Dilara Kiran
Editor-in-Chief
Dilara Kiran is a veterinarian in Colorado and member of the Board of Directors of the Women’s Veterinary Leadership Development Initiative. Her interest in science policy began while earning her Master of Science in Microbiology and Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degrees at Colorado State University. During graduate school, she held many leadership and service roles, including Associate Editor for the Journal of Science Policy and Governance, Secretary of Colorado State University Science in Action, Graduate Education Committee Chair for the National Science Policy Network, and member of the Board of Directors of Future of Research, a nonprofit supporting early-career researchers. Dilara has contributed to national veterinary and science policy discussions as an invited panelist for the American Society for Microbiology, a sponsored attendee of the AAAS Catalyzing Advocacy in Science and Engineering Workshop, and a Government Relations Division Extern with the American Veterinary Medical Association in Washington, D.C. Her policy interests include veterinary workforce sustainability, public health, infectious diseases, and graduate education. She is committed to mentoring and elevating early-career veterinarians and scientists and connecting them with science policy opportunities. Outside of work, Dilara plays the French horn in multiple community music ensembles.
Abbey BoydAssistant Editor-in-Chief
Abbey Boyd is an AAAS Science and Technology Policy Fellow in the Technology, Innovation and Partnerships (TIP) Directorate of the National Science Foundation. In this role, she supports the NSF Tech Accelerators Program, which she helped launch in May of 2026. Previously, she was an ORISE Research and Leadership Postdoctoral Fellow at USDA-ARS in Beltsville, MD, where she worked with a committee of senior scientists to advance transdisciplinary approaches to agricultural challenges. She holds a Ph.D. in Food Science and Technology from Iowa State University and a B.A. in Biological Sciences from Northwestern University. She is interested in food and agriculture as solutions to some of our biggest challenges, from human nutrition to climate adaptation and enjoys working at the nexus of research and government. In her free time, Abbey enjoys practicing yoga and cooking.
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Christina Del GrecoAssistant Editor-in-Chief
Christina Del Greco holds a Ph.D. in Genetics and Genomics from the University of Michigan and is currently serving as a Governor's Science and Technology Fellow at the Pennsylvania Department of Health where she supports the Drugs, Devices, and Cosmetics regulatory program. She began her science policy journey in graduate school where she completed a certificate in Science, Technology, and Public Policy, and she currently volunteers on the American Society of Human Genetics' Government and Public Advocacy Committee. Christina is also passionate about science communication efforts, and spent most of her Ph.D. volunteering with the University of Michigan's science communication organization "Michigan Science Writers." In her free time, Christina is an avid reader and enjoys playing in recreational soccer and volleyball leagues.
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Ope OyewoleAssistant Editor-in-Chief
Ope Oyewole is a Science Officer at the California Council on Science and Technology (CCST), where she manages projects connecting science to policy in the state. She has convened experts and other interested parties focused on topics ranging from wildfires and fumigants, to research funding in the state. Before that, Ope was a CCST Science and Technology Policy Fellow placed in the Climate and Sustainability Branch of the California Department of Insurance where she worked on an urban forest insurance project, connecting insurance and climate mitigation and adaptation. She first experienced the science policy world as a member of the National Science Policy Network, joining the Leadership Council of the organization to help onboard new members.
Outside of work, Ope loves to read, hike with friends, and try new hobbies. She appreciates the opportunity to work at JSPG and provide a space for early career scientists to engage with policy. To her, thoughtful early-career engagement in policy discourse is one way to ensure that scientific innovation and resulting development account for people and the environment. |
Associate Editors
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Ariel Barreiro is the Director of Programs and Special Projects at Rainbow Serpent, a Pittsburgh-based nonprofit dedicated to advancing Black LGBTQ culture through innovative technologies, healing practices, African cosmologies, and multimedia art. She earned her BS in Natural Sciences from the University of Pittsburgh in 2023, the same year she became a Zed Factor Fellow (ZFF) and assumed a co-chair role on the ZFF Community Engagement Project Committee. During her internship with the Planetary Society, Ariel developed a passion for space policy and wrote a leading article on terminator zones. Her work with STEMNetX further fueled her commitment to highlighting women in STEM through their blog. Ariel's policy interests span space policy, environmental sustainability, and bioengineering.
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Paris Brown is a Ph.D. candidate in Biomedical Engineering and an M.A. candidate in Bioethics & Science Policy at Duke University. Her research focuses on developing human neural organoids to study neuroinflammation and aging, while also exploring the ethical implications of using neural organoids for biocomputing and other emerging technologies. She first became interested in science policy when she realized there were few governance frameworks addressing the convergence of biology and artificial intelligence. That realization inspired her to pursue formal training in bioethics and science policy alongside my engineering research. Since then, she has gained experience across a variety of sectors, including internships in the oil and gas and microelectronics industries, as well as a fellowship as a science diplomat with the U.S. Department of State focused on AI governance in Southeast Asia. Supporting early-career voices is important to her because she believe students and trainees often bring fresh perspectives, intellectual curiosity, and a willingness to challenge conventional thinking. Their ideas are essential for shaping the future of both science and policy. Outside of work, she enjoy flying airplanes, watching scary movies, tending to my garden, baking sourdough bread, doing Pilates, and searching for tiny frogs and insects during hikes!
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Jekoniya Chitereka is a PhD Candidate in Politics and International Studies at the University of Leeds. His research focuses on the intersection of global development and international relations using astronomy, specifically the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) as a case study in Africa. Prior to joining the University of Leeds, Jekoniya graduated with a BSc Honours Degree in Psychology and an MSc in Population Studies both obtained from the University of Zimbabwe. At the University of Leeds, he doubles as a teaching assistant to first year students in the School of Politics and International Studies. Previously, Jekoniya worked in the health sector in Zimbabwe as a research, monitoring and evaluation expert where he was instrumental in setting up national M&E systems for the integration of HIV and reproductive health. He later worked on the national science, technology, and innovation system of Zimbabwe as a research coordination manager with the Research Council of Zimbabwe playing the intermediary role, representing, and negotiating the interests of academia, government, business, and other actors in the innovation system. It is this role that ignited him to pursue further studies and explore power dynamics involved in science. Jekoniya is particularly interested on the governance of science, diplomacy and how power is constructed around the science discourse.
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Christopher Dade is postdoctoral research associate at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln where he studies methanogen archaea. He holds a B.S. in Chemistry from the University of Missouri, an M.Sc. in Science and Health Communication from Dublin City University where he studied the drivers of public polarization on science policy in democratic societies, and a PhD in Chemistry from UW–Madison. He has also obtained a Ph.D. minor in Life Sciences Communication, served as a WiSCIENCE Public Service Fellow with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and served for two years as co-president of Catalysts for Science Policy—the graduate student science policy group at UW–Madison. Chris is also the founder and director of the Wisconsin Science, Technology, and Engineering Policy (WI STEP) Fellowship effort to establish a science policy fellowship program to serve the Wisconsin Legislature.
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Brendon Davis is an incoming 2026-27 AAAS/IEEE Congressional Fellow. Brendon earned his Ph.D. in Molecular Biology at Johns Hopkins University, where he studied DNA replication and epigenetics in stem cells. He received bachelor’s degrees in biology and mathematics from the University of Washington, where he was also politically active. Early in his Ph.D., Brendon became interested in the role of experts in policymaking and joined the JHU Science Policy and Diplomacy Group, where he led graduate students to advocate for science policy issues on Capitol Hill and later served as President of the group. He has focused on elevating the voices of scientists and was a founding member of the Scientist Network for Advancing Policy (SNAP), organizing nationwide initiatives to connect early-career researchers with their policymakers and communities. In addition to editing, Brendon’s publications include research papers, policy memos, and opinion columns. Outside of science and policy work, Brendon enjoys powerlifting, reading, and traveling.
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Mariliis Eensalu is a Science Policy Fellow at the Rockefeller Institute of Government, with an executive placement at the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. Her path into science policy began with the Parliament of Estonia’s Committee of Environment that first connected her scientific training with public decision-making. Since then, her work has spanned government, private sector, academia, nonprofit, and international science diplomacy spaces. With a PhD in Geology from Northern Illinois University and a diploma in International Relations and European Integration from the Estonian School of Diplomacy, Dr. Eensalu brings technical depth, diplomacy-minded leadership, and a commitment to translating evidence into practical policy. She likes supporting early-career voices in science policy, because accessible publishing and mentorship can help emerging experts enter policy conversations with confidence and impact. Outside of policy work, her interests include traveling as well as music performance that together provide a creative foundation that continues to shape how she communicates across disciplines and cultures.
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Maya Evanitsky is a Research Specialist at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, where she works on grants and contract management for research enterprises. She received her PhD in Genetics and Genomics from Duke University in 2023. Her thesis research used live imaging and computational modeling to further our understanding of vertebrate skin development. During her time at Duke, she took part in efforts dedicated to improving diversity, equity, and inclusion in STEM. She served as the president of DukeOUT, a student group that brings together the LGBT+ community among the various graduate and professional schools at Duke. She is passionate about making STEM more equitable and welcoming for all. She likes to spend her free time knitting and exploring the Pittsburgh arts scene.
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Leanna Kalinowski is a final-year MPH student at the University at Buffalo in the Department of Community Health and Health Behavior, where she studies relationships between social isolation and and substance use behaviors among older adults. She also holds an M.A. in behavioral neuroscience and previously studied the neurobiological effects of prescription stimulant (e.g., Ritalin, Adderall) use. Outside of the lab, she is passionate about improving the use of research evidence in public health policy and has completed internships with organizations including the Research-to-Policy Collaboration, Scholars Strategy Network, and Research!America. She is also interested in science policy workforce development and is heavily involved with the National Science Policy Network, where she previously coordinated their Science Policy Scholars-in-Residence Program and currently serves as their inaugural Science Policy Committee Chair.
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Piyush Kumar is a postdoctoral fellow at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York City, in the Department of Environmental Medicine and Public Health where he works to elucidate biomarkers for early and prenatal environmental exposures. He specializes in biomedical applications of spectroscopic techniques for disease diagnosis, environmental exposure detection, and understanding implications of such exposures on human health. He obtained his PhD in noninvasive diagnosis of oral cancers from Tata Memorial Centre at Mumbai (India) and his Masters in Genetics from University of Delhi.
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Jacqueline Mann is a postdoctoral scholar at Yale University where her research focuses on understanding and mitigating adverse events in cancer patients treated with immunotherapy. She received her PhD in Molecular and Cellular Pathology from the University of Michigan in 2020. Jacqueline is an active member and leader in the Yale Postdoctoral Association, where she has advocated for improved policies affecting postdocs, including equitable pay and benefits and access to wellness resources. Her interests include STEM workforce development, STEM education, and health and biomedical research policy.
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Bailey McCarthy Riley is a Knauss Fellow in the House of Representative’s Science Space and Technology subcommittee on Environment. Within the subcommittee, she works on a broad variety of issues from improved weather satellites to environmental resiliency. Bailey is a doctoral candidate at Wayne State University in analytical chemistry, where her research focuses on the design and development of microfluidic digital bioassays for improved disease diagnostics. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Saginaw Valley State University in chemistry and studio art, where she previously did research on 3-D printable analytical instruments for assessing the Saginaw Bay watershed. Bailey previously worked with the National Science Policy Network as a SciPol Scholars bootcamp instructor and later as an editor. She is passionate about connecting high level research to broader audiences to allow them to make informed decisions about their communities.
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Aoife O’Mahony is a postdoctoral researcher in the School of Pharmacy at University College Cork, Ireland. Her work spans evidence synthesis, public health, implementation science, and meta-research. She completed her PhD in Psychology at Cardiff University, where she conducted meta-research on Registered Reports, an open science format designed to improve transparency and rigor in scientific publishing. Her current research focuses on COVID-19 vaccine implementation in Ireland, while previous work has focused on methods for tailoring implementation strategies to context-specific barriers in healthcare. Aoife’s interest in science policy emerged through her work in open science and research reform, particularly through engagement with international initiatives focused on improving the transparency, accessibility, and societal impact of research. Beyond academia, she has contributed to science policy through her work with the Major Group for Children and Youth’s Science Policy Interface platform, collaborating on initiatives related to open science and digital public goods. Through these experiences, she has developed an interest in how evidence can inform policy and how policy can support more effective and equitable research systems. As an Associate Editor at JSPG, she is committed to fostering interdisciplinary dialogue, enhancing the integration of research evidence into policymaking and practice, and empowering early career researchers.
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Olawale F. Olaniyan is presently a member of the academic staff in the University of The Gambia, The Gambia. He earned MSc in public administration and policy and also a PhD in an applied science field. His over 10-year postgraduate work experiences and expertise mostly focus on successful design, management and evaluation of multidisciplinary initiatives with focus on optimal utilization of natural resources to increase productivity, conservation and sustainable management of biodiversity. In the past years, he has been privileged to work independently and also as a core member of national and international teams of experts in at least five countries located in Africa, Europe, and Middle East regions. He has been previously involved in institutional transformation, analysis and contribution to development of relevant policies as well as in promoting constructive dialogue concerning pro-poor development, climate change adaptation and resilience building. Furthermore, he understands from many perspectives (gender, environmental, cultural, social and financial) the challenges of vulnerable and marginalized people.
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William Ota is a Post-Doctoral Research Associate in the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife at Michigan State University. At MSU William studies the impacts of red swamp crayfish invasion and management in Michigan and crayfish invasion pathways and prevention throughout the Great Lakes region. He became interested in science and policy while working in the Santa Monica Mountains as an undergraduate and experienced how connected policy was with ongoing ecological issues including dam removal and management of public lands. He has served as National Chair of the National Science Policy Network, Chair of the UC Riverside Science to Policy program, Chair of the Ecological Society of America's policy section, partnered with the California legislature to submit a bill as a winner of the UCCS STEM Solutions program as a PhD student, and was selected as a CASS Scientists Promoting Policy, Access, Research, and Knowledge Fellow. He believes that through training the next generation of scientists to engage in both science and policy we can build connections that strengthen the function of both research and policy to benefit everyone. In his free time William enjoys spending even more time in the water fishing and exploring Michigan’s rivers and streams.
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Sugosh Prabhu is an editorial board member of the Marie Curie Alumni Association - an international non-profit organization established and supported by the European Commission. He did his doctoral work at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), India where he investigated solute solvent interactions in complex fluids using time resolved spectroscopic techniques. He then joined as a postdoctoral researcher at KU Leuven. He was awarded the Marie Curie postdoctoral fellowship (of the European Commission) to investigate the role of ionic liquids in stabilizing nucleic acids. Apart from research he is interested in policy, science communication and science diplomacy.
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Jennie C. Steyaert is in the final year of her Ph.D. at Utrecht University in the Netherlands. Her research centers on evaluating the tradeoffs between different human environmental water allocations in Europe as part of the SOS Water project. She completed her M.S. in Hydrology at the University of Arizona and her B.S. in Biochemistry at Colorado State University. In addition to her schooling, she spent a year in the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) teaching high school science, English and Health and providing logistical support on the FSM’s National Women’s Conference. This sparked her interest in science policy and the multitude of impacts it can have on the local, national, and global scales. In her last year of her Masters, she participated in a Diplomacy Lab run through the US Department of State developing policy recommendations to mitigate climate change impacts along the Mekong River in southeast Asia. Most recently, she has co-authored articles on using experiential learning in science policy and global health diplomacy and serves as the Science Policy Officer for the Hydrologic Sciences Division within the European Geosciences Union.
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Isabel Warner is the Fellows Program Manager at Missouri Science & Technology (MOST) Policy Initiative, which provides non-partisan research services to the Missouri General Assembly. She received her PhD in Microbiology from the University of Queensland, where she used comparative genomics to identify targets for new antibiotic classes. Prior to her PhD she worked in academic, industry, and government laboratories and founded a non-profit focused on civic education for the public. During graduate school, these interests converged and led her to science policy as a career. She was elected president of her graduate student organization and as National Chair of the National Science Policy Network (NSPN), before becoming a MOST Legislative Policy Fellow. She has worked on science diplomacy, graduate education, and scientific workforce projects, and has supported Missouri's Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Task Force since 2023. Isabel cares deeply about educating scientists on the impact of policy on their lives, their ability to influence and inform these polices, and the importance of communication and relationship building in this process. Outside of her work, she fosters for her local animal shelter, leads her city's fiber arts group, and reads voraciously. |
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Matthew Zajac works in the Office of Research at the University of Chicago, where he supports faculty in developing large-scale and multi-institution federal research proposals. He received his doctorate in Chemistry from the University of Chicago, where he used fluorescent chemical sensors to identify and characterize intracellular calcium channels. He also served as a Director of Graduate Student Initiative during his time there. Matt has also been a freelance medical writer for several years, and published award-winning essays on scientific topics. Among many other things, Matt is interested in policies that increase the level and efficiency of funding for inclusive and interdisciplinary research, as well as those that minimize barriers to open science. He hopes to continue to merge these scientific and societal interests in his career in science policy and science communication.
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