Stem Cells Across The Curriculum

Michael, a student of the Product Design BFA program at Parsons The New School for Design. He is interested in how science and design intersect and the effect design can have on people's lives and the environment. Michael coordinated the final stages of the SCAC website rollout and provided CSS editing. He also prepared files for deployment and assisted in the configuration of the website's content management system. His portfolio can be seen at his website.

Carl Jadaa is a candidate of the Parsons MFA in Design and Technology program. He contributed to the initial development of the SCAC website. He is an artist interested in the intersection of art, fashion, and design, and is always looking for ways and opportunities to innovate, develop new ideas and solutions, and to assign art to things that are popular.

Chelsea Briganti graduated from Parsons The New School of Design in 2010 with a BFA in Product Design. Her contribution to the SCAC project includes Mademoicell, a device that collects menstrual stem cells for storage and retrieval, which appears in the Sources of Stem Cells Radial Infographic and the Blood ZoomGraphic and is highlighted in the HeLa Cells & HPV Genes: Immortality & Cancer and Eggs & Blood: Gifts & Commodities Modules. Chelsea worked with stem cell researchers, gynecologists, and women to design a device that promotes public banking of menstrual blood stem cells and serves as an alternative to costly private banking. Chelsea is the co-founder Loliware, a design company that produces biodegradable edible cups, and hydrating superfood for aging populations. Chelsea envisions designers as agents of change and fundamentally believes in the cross-pollination of ideas and resources, as well as the exciting, translational space where design converges with science. Her work is currently featured at the MoMA Design Store, and publications include Wired, TIME Magazine, Wall Street Journal, New York Times Magazine, Fast Company, and Shark Tank.

Alexa earned a BA in Interdisciplinary Science and Psychology, and a minor in Gender Studies from Eugene Lang College for Liberal Arts at The New School. Her participation on the SCAC project involved content development for many pieces of the curriculum and more specifically, she provided Timelines content and design, and is co-author of the Eggs & Blood: Gifts & Commodities Module and Case Study where her feminist perspective and interdisciplinary approach proved vital. She served as a Science Fellow for the University Lecture Course Immortality and Immorality: Stem Cells and Social Justice and analyzed student work to assess student learning and usability of the curricular materials and has presented this work at international conferences, received the Interdisciplinary Science Outstanding Senior Award, and four other student awards centered on humanitarian action and social justice. She currently works as a Research Program Manager for a clinical trial addressing pain management in cancer patients. She is currently completing anMPH with a focus on reproductive biology and epidemiology at the CUNY School of Public Health. Her dedication to the project has been invaluable.

Emmanuel is a graduate of Fashion Design at Parsons School for Design, at The New School, where he was named one of the top 20 designers of the year. His participation on the SCAC project involved design, illustration, and animation of Power Point Slide Sets, figures for the Primers for each module, and the Timelines. His keen sense of what is salient allows our materials to reach a diverse set of learners and his attention to time and space animates biology in meaningful ways and transforms our teaching. He has been a vital member of the team for three years.

Lianna earned a BA in Interdisciplinary Science and minor in Gender Studies from Eugene Lang College for Liberal Arts at The New School and received the Interdisciplinary Science Outstanding Senior Award. Her participation on the SCAC project grew from her experience as a student registered in the course Stem Cells & Social Justice. As an upperclassman she contributed to SCAC as an educational consultant by serving as a Science Fellow for the 2011 version of the stem cells course and consolidating the content of this course for the scale-up to a University Lecture course in 2012. Her insight in organizing content, content flow, and design for much of the SCAC project proved essential. She is co-author of Powerpoint Slide Sets, Radial Infographic for Sources of Stem Cells and the associated ZoomGraphics. Her dedication to this project has resulted in continued support long after graduation and her keen eye for hierarchy has been essential for the integration of design for complex biological concepts and principles. She currently volunteers at The Sylvia Rivera Law Project, is a research assistant in biology, and will be completing graduate programs centered on medicine, public health, and social justice via a combined M.D./Ph.D program.

Nona earned a BA in Interdisciplinary Science from Eugene Lang College for Liberal Arts at The New School and also received the Interdisciplinary Science Outstanding Senior Award. Her participation on the SCAC project grew from her experience as a freshman student registered in the course Stem Cells & Social Justice. As an upperclassman, she contributed to SCAC as an administrative assistant and educational consultant, recording and reflecting on students’ learning during class sessions and Chamany’s teaching. Later coined, “Nona’s Notes”, these observations in the classroom became a primary resource in transforming this course into a university lecture course launched in Spring 2013 and her Senior Research Proposal on Visualization in Science informed the design and content of SCAC infographics and animations. Pursuing her interest in science communication, she completed an internship as a studio producer at inVentiv Health Creative Studios where she oversaw digital and print projects created for healthcare PR firms, served as the Communications Director for the Imagine Science Film Festival, and is currently a freelance science writer reporting on DIY science and bioart for publications such as PopSci and Scientific American. She is also on staff at Bonfire Labs, a video animation and editing company.

Katie and Ariel served as graduate student teaching assistants for the University Lecture Course Immortality & Immorality: Stem Cells & Social Justice and implemented SCAC materials and provided vital feedback on userability and students learning. In this capacity they recorded student learning outcomes, assisted in the development of review questions and grading rubrics, and provided class notes on student learning and teaching. Their contributions to the scale-up efforts of transforming a course for undergraduate liberal arts students in a seminar format to a university lecture catering to Parsons Design students was instructive and reshaped many of our approaches.

Astrid earned a BA in Interdisciplinary Science from Eugene Lang College for Liberal Arts at The New School and also received the Interdisciplinary Science Outstanding Senior Award. Her participation on the SCAC project grew from her experience as a science student repeatedly coming across the story of Henrietta Lacks in numerous courses. Her final papers in many courses were intimately tied to the basic biological concepts associated with the HeLa cell line: telomerase, cell culture and contamination, HPV, and cancer. Sections of these papers were used to build the Primer for the HeLa Cells & HPV Genes: Immortality & Cancer Module and also informed our desire to create Timelines for this curriculum. She is currently in nursing school.

Eric earned a BA in Economics and Philosophy from Eugene Lang College The New School for Liberal Arts and also completed a MA in Economics at the New School for Social Research. He contributed to SCAC as an educational consultant, recording and reflecting on students’ learning during class sessions and appropriate pedagogies. He also contributed book and film reviews, summaries, timelines, and annotations for references for the Stem Cells & Policy: Values & Religion Module.

Saffo is earning a MA in Anthropology from The New School for Social Research and holds a BA in STS from Brown University. She contributed to SCAC as an educational consultant, recording and reflecting on students’ learning during class sessions and appropriate pedagogies. She also contributed book reviews and summaries for the Stem Cells & Policy: Values & Religion Module. Her perspective on social justice and transgender issues informed the language, the framing, and the messaging of much of the goals of the various technologies associated with stem cell research.

Steven earned a BA in Interdisciplinary Science from Eugene Lang College The New School for Liberal Arts and has a strong commitment to social justice and education. He served as a Science Fellow for two years and a Peer Health Campus Advocate, and is now pursuing a career in public health and information technology. His organizational skills proved vital in designing the style sheets for editing and providing a uniform look to the products and provided editorial assistance to the primer for the Oocytes & Blood: Gifts &Commodities Module. Steven is currently a Senior Research Assistant at Public Health Solutions, an organization dedicated to supporting healthy communities.

Shahena Riyaz Zaveri was born and raised in the cosmopolitan metropolis of Bombay, India and is an alumna of the Illustration Program at Parsons The New School for Design where reignited a love for biology. She was inspired to create an illustrated comic to assist her learning of the important developmental biology research conducted by Hans Spemann and Hilde Mangold in 1924 involving transplantation of embryonic tissue in newts of different skin colors. Spemann received the Nobel Prize for his work on embryo induction in 1935, and though the work was based on Hilde's Ph.D. dissertation thesis, her passing in 1924 made her ineligible. This work is one of the few in developmental biology that obtained this kind of recognition. A 46-second video reenacts the experimental technique behind Spemann and Mangold's work and can be seen on the Nature Magazine site. Shahena's work can be seen at her website. Shahena continues to bridge art and science together and transform the way in which scientific matter is depicted through illustration; by packaging scientific knowledge in visual media, making it more engaging and attractive to the public eye. She is currently working as a designer with Imagine Science Films, with whom i share a similar goal.

As a graduate student in the Design + Technology MFA Program at Parsons, Lauren worked on initial phases of website development. As IT Consultant Lauren joined START in July 2008 after graduating from the College of Charleston, with a Bachelor of Science in International Business and a French minor. Prior to START, she worked with an advertising and graphic design group in Montréal, Canada. Lauren recently obtained a Master of Fine Arts in Design + Technology from Parsons The New School for Design and has worked on projects involving website design, print publications, information graphics, and video production

As an undergraduate in the Communication Design BFA program at Parsons, Rhiannon compiled, as a reference for the team, rough timeline comparisons based off of SCAC's initial resources list. Rhiannon Fox is a New York based graphic designer with a strong love for data visualization. Originally from Bermuda she earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Communication Design at Parsons the New School for Design. She is currently an Infographics Analyst for infographics and information design for CFA Institute in New York City.