Commission on the Status of Women

Sen. Yvonne Hou is currently pursuing an MA in Biotechnology in the School of Arts and Sciences. She graduated from UC San Diego with dual degrees in Mathematics and English Literature. Yvonne has gained valuable professional experience as a clinical research coordinator at the New York State Psychiatric Institute and Montefiore Einstein. Yvonne’s research adventures have taken her to Memphis, Tennessee, and Starkville, Alabama, where she worked on implementation science and behavioral change studies focused on HIV prevention. Driven by a commitment to advancing her knowledge in cutting-edge biomedical technologies, Yvonne is passionate about translating scientific innovations into meaningful benefits for patients. In her spare time, Yvonne loves staying active with Pilates and enjoys playing board games! Don’t hesitate to reach out – she’d love to connect!

Susan Witte is a social worker and Professor at the School of Social Work, where she teaches courses in the clinical and advanced generalist methods of the master’s program, as well as in the doctoral program. In 2019, Dr. Witte was selected as a member of the inaugural cohort of the Provost’s Senior Faculty Teaching Scholars in recognition of her outstanding achievements in both teaching and research. Dr. Witte’s research and teaching involve prevention and treating HIV/AIDS, other STIs, intimate and gender-based violence, alcohol and drug use, and related social determinants of health and mental health.

Dr. Savannah Thais is Associate Research Scientist in the Data Science Institute with a focus on machine learning (ML). She is interested in complex system modeling and in understanding what types of information is measurable or modelable and what impacts designing and performing measurements have on systems and societies. This work is informed by her background in high energy particle physics and incorporates traditional scientific experiment design components such as uncertainty quantification, experimental blinding, and decorrelation/de-biasing methods. Her recent work has focused on geometric deep learning, methods to incorporate physics-based inductive biases into ML models, regulation of emerging technology, social determinants of health, and community education.

Dr. Thais is the founder and Research Director of Community Insight and Impact, a non-profit organization focused on data-driven community needs assessments for vulnerable populations and effective resource allocation. She is passionate about the impacts of science and technology on society and is a strong advocate for improving access to scientific education and literacy, community centered technology development, and equitable data practices. She was the ML Knowledge Convener for the CMS Experiment from 2020-2022, currently serves on the Executive Board of Women in Machine Learning and the Executive Committee of the APS Group on Data Science, and is a founding editor of the Springer AI and Ethics journal. Dr. Thais received her Ph.D. from Yale University in 2019, where she served on the Graduate and Professional Student Senate for five years, including one term as president.

Paola Valenti is an economist with expertise in development economics, applied econometrics, applied microeconomics, and economics of antitrust and intellectual property. Dr. Valenti's has expertise in industries such as pharmaceuticals, medical devices, industrial chemicals, consumer products, food, and computer hardware and software.

Dr. Valenti previously served as a consultant at NERA Economic Consulting, developing economic research and quantitative analysis. She has also worked as a consultant for the World Bank's Human Development Network and Social Protection Group, conducting research on poverty among the elderly in Bulgaria, Mauritius, Nepal, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru and Tajikistan.

Dr. Valenti holds laurea and Dottorato di Ricerca degrees in economics from the University of Rome La Sapienza, an M.Sc. degree from CORIPE Piemonte, and a Ph.D. from Cornell University.

Monica Goldklang, M.D., is Assistant Professor of Medicine (in Anesthesiology) in the Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons. Dr. Goldklang’s main area of research interest is in translational studies investigating the pathogenesis of smoking related lung disease. Her work involves understanding the mechanisms of protease upregulation in lung injury. She is currently working on a project investigating factors that alter MMP-13 expression and activity in lung disease. Moving forward, Dr. Goldklang has received NIH K08 funding to investigate the role of ion channels in smoking related lung disease. 

Sen. Marni Sommer, Dr.PH., MSN, RN, has worked in global health and development on issues ranging from improving access to essential medicines to humanitarian relief in conflict settings. Dr. Sommer's particular areas of expertise include conducting participatory research with adolescents, understanding and promoting healthy transitions to adulthood, the intersection of public health and education, gender and sexual health, and the implementation and evaluation of adolescent-focused interventions.

Dr. Sommer's doctoral research explored girls' experiences of menstruation, puberty and schooling in Tanzania, and the ways in which the onset of puberty might be disrupting girls' academic performance and healthy transition to adulthood. Dr. Sommer presently leads the Gender, Adolescent Transitions and Environment (GATE) Program, based in the Department of Sociomedical Sciences. GATE explores the intersections of gender, health, education and the environment for girls and boys transitioning into adulthood in low-income countries and in the United States. GATE also generates research and practical resources focused on improving the integration of menstrual hygiene management and gender supportive sanitation solutions into global humanitarian response. 

Kavika Krishnan is a sophomore majoring in computer science in the Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science. Kavika is a member of the Engineering Student Council, where she is Vice President of the Class of 2025 and serves on the Student Life and Policy committees. On the University Senate, Kavika serves on the Commission on the Status of Women.

Sen. Jeanine D’Armiento, M.D., Ph.D., is Professor of Medicine in Anesthesiology, Director of the Center for Molecular Pulmonary Disease in Anesthesiology and Physiology and Cellular Biophysics, and Director of the Center for Lymphangiomyomatosis (LAM) and Rare Lung Disease. On the University Senate, Dr. D’Armiento chairs the Executive Committee, and serves on the Budget Review Committee, External Relations and Research Policy Committee, the Commission on the Status of Women, and the Commission on Diversity. In 2008, Dr. D’Armiento completed a two-year appointment as Associate Dean for Gender Equity and Faculty Development, where she concentrated on professional development programs for women faculty. Dr. D’Armiento has been Executive Director of the Summer Program for Under-Represented Students at CUIMC for the past 19 years. She serves on the Executive Board of the Alpha-1 Foundation, which she has chaired. Dr. D’Armiento also serves as a consultant to the Director of the Office of Rare Disease at the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences.

Sen. Janie Weiss is IT Manager of the Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center, a role she has held for over 30 years. She assists faculty, staff, and students with their IT needs, helping to advance the research enterprise. On the University Senate, Janie serves on the Rules Committee, and on the Structure and Operations Committee.

Sen. Ebonnie Goodfield ('24GS, '26SW) is a Navy Veteran, Columbia Center for Veteran Transition & Integration staff, Columbia Alumni Association Board member, Founder and President of Women Veterans of Columbia University and Campbell Award Recipient for GS 2024 graduating class. During her undergraduate she updated the university's antibullying policies, co-created intercollegiate fellowship programs for women students and served as Vice President for Columbia Milvets, assisting in coordinating the Dean's Women Roundtable series, sitting on Columbia University Military Ball committee, and introducing the university's first Women President at her inaugural event. She is now pursuing her Master's in Social Work with a policy focus aimed at informing and tailoring the transition of women veterans. Ebonnie has been the recipient of the American Red Cross Service to the Armed Forces Hero award (2018), the GS Service and Change Agent awards (2021-2023), the Columbia Alumni Association Campbell, Restorer of Broken Walls DV Ministry Purple Shoe and National Alliance on Mental Illness Max Gabriel Awards (2024) and most recently accepted the William Pearson Tolley Champion for Veterans in Higher Education Award with her colleagues at CVTI for visionary leadership, advocacy and transforming the landscape of higher education for veterans.

Sen. Chunhua Weng is a Professor of Biomedical Informatics at Columbia University. Before arriving at Columbia, she completed a Ph.D. in Biomedical and Health Informatics from the University of Washington at Seattle.

The Weng Lab is focused on clinical research informatics. Her lab develops novel methods to improve the efficiency and generalizability of clinical trials research, to facilitate human phenotyping using electronic health records data, and to automate clinical evidence computing. They invent data-driven methods to optimize the inclusiveness and safety of clinical trial eligibility criteria for COVID-19 clinical trials. They discover knowledge of common clinical trial eligibility criteria from all the studies in ClinicalTrials.gov. They discover clinical trial recruitment success factors. They develop user-friendly software tools to help clinical trialists identify eligible study cohorts in the EHR data and help patients search for clinical trial studies with minimized information overload. They advance human phenotyping using clinical text combined with the Human Phenotype Ontology. They develop neuro-symbolic methods to automate medical evidence comprehension (making PubMed computable). They collaborate closely with clinical investigators, biostatisticians, rare disease experts, and translational researchers at CUIMC and beyond.

The National Library of Medicine, the Human Genome Research Institute, FDA, and the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute have supported Dr. Weng’s research. Also, Dr. Weng has received several signature awards from Columbia University, including an Irving Fellowship (2007–2010), a two-phase Collaborative and Multidisciplinary Pilot Research Award (CaMPR) (2008–2010), a Columbia University Diversity Research Fellowship (2009), a Florence Irving Professorship (2010–2013), and a multidisciplinary collaborative award (2021-2022). Dr. Weng was a finalist in the 2010 Microsoft Faculty Fellowship Award. Dr. Weng is currently an Associate Editor for Journal of Biomedical Informatics.

Christopher Damoci is Manager of the Columbia University Oncology Precision Therapeutics Imaging Core (OPTIC) at the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center.  Chris received his Bachelor’s from Fairleigh Dickinson University in 2001 and worked at the Garden State Cancer Center and the Center for Molecular Medicine and Immunology. Chris moved to ImClone Systems and then Eli Lilly focusing of preclinical experimental therapeutics in their monoclonal antibody platforms and is very proud to have been part of the teams that brought a number of breakthrough drugs to market, specifically Erbitux (Cetuximab) and Cyramza (Ramucirumab).  Chris joined Columbia in 2004 and loves his position here at Columbia University where he gets to teach the next generations of research scientists throughout the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center the benefits of noninvasive imaging like MRI, CT, Ultrasound and Optical for their ongoing research.

Sen. Anne Louis is a passionate Technology Management graduate student in the School of Professional Studies, with a strong background in content management, digital strategy, and technical operations. Her experience spans multiple roles and numerous philanthropic initiatives worldwide. She is a proud member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., a parent advocate with Little Lobbyists, and a volunteer with MamaBaby Haiti. She is also a former At-Large Representative with student government at the School of Professional Studies. At SPS her goal is to bridge the gap between technology and user experience for children with disabilities, and chronic health concerns ensuring that products and solutions are truly impactful and user-centric. Being part of Harlem’s rich community and attending graduate school at Columbia is an honor for her. As she transitions her career while balancing motherhood, she thrives in collaborative environments, enjoys problem-solving alongside fellow parents, and is always looking for ways to create meaningful impact in technology and the international community.

Sen. Amy Zhou is an Assistant Professor of Sociology at Barnard College. Professor Zhou received her BA and PhD in Sociology from UCLA as well as postdoctoral training at the UCSD Institute for Practical Ethics. Her research and teaching interests include healthcare, inequality, race/ethnicity, development, and science and technology studies. Professor Zhou's research has examined health inequalities in both the US and global setting. One line of research explores the impact of global health policies. Her current book project examines how global health efforts to address the HIV epidemic reconfigures local healthcare institutions and has unintended consequences for policymaking, healthcare practices, and the lives of providers and patients in Malawi. Another line of research looks at racial health inequalities in the US, focusing on the meaning of race in delivering racially targeted health services. Recently, she has started a new project that examines the social and ethical implications of gene drive technologies.