Ayo Bodunde, BSN RN

Graduate Research Assistant, UIC

Ayo Bodunde is a Graduate Research Assistant at the University of Illinois Chicago’s Department of Psychiatry and a PhD student in Nursing at the same institution. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Nursing from Chamberlain University and has a rich background in clinical practice. Previously, Ayo served as an Administrative Nurse on an adolescent psychiatric unit and worked extensively with adult, pediatric, and developmentally delayed populations. Her current research interest is on the mental health consequences of gun violence victimization.

Sabrina Ali Jamal-Eddine, PhD

Postdoctoral Research Associate, Disability and Human Development, UIC

Sabrina Jamal-Eddine, PhD BSN RN is a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Department of Disability and Human Development at University of Illinois Chicago. Dr. Jamal-Eddine is an interdisciplinary nurse scientist who earned her PhD in Nursing and Certificate in Disability Ethics from University of Illinois Chicago (UIC). Dr. Jamal-Eddine’s doctoral research explored the use of spoken word poetry as a form of critical narrative pedagogy to educate nursing students about disability, ableism, and disability justice. Dr. Jamal-Eddine’s goal is to create transformative change within healthcare education praxis by developing engaging anti-colonial pedagogic strategies rooted in the lived experiences of multiply marginalized disabled people. Her long-term goal is to found an applied public-humanities / community-engaged healthcare equity center in a university that confronts healthcare inequity, violence, and oppression and promotes liberation, humanization, and belongingness for all marginalized patients, students, and practitioners.

Heath Williams, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor, Notre Dame

Dr. Williams is an accomplished PhD in Philosophy with extensive research and teaching experience across a range of specialities. His research focus on intersubjectivity and empathy, the philosophy of the human person, the philosophy of cognitive science and psychology, analytic philosophy of mind and Edmund Husserl. Confident at developing curriculum, delivering innovative course content and engaging with students in an accessible manner to enhance their understanding of key philosophical concepts. Heath has extensively published across well-regarded journals and confident at presenting in both local and international forums. He is a luminary of our time.

Michael Aref, MD, PhD, FACP, FHM

Clinical Associate Professor, Carle College, UIUC

Dr. Michael Aref, MD is a hospice & palliative medicine internist in Urbana, IL. He is affiliated with Carle Foundation Hospital.

Sarah Abboud, PhD, RN

Associate Professor, UIC

Dr. Abboud employs principles of community-based participatory research and qualitative methods, and aim to develop evidence-based research programs and interventions to improve health outcomes among first- and second-generation Arab immigrants in the U.S.

Dr. Abboud is one of few Arab scholars to explore sexual health at the intersections of immigration, gender, sexual orientation, and ethnic identity in this population. Her program of research is grounded in social justice and health equity frameworks and has two interrelated tracks: first, sexual health promotion and sexual violence prevention among Arab immigrants; and second, sexual and mental health among sexual minority Arab immigrants. Alongside her research, her advocacy work centers on the (in)visibility of Arab/Middle Eastern & North African (MENA)/South West Asian & North African (SWANA) identity and calls for the inclusion of a separate racial/ethnic identity category on the U.S. census reporting.

Dr. Abboud completed her BS and MS in Nursing at the American University of Beirut School of Nursing, Lebanon, and my PhD and post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing. Dr. Abboud also completed a Visiting Faculty Fellowship at Yale University School of Public Health Center for Interdisciplinary Research on AIDS (2017-2019).

Susan Leggett, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor, UIUC

Susan Leggett is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Bioengineering. She is an Associate Member in the Cancer Center at Illinois and an Affiliate in the Carl R. Woese Institute of Genomic Biology.

Susan received her Ph.D. from Brown University in May 2018 and completed postdoctoral training at Princeton University in December 2022. She joined the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Bioengineering in January 2023. She has been awarded several honors in her field of expertise and has received national recognition; She is a 2012 Goldwater Scholar and was named a 2021 Rising Star in Engineering and Health by Columbia and Johns Hopkins University.

Thomas Byrne, Ph.D.

Research Assitant Professor, UIUC

Research Assistant Professor Thomas Byrne (pronounced: Burn) is a classically trained phenomenologist, having completed his PhD at The Husserl Archives at KU Leuven. His works have been translated into six languages and he has given invited talks on four continents. Since 2017, he has published over 20 articles in journals such as the European Journal of Philosphy, The Journal of Consciousness Studies, and most prominently, Husserl Studies.