet generation of microscale hydrogel particles for a range of applications, including injectable therapeutics, scaffolding, and single-cell molecular sensing. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering at University of Massachusetts Amherst.
Corinna is passionate about science communication and connecting the values of a STEM background with responsible civic engagement. Her policy interests are renewable energy, sustainable agriculture and food systems, and climate policy. She hopes to use her strong engineering experience to engage with policy decisions on a local, federal, and global level throughout her career.
Nathan
Van Damme
Science Policy Coordinator
Nathan is a Mechanical Engineering student at Johns Hopkins University. His current research focuses on MRI-compatible motors for robotic interventions in the field of urology. With conceptually new types of motors emerging, creating new standards becomes increasingly more important to give a structured overview of technological advancements and possible applications. In his pursuit of becoming an all-round engineer, he realized the importance of science policy which resulted in him joining the group.
His previous MsC in Biomedical Engineering and MsC in Advanced Robotics have equipped him with a wide understanding of medical devices. Some of his previous projects include enhancing a surgical tray, working on robot control simulations and, most notably, developing a rehabilitation device for stroke patients for which the patent is currently in the final stage of acceptance. Outside of research Nathan is a passionate tennis player and has always had a soft spot for cars and automotive engineering.
Ryan Posthumus
Science Diplomacy Coordinator
Ryan Posthumus is a graduate student at Johns Hopkins SAIS in Washington DC and part of the MASCI program, studying strategy, cybersecurity, and intelligence. Some areas of Ryan’s academic focus and professional interest include national security, intelligence analysis, international negotiation, energy security, and special operations. He received his undergraduate education from the College of William & Mary, graduating cum laude with a degree in Public Policy and Business Analytics.
Ryan has explored the intersection between science and diplomacy through work with the AidData research group and the U.S. Embassy in Kuala Lumpur as part of the U.S. Department of State’s Virtual Student Foreign Service program. The latter was highlighted by the examination of issues ranging from the topography of the Malaysian cybersecurity landscape to the complexity of the 4G/5G nationwide telecommunications rollout process, and the preparation of briefs read by embassy officials.
Ryan is a new member of the JHSPDG leadership team and as a Science Diplomacy Coordinator hopes to expand the fantastic initiatives and work the JHSPDG does into the worlds of intelligence and national security.
Fun fact: On Sundays you can find Ryan working at the Kennedy Center Opera House and Concert Hall as an usher!
Isabel Jimenez, DVM
Science Diplomacy Coordinator
Dr. Isabel Jimenez is a veterinarian and a 3rd year NIH T-32 postdoctoral research fellow in the Department of Molecular and Comparative Pathobiology at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. She is also a 2nd year Ph.D. Candidate in the Cellular and Molecular Medicine program, where she studies emerging fungal pathogens. She is particularly interested in climate change and the One Health implications of increasingly blurred human-wildlife-domestic animal interfaces.
Isabel is passionate about increasing accessibility to science education and recognizing the important role of scientists as liaisons between researchers, science organizations, the public, and policymakers, and as advocates for human, environmental, and animal health. She completed her undergraduate degree in Animal Science with a minor in Law & Society at Cornell University in 2015, where she participated in Model Congress and taught at the Cornell Prison Education Program, developing a semester-long introductory biology course for inmates at Auburn Prison. Isabel went on to complete her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree at Cornell University, during which time she traveled to Belize, Singapore, and the Galápagos Islands and developed her interest in international policy and science diplomacy.
Isabel loves to write, speak, and teach, viewing each opportunity to communicate about science as a chance to use storytelling to connect with others. She is looking forward to contributing her experience to the group and to continue learning about science diplomacy.
Arpitha Peteru
Science Diplomacy Coordinator
Arpitha Peteru is a Public Service Scholar and Masters in International Public Policy candidate at the Johns Hopkins School of International Advanced Studies. As an AI Governance Fellow, Arpitha’s focus areas include international law, security, technology policy, and human rights. She is most interested in science policy and diplomacy’s role in addressing transnational geopolitical challenges such as the governance of emerging technologies, sustainable development, public health, and security, particularly in crises and conflict contexts.Arpitha has an extensive background in international violence and atrocities prevention, emerging technologies, early warning/early action mechanisms, and systems thinking. A coalition builder and practitioner at heart, Arpitha has worked across a wide range of public and private organizations, including in refugee resettlement, impact investing and entrepreneurship, on Capitol Hill, and with investors, INGOs, nonprofits, and Fortune 50 companies on how best to understand and navigate complexity.As co-founder of the Foundation for Inclusion, Arpitha leveraged systems thinking and dynamic methodologies to catalyze sustainable change for security, justice, and democracy. She has a strong track record of transforming large-scale systemic challenges domestically and internationally, coordinating multi-stakeholder initiatives at the intersection of social, economic, political and technological challenges. With her fluency in public-private partnerships and systems change, Arpitha has led and engaged extensively with participatory research, authoring reports and creating other resources around on technology, ethics, radicalization, violence prevention, resiliency, and strategic policymaking.She is a proud alumna of Running Start, New Leaders Council, and Colgate University.
Gihan Sherif Elhadidy, phd
Science Diplomacy Coordinator
Gihan Elhadidy holds a doctoral degree in international affairs from Johns Hopkins University, with a focus on global climate change policy. Her research interests include the nexus of climate change, gender, and conflict in the Middle East, and the impact of technology, especially artificial intelligence on women.
Delia Friel
Science Diplomacy Coordinator
Delia is a medical student at Johns Hopkins University. She sees the field of health and medicine as a powerful vehicle for fostering international collaboration. She is interested in approaches to promoting/translating scientific innovations to market, health and human rights, and strengthening health systems.
Prior to Johns Hopkins, Delia was a Schwarzman Scholar where she completed a masters in global affairs with a focus in public policy and global health. She then worked in a medical oncology lab at Dana Farber Cancer Institute studying targeted protein degraders used to treat breast cancer. In her free time, Delia enjoys jogging and experimenting with new dinner and dessert recipes.
Emeritus Members:
Kevin Prasad: Masters Student, Biotechnology
Piyusha Mongia: Ph.D. Student, Department of Biological Chemistry
Bernat Navarro Serer, Ph.D.: Program Officer - Global Sustainability and Development | National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Brandi Glover: Ph.D. Candidate | Wood Lab | Department of Pathology
Sabrina Khan: Ph.D. Student, Department of Earth & Planetary Science
Kirsten Butner: Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Master of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology
Nate Laughner: Ph.D. Candidate | Biochemistry, Cellular and Molecular Biology (BCMB) program at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
Dezmond Cole: Ph.D. Candidate | Biochemistry, Cellular & Molecular Biology (BCMB) program at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine