people

Our people make the difference.

Director

Name Research Interests
Eric Vilain medical genetics; gender-based biology; genetic bases of sex determination and sexual orientation; molecular mechanisms responsible for intersexuality in humans; mechanisms of early gonadal development and brain sexual differentiation; psychological well-being of individuals born with disorders of sex development evilain@ucla.edu
Rolfe 1323
Gonda 6335

Vice Chair

Name Research Interests
Christina Palmer implications on genetic testing for deafness; examination of the inter-relationships among research methodologies/technologies, advocacy groups and perspectives on deafness and how they impact the lives of all individuals cpalmer@mednet.ucla.edu
Semel 47-422

Associate Director

Name Research Interests
Jessica Lynch Alfaro mating strategies; evolution of social behavior and social learning; phylogenetics and phylogeography; Neotropical primates; reproductive endocrinology; masculinity and violence; sex and gender in biological, social and developmental contexts jlynchalfaro@ucla.edu
(310) 206-1889
Rolfe 1321

Administrative Support

Name Title
Ana Wevill Chief Administrative Officer ana [at] socgen.ucla.edu
(310) 267-5471
Rolfe 1325
Rich Moushegian Student Affairs Officer rmousheg [at] socgen.ucla.edu
(310) 206-1890
Rolfe 1308
Danielle Shenise Administrative Assistant dshenise [at] socgen.ucla.edu
Rolfe 1327
Feliza Estrada Student Assistant festrada@socgen.ucla.edu

Faculty

Name Research Interests
Michael Alfaro diversification and macroevolution; evolutionary morphology; theoretical phylogenetics; reef fish molecular systematics michaelalfaro@ucla.edu
Terasaki 2154
Patrick Allard
gene-environment interaction and its relevance to health and society
pallard@socgen.ucla.edu
Soraya de Chadarevian history of biology and medicine, nineteenth and twentieth century with special focus on history of molecular biology and genetics post-World War II; material cultures of experimentation, especially the role of technologies, images and models in the production and circulation of scientific knowledge; technoscience/medicine, industry and the state; science/medicine and the military; historiographical issues chadarevian@history.ucla.edu
(301) 267-4767
Rolfe 1319
Debra Greenfield law and emerging biotechnologies, including intellectual property and property law; privacy and human genetic material and information dgreenf@ucla.edu
Rolfe 1328
Wayne Grody diagnostic molecular pathology; human genetics; DNA-based testing for genetic, infectious and neoplastic diseases; quality assurance and ethical guidelines for DNA-based genetic testing; DNA fingerprinting wgrody@mednet.ucla.edu
Martie G. Haselton how evolution has shaped the social mind; human intimate relationships and sexuality, their endocrine foundations, and their links to outcomes with broad social relevance, including health. haselton@ucla.edu
Barbara Herman genetic privacy; concepts of property rights in the person; moral philosophy; medical law and ethics herman@humnet.ucla.edu
Christopher Kelty anthropological and historical research on science and technology; free and open source software; intellectual property and open access; politics of electronic voting; history of software; ethics and politics of nanotechnology ckelty@socgen.ucla.edu
(310) 267-4775
Rolfe 1315
Russell Korobkin health care law; stem cell law and policy korobkin@law.ucla.edu
Hannah Landecker social and historical study of biotechnology and life science from 1900-present; intersections of biology and technology, with a particular focus on cells; in vitro conditions of life in research settings landecker@soc.ucla.edu
(310) 825-5502
Rolfe 1316
Aaron Panofsky sociology of science and knowledge; social theory; cultural sociology; social change; the causes and consequences of controversy in behavior genetics; the impact of patient advocacy on medical genetics; how genetics affects different fields of knowledge; the relationship between expertise and democracy in decision making; governance of science apanofsky@socgen.ucla.edu
(310) 206-9362
Rolfe 1317
Joan Silk how natural selection shapes evolution of social behavior in primates; behavioral and reproductive strategies in Old World monkey species; questions that link studies of nonhuman primates to humans; phylogenic roots of capacities that relate to nonhuman and human societies jsilk@anthro.ucla.edu
Janet Sinsheimer human genetics; biomathematics and the application of statistical methodology in human genetic analysis; statistical methods related to maternal-fetal genotype incompatability; estimating ethnic ancestry from DNA data janet@mednet.ucla.edu
Stefan Timmermans ethnography; sociology of health and illness; science and technology of the body, death and dying; interpretive theories related to genetics; qualitative research methods stefan@soc.ucla.edu
Norton Wise
history of science, eighteenth to twentieth centuries; co-evolution of science and society; science and political economy; gardens as culture/economic projectors; the gendering of scientific ideas nortonw@history.ucla.edu

Visiting Scholars

Name Research Interests
Otniel E. Dror from Hebrew University Jerusalem, Visiting Scholar at both ISG and the Department of History otnield@ekmd.huji.ac.il
Melissa Hines from University of Cambridge mh504@cam.ac.uk
Amisha Gadani Visiting Artist at both ISG and the Alfaro Lab of Dr. Michael Alfaro agadani@ucla.edu
Rolfe 1326, Teresaki 2154
Sarah Blacker Visiting Graduate Researcher, University of Alberta, Canada sblacker@socgen.ucla.edu

Postdoctoral Fellows

Apply to Postdoctoral Program

Name Research Interests
Nathan Ha history of biology and medicine, especially genetics in the twentieth century; gender and sexuality studies; scientific constructions of sexual and racial differences; public understanding of science; US cultural history nathanha@socgen.ucla.edu
Rolfe 1326
Jennifer Hahn-Holbrook cognitive, evolutionary, and health psychology; the role of hormones in shaping maternal psychology and behavior jhahn@psych.ucla.edu
Rolfe 1326
Bradley Fidler information technology and psychiatric drug markets
fidler [at] ucla.edu
Martine Lappé sociology of health and illness; science and technology studies; autism; gender and embodiment; risk; feminist theory; qualitative methods mlappe@socgen.ucla.edu
Rolfe 1328

Graduate Student Fellows

Apply to Graduate Program

Name Research Interests
Lindsey Chambers morality of procreation kchambers@humnet.ucla.edu
363 Dodd
Lianna Hart qualitative methods; health care and illness; mental health; gender; families; disabilities liannahart@ucla.edu
Marc Johnston multiraciality in higher education marcjohnst@ucla.edu
Gabriela Cybis stochastic models for evolutionary processes, viral evolution, cancer dynamics gcybis [at] ucla.edu

Associates

Name Department
Hal Ackerman Theater, Film and Television hack@tft.ucla.edu
Stefan Bargheer Sociology bargheer@soc.ucla.edu
Clark Barrett Anthropology barrett@anthro.ucla.edu
Patrick Boudreault Deaf Studies pboudreault@usfca.edu
Dan Blumstein Ecology and Evolutionary Biology marmots@ucla.edu
Joel Braslow Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences jbraslow@ucla.edu
Elizabeth Bromley Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences ebromley@mednet.ucla.edu
Carole Browner Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences browner@ucla.edu
Allison Carruth English acarruth@humnet.ucla.edu
Steven Clarke Chemistry and Biochemistry clarke@mbi.ucla.edu
Christopher Colwell School of Medicine ccolwell@mednet.ucla.edu
JoAnn Damron-Rodriguez Public Affairs jdamron@ucla.edu
Dan Fessler Anthropology dfessler@anthro.ucla.edu
Michelle Fox School of Medicine, Pediatrics + Pediatric Genetics mfox@mednet.ucla.edu
Tony Friscia UEI; Integrative Biology and Physiology tonyf@ucla.edu
Patrick Geary History geary@ias.edu
Jim Gimzewski Chemistry and Nanotechnology gim@chem.ucla.edu
Myrna Hant Center for the Study of Women myrnahant@aol.com
Steve Hubbell Ecology and Evolutionary Biology shubbell@eeb.ucla.edu
Lejla Kucukalic English lekius@humnet.ucla.edu
Rachel Lee Center for the Study of Women rlee@women.ucla.edu
Neil Malamuth Communication Studies; Psychology nmalamut@ucla.edu
Ariadna Martinez Jules Stein Eye Institute amartinez@jsei.ucla.edu
Edward R.B. McCabe University of Colorado at Denver edward.mccabe@ucdenver.edu
Linda McCabe University of Colorado at Denver linda.mccabe@ucdenver.edu
Kyle McJunkin Undergraduate Education kmcjunkin@college.ucla.edu
Marcia Meldrum History meldrum@history.ucla.edu
Jennifer Mnookin Law mnookin@law.ucla.edu
Peter Nonacs Ecology and Evolutionary Biology pnonacs@biology.lifesci.ucla.edu
John Novembre Ecology and Evolutionary Biology jnovembre@ucla.edu
Kathy O’Byrne UCLA Center for Community Learning kobyrne [a] college.ucla.edu
Elinor Ochs Anthropology eochs@anthro.ucla.edu
Matteo Pellegrini Molecular, Cell, and Developmental Biology matteop@mcdb.ucla.edu
Mark Peterson Public Policy; Political Science markap@ucla.edu
Ted Porter History tporter@history.ucla.edu
Brooke Scelza Anthropology bscelza@anthro.ucla.edu
Barney Schlinger Integrative Biology and Physiology, EEB schlinge@lifesci.ucla.edu
Seana Shiffrin Philosophy; Law shiffrin@law.ucla.edu
Erica Silver Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center esilver@mednet.ucla.edu
Victoria Sork Ecology and Evolutionary Biology vlsork@ucla.edu
Annette Stanton Psychology, Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences astanton@ucla.edu
Charles Taylor Ecology and Evolutionary Biology taylor@biology.ucla.edu
Victoria Vesna Design and Media Arts vv@ucla.edu
Robert Wayne Ecology and Evolutionary Biology rwayne@biology.ucla.edu
Alice Wexler Center for the Study of Women arwexler@ucla.edu
Juliet Williams Gender Studies jawilliams@gender.ucla.edu
Lynne Zucker Sociology; Public Policy lynne.g.zucker@gmail.com

Alumni

this section in progress, we will have all alumni up shortly

Name Research Interests
Olivia Banner  race in a postracial/postgenomic era; cultural interrogations of genetic discourses of race, sex, sexuality, and disability; virus narrative olivia.banner@rice.edu
Chris Conway role of molecular genetic research in shaping the classification of mental disorders; identification of cognitive and behavioral phenotypes accounting for genetic risk for psychopathology; borderline personality disorder conwayc@ucla.edu
Laura Foster  patent law and indigenous communities; tangible versus intangible intellectual property fosterl@indiana.edu
James Li independent and interactive effects of genetic and environmental risk factors in the etiology of childhood psychological disorders; differential susceptibility and genetic plasticity; epigenetic mechanisms underlying developmental psychopathology; advanced statistical approaches in psychological classification jamesjli@ucla.edu
Lisa Onaga history of biology; history of science and technology in East Asia from the nineteenth through the twenty-first century, especially genetic and agricultural experimentation in Japan; standardization of living organisms in relation to industrial textile and food production; historical relationships among genetics, race, and nation; formation of animal and plant genetic resources and biobanks; history of Asian Americans in science and technology lonaga@ntu.edu.sg
Sharlene Santana evolution of morphology, performance and behavior; diversification; bats, primates and other mammals; tropical ecology; genetic basis of behavioral and morphological traits; biomechanics ssantana@uw.edu
Jennifer Smith evolutionary origins of cooperation; causes and consequences of maternal effects; social decision-making in mammals; reproductive endocrinology; genetic structuring of social networks; public perception of evolutionary science; behavioral and evolutionary ecology jesmith@mills.edu
Lindsay Smith genetic technologies as part of international reconstruction and repair initiatives; medical anthropology; social anthropology; large scale DNA databanking; human rights and DNA lasmith@socgen.ucla.edu
 Elani Streja  genetics of inflammatory markers and the development of cerebral palsy in a Denmark cohort; racial paradoxes in survival of chronic kidney disease elani@ucla.edu