A program of the UC Institute on
Global Conflict and Cooperation
funded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York
Participants 2005
IGCC is pleased to announce the second group of participants in the
Public Policy and Biological Threats (PPBT) summer training program,
funded in part by the Carnegie Corporation of New York.
The 2005 PPBT program had twelve participants from five
of the nine UC campuses, the Pardee RAND Graduate School, and the consulting
firm Booz Allen Hamilton. PPBT participants
meet in July 2005 for a three-week training
program on the UC San Diego campus in La Jolla, California.
LEO BLANKEN is a graduate student at the University of
California, Davis. He is currently working on a dissertation using game theoretic
models to examine the political economy of formal imperialism. Other research
interests include strategic and security studies.
KRISTINE BRIEDIS is a fourth-year Ph.D. candidate in
bioinformatics at the University of California, San Diego. She received her
B.S. in genetics from Iowa State University in 2001. Her current research
focuses on protein structure prediction, functional annotation, and evolution.
Briedis’s interest in public policy has led to a variety of experiences.
She has interned for a state legislator and currently serves as a bioinformatics
department representative in the UCSD Graduate Student Association. She is
interested in exploring issues related to bioterrorism, epidemic response,
and the biotech industry.
GWEN D’ARCANGELIS has a B.A.
in the Biological Basis of Behavior: Neural Systems from the University of
Pennsylvania (May
1997), and is currently a Ph.D. candidate in women’s studies at the University
of California, Los Angeles. Her research explores social studies of science
with an emphasis on gender, race, and nation. As an undergraduate, she was
interested in studying the biological mechanisms of human behavior, and
worked in biology labs during and after college. After four years of working
in neurobiology and genetics laboratories, her scholarly interest shifted to
gender politics and the social studies of science—the individual practices,
belief systems, and political influences that constitute the messiness of science
in reality.
As a scholar currently located in the interdisciplinary field of
women’s studies, D’Arcangelis is researching what role science, particularly
biological and technological tools, can and should play towards improving
the well-being of everyone in society. She is particularly interested in
the role
that government policies play in shaping the research and applications of
biological and technological practices and tools.
MICHELLE GARCIA is a graduate student at UC Berkeley studying plant and microbial biology.
She graduated Summa Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from San Diego State University in 2002
where she studied global climate change and the effects of precipitation on mycorrhizal infection of plant species
in the arctic tundra. After graduating from SDSU, Garcia worked in the biotechnology industry developing
and profiling novel taste compounds.
Her current research involves understanding the mechanism of Type IV bacterial secretion and how it is involved in plant infection. She is interested in applying this information to human diseases caused by the same bacterial secretion system. Her interests also include the development of a warning system involving plant detection of bacterial and viral diseases that may potentially be used as biowarfare.
JENNIFER HENN is a doctoral candidate in epidemiology at the
University of California, Davis. She graduated with a B.A. in biopsychology
from Vassar College
in 1999, where she was a recipient of the Undergraduate Research Summer Institute
(URSI) Fellowship and participated in research on the biochemical effects
of a commonly used breast cancer drug on the brain.
Henn’s research interests are in the epidemiology of infectious and vector-borne
diseases, as well as in the applications of molecular epidemiology within this
field. Her current research is focused on bacterial species in the genus Bartonella,
which are emerging zoonotic pathogens that have been identified in a wide range
of domestic and wild animals.
HOLDEN HIGGINBOTHAM is a fourth-year
graduate student in the biomedical sciences program at the University of
California, San Diego.
His research in a developmental neurogenetics laboratory focuses on the cell
biology of neuronal migration during brain development.
Higginbotham received his B.S. in Biology from Brigham Young University
in 2000 and worked as a hydrologist for the Forest Service before entering
graduate
school. He devotes his spare time to visiting the outdoors and photography.
TIM LANT is a doctoral fellow at the Pardee RAND Graduate
School housed within the RAND Corporation, where he is working towards his
second doctoral
degree in policy analysis. He is currently serving as the president and
CEO of the National Association of Graduate-Professional Students.
Lant
completed a Ph.D. in applied mathematics with specialization in mathematical
biology at Arizona State University in 2004, where he also served as
president and founder of the ASU Graduate and Professional Student Association.
Previously, he worked as an actuary at Actuarial Management Corporation
and as a financial analyst in the healthcare and biotechnology investment
banking
division at CIBC World Markets. He holds a Master of Actuarial Science
and a B.S. in mathematics from Georgia State University. His research
interests include science and technology policy, technology foresight,
biodefense, public-private partnerships, systems of innovation, economics,
decision
making under uncertainty, and graduate education, among others.
BRAD LEVECK is an entering Ph.D. student in Political Science at UCSD.
He received his BA from UC Berkeley in 2004 with a double major in Political Science and Linguistics.
His current research interests are arms control, and cognitive decision making processes in deterrence and coercive bargaining.
PAUL MYERS, born in Africa and educated in England, joined London’s
Metropolitan Police Service (headquartered at New Scotland Yard) at the
age of 19. He served as a public order officer through an IRA terrorism
campaign in England and worked on Operation Rainbow counterterrorism
patrols. He also served as a front-line medic in police operations such
as the 1999 Greek Embassy siege. He retired with six years of service
after being severely injured in the line of duty.
Myers is now studying
for his M.A./Ph.D. in Communication at the University of California,
Santa Barbara. His research focuses on attitudinal change and persuasion,
particularly
as
it relates
to
counter-terrorism and the police. He hopes to eventually work in some
form of counter-terrorism
capacity in the United States.
MICHAEL SANDERS is a graduate student
in the Bioinformatics program at University of California, San Diego. He
completed his B.S. in
Biology at University of Utah, focusing on cell biology. His current research
involves associating genetic diversity with disease propensity. The future
holds great potential in understanding and manipulating our bodies and
the world around us as well as artificial use of biological systems in
engineering applications. A writer who is concerned about public use and
application of biological knowledge, Sanders is interested in policy and
education in this cutting-edge field of biology.
LARRY VALERO is a lecturer in Intelligence and International
History and the program tutor for the M.A./Postgraduate Diploma in Intelligence
and Security Studies (MAISS) at the University of Salford, Manchester,
U.K. His research and teaching interests focus upon U.S. intelligence and
national security, contemporary U.S. foreign policy, strategy, and
modern warfare.
Valero received his Ph.D. in the History of International Relations
from St. Catharine’s College, University of Cambridge, his
M.A. in War Studies from King’s
College, University of London, and his B.A. in Political Science from
the University of California, Los Angeles. Prior to his current academic
post
he was a teaching fellow at Indiana University, Bloomington, and a graduate
student summer associate at the RAND Corporation in Santa Monica, California.
He has published articles in Intelligence and National Security, The
International Journal of Intelligence and Counter-Intelligence,
and Studies
in Intelligence.
TOM VINCENT lives in Washington, D.C., where he works as a
consultant
for Booz
Allen Hamilton. His work primarily focuses on biological weapon proliferation
prevention, threat agent detection and response, and regulatory and strategic
support for Central Asian countries (Georgia, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan). Additionally,
he helps with the management of the bond fund for the Department of Energy’s
Yucca Mountain Project in Nevada. Before joining Booz Allen, he attended Indiana
University, where he received his undergraduate degree in biology and
a master’s degree in public affairs, specializing in international affairs
and natural resource and environmental policy. Vincent also studied for a
semester at the University of Adelaide in South Australia.
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