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

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Brendon Davis

(He/Him)

Vice President of Science Policy

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.

Arpitha Peteru

**(She/Her)**
**Vice President of Science Diplomacy**
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.

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Angad Sandhu

**Treasurer**
Angad Sandhu is a Master’s student in Computer Science at Johns Hopkins University, focusing on machine learning, natural language processing, and GenAI applications. With a deep interest in the intersection of technology and policy, Angad brings a background of experience in technical roles as well as organizational leadership. During his undergraduate studies, Angad worked with several technical and non-technical student organizations and volunteered with groups supporting underprivileged children and recovering addicts. These experiences have shaped his passion for driving meaningful change through AI and technology policy. As Treasurer, Angad is excited to support JHSPDG’s mission by managing financial resources effectively and advancing initiatives that bridge science, policy, and public impact.

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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.

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**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.

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**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.

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John Soltis

**Science Policy Coordinator**
John is a sixth year PhD candidate at Johns Hopkins University, studying astronomy and astrophysics. John's research focuses on applying artificial intelligence (AI) methods to clusters of galaxies. More generally, he is interested in applying advanced data analysis methods, especially AI, to problems in cosmology. In 2023, John was a predoctoral fellow at the Center for Computational Astrophysics at the Flatiron Institute, where he studied the robustness of galaxy cluster properties in cosmological simulations. Prior to graduate school, John worked on a variety of problems in physics, astronomy, and machine learning. These included AI-aided wildfire detection at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, using supernovae data to test fundamental properties of the Universe as an undergraduate at the University of Michigan, and improving laser-waveform generation at the National Ignition Facility at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
Outside of research, John has served as representative for the Johns Hopkins University Physics & Astronomy department to the Graduate Representative Organization and as a Maryland Space Grant Consortium Observatory Fellow. He is now serving as a TRU-UE union steward and a Space Telescope Science Institute liaison. John has a long history of interest in science policy, and in public policy more generally. As an undergraduate at the University of Michigan, John wrote for the Michigan Journal of International Affairs and competed, as well as judged, for his high school's public forum debate team. John has participated in multiple Congressional Visit Days, including for the American Astronomical Society, the Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), and the Johns Hopkins Science Policy and Diplomacy Group. During these events, he advocated for improved science funding and policies to strengthen the scientific workforce. John is also a co-author on *International STEM Graduate Students: A Key to Strengthening the American Economy and Building Competitiveness*, published in the *Journal of Science Policy and Governance*.
As a Science Policy Coordinator, John hopes to continue advocating for robust science funding, STEM-related immigration reform, and to aid the professional development of other PhD students who are interested in science policy.

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Kaila Rehfuss

**Science Policy Coordinator**
Kaila is a Master of Science in Biotechnology graduate student focusing on a Biodefense concentration at Johns Hopkins University Krieger School of Arts & Sciences. She received her Bachelor of Science degree in Biology with a minor in Chemistry from The College of New Jersey. Working in numerous sectors within the biotechnology industry, her research experience includes drug and vaccine development, medical countermeasure research, microbiome sequencing, laboratory robotic systems, and infectious disease characterization. Currently at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR), her work focuses on combating antibiotic-resistant bacteria (CARB) through the development of new medical countermeasures.
Kaila is particularly passionate about the intersectionality of science and socioeconomic issues such as advocating for equal gender representation within research. She is also eager to explore how science policy evolves as emerging scientific fields continue to advance.
During her free time, Kaila enjoys running, traveling, painting, teaching yoga, taking dance classes, and reading on the beach.

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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.

Nick Zhang

Science Diplomacy Coordinator

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.

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.

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Lucie Dequiedt

**Science Diplomacy Coordinator**
Lucie is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the Johns Hopkins University Whiting School of Engineering. Her doctoral research is focused on leveraging advanced computational methods in 3D digital pathology, with a special interest for the characterization of healthy and diseased 3D renal architecture. She is also an active part of different international collaborative research efforts to improve early detection of pancreatic cancer in individuals at high-risk of developing the disease. She received a Bachelor of Science in civil engineering and a Master of Science in biomedical engineering from the University of Liege, Belgium.
Lucie is especially passionate about global efforts to mitigate the systemic effects of climate change. She is also an advocate for women’s rights, particularly related to women’s health and education. She is eager to bring her international background and scientific expertise to the science diplomacy conversation. Outside of research, she is the social chair for the ChemBE Graduate Student Liaison Committee.

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Nezar nokrachi

Science Diplomacy Coordinator

Nezar is a Masters of Arts in International Relations graduate student at Johns Hopkins SAIS, who completed his first year at the Bologna, Italy campus. His professional and academic interests include diplomacy, international defense policy, trade and monetary policy, and political analysis. Nezar’s scientific interests include military technology, information technology and data science, nutritional science, U.S. healthcare reform, and neuroscience. He is a U.S. State Department Rangel Fellow. Nezar holds BA degrees in Diplomacy & International Relations and Philosophy from Seton Hall University with minors in French and Economics and a certificate in cybersecurity. In his free time, Nezar enjoys weightlifting, golf, medieval and ancient philosophy, hiking, and basketball. He looks forward to serving the JHSPDG team and furthering coordination in national security and science policy in the United States and around the world.

Emeritus Members:

Vivian Su: Ph.D. Candidate | Materials Science and Engineering | JHU KSAS

Gihan Sherif Elhadidy: Ph.D. | International Affairs | JHU SAIS

Ryan Posthumus: Master of Arts | Strategy, Cybersecurity, and Intelligence (MASCI) | JHU SAIS

Nathan Van Damme: Master of Science | Mechanical Engineering | Johns Hopkins University

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