External Relations and Research Policy Committee

Will Vanti is the Science and Engineering Librarian of Columbia University Libraries.  He is responsible for library collections in the areas of engineering, chemistry, mathematics, and statistics, and provides academic support to students, faculty, and staff researching these subjects as well as more general science support to Columbia's undergraduate and graduate students.  Will joined Columbia in January 2005 as a research assistant in the Department of Pathology and Cell Biology, and transitioned to the Libraries in December 2014.  On the University Senate, Will is a member of the External Relations and Research Policy committee.

Sen. Victoria Frye is a tenured Professor at the Columbia School of Social Work and a prevention scientist, cross-trained in the social sciences and epidemiological theory and methods. Her scholarship seeks to reduce inequity through research and intervention on HIV and interpersonal violence. Frye develops and tests conceptual models of risk and resilience, specifying interconnected macro-, meso- and micro-level theoretical pathways, using observational data and complex statistical models. In partnership with organizations and people affected by HIV and violence, she uses these and additional formative research results to design and test prevention interventions. She has been the PI of numerous NIH/CDC-funded grants, most anti-violence, -stigma and -discrimination studies. For example, in CHHANGE/CHHARGE, she developed and tested, using quasi-experimental study designs, community-level, anti-intersectional stigma and discrimination (e.g., homophobia, racism, and HIV stigma) interventions. She is currently leading Pleasure, Positive, Practices an RCT testing a multilevel, multi-component, sex-positive intervention to increase HIV testing and PEP/PrEP uptake among Black cisgender men and transgender women. She also conducts research in Kazakhstan with women who exchange sex for resources. Frye is an Associate Editor at Stigma & Health. She has lived in Washington Heights, where her two children attended public schools, for over 25 years.

Sen. Simon Ogundare is an MD-PhD student at Columbia University’s Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons and a graduate of Columbia College (’24), where he studied neuroscience while participating in the John Jay and Laidlaw Scholars’ Programs. Born in New York and raised between Nigeria and the United Kingdom, he brings a transnational perspective to questions of health, identity, and structural inequality. 

Simon's research background explores the neuroscience of comorbidity, examining how chronic pain and depression co-occur, and how their neural representations become entangled in the brain. Elected to the University Senate in 2025, Simon is committed to transparency, structural accountability, and expanding student participation in university governance. His platform emphasizes cross-campus coalition-building and ensuring that the University Senate reflects the needs of students across CUIMC, especially during a time of active review of the University Senate’s structure and scope. 

Simon’s approach to advocacy is shaped by his international background, his work as a science communicator, and his commitment to building a community that welcomes and celebrates – rather than dilutes – diverse voices. He believes healing, education, and institutional change are fundamentally communal processes: each requiring trust, shared power, and sustained dialogue. On the University Senate, Simon aims to strengthen avenues of communication through existing and novel channels, strengthen the links between Morningside and CUIMC, and push Columbia toward a more inclusive, responsive, and transparent future. He sees the University Senate not just as a governance body, but as a platform for collective action: a space to organize across schools, challenge institutional inertia, and push for a Columbia that truly reflects the values, needs, and voices of its community.

Sen. Reed D. Auerbach ‘81IF, ‘82SIPA, ‘85Law was a Partner and Global Chair of the Structured Transactions Group at the multinational law firm of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP in their New York office. Reed led a team of approximately 100 structured transaction lawyers across offices in New York, Washington, DC, Chicago, and London. He has served as a Director of the Structured Finance Association and as a member of its Executive Committee. He has served on the editorial board of The Journal of Structured Finance and co-authored the Fourth Edition of the legal treatise Offerings of Asset-Backed Securities. Reed has been an active alumnus of both the School of International and Public Affairs and Columbia Law School. He has served for 13 years as a member of SIPA’s Advisory Board and was recently appointed to serve on the Dean’s Executive Committee for the Advisory Board. Reed also recently completed two terms as the SIPA representative on the Alumni Trustee Nominating Committee, including his last two years as the Committee’s Chair. At the Law School, Reed served as Co-Chair of the Reunion Committee for his 35th Reunion and his 40th Reunion. Previously he served on the Reunion Committee for both his 25th and 30th CLS Reunions. Reed and his wife Adrienne have endowed a scholarship at SIPA in support of the International Fellows Program. At CLS, Reed and Adrienne endowed a scholarship for financial aid and established a fund in support of internships for students who spend the summer working in the international human rights field for a public interest organization or an international NGO.

Naomi Schrag is the Vice President for Research Compliance, Training, and Policy in the Office of the Executive Vice President for Research, and the University's Research Integrity Officer (RIO). She oversees work on issues such as research misconduct, conflict-of-interest and international research compliance, and collaborates closely with other offices across the University to develop integrated approaches to compliance and training.

Before joining Columbia in January 2006, Ms. Schrag practiced law for nine years, focusing on regulatory compliance and litigation involving biomedical research, with clients including pharmaceutical companies and not-for-profit organizations. Ms. Schrag also clerked in the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Ms. Schrag graduated from New York University School of Law in 1995. Before entering law school, she worked on an oral history of the Holocaust for the Museum of Jewish Heritage. 

Sen. Mark Barenberg is one of the country’s leading professors of labor law and a longtime teacher of constitutional law. He has been on the Columbia faculty since 1987, and is currently the Isidor and Seville Sulzbacher Professor of Law and the director of Columbia’s Program on Political Economy and Labor Law. He was chosen professor of the year for excellence in teaching by the law school’s Student Senate. He has served as a visiting professor at Yale; has taught at the Universities of Rome, Tokyo, Beijing, Cologne, and Amsterdam; and co-directs and teaches in the Columbia Summer Program in U.S. Law, held each summer in the Netherlands. Since 2015, he has held the position of Distinguished Visiting Professor of Law at the University of Amsterdam.

Professor Barenberg has degrees from Harvard College (summa cum laude), the London School of Economics (highest honors), and Harvard Law School (magna cum laude), where he served on the Harvard Law Review. Prior to teaching at Columbia, he taught international political economy and labor history in Harvard’s Social Studies program, and then practiced for four years in the fields of constitutional law, labor law, and international law at the firm of Rabinowitz, Boudin, Krinsky and Lieberman.  

Sen. Madeleine Gordon (she/her) is a biomedical engineering Ph.D. student in the School of Engineering and Applied Science. Madeleine is originally from Atlanta, Georgia, and earned her bachelor’s degree in biomedical engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology before continuing her research career at Emory University. At Columbia, she has served as the Community Engagement Chair on the Engineering Graduate Student Council. Madeleine’s research interests include intervertebral disc degeneration, drug delivery, and orthopedic biology.

Loftin Flowers is the vice president for government relations and leads the University’s engagement and advocacy efforts with federal, state, and city government. Loftin holds a BA in History from Haverford College and an MPA from Columbia University. Prior to his role at Columbia, Loftin worked in Washington, DC at the national offices of the Children's Defense Fund, the Democratic National Committee, and John Kerry’s 2004 campaign for president.

Sen. John Santelli, MD, MPH is a Professor of Population and Family Health and Pediatrics at Columbia. He joined Columbia University in 2004 after 18 years in public health research in Baltimore and at the U.S. CDC. Santelli trained in Adolescent Medicine and Public Health in Baltimore. He has conducted policy-related research on adolescent health including HIV/STD risk behaviors, teen fertility, socioeconomic determinants, prevention programs, and research ethics. He has been a national leader in ensuring that adolescents have access to medically accurate, comprehensive sexuality education, and are appropriately and ethically included in health research. Since 2009, Santelli has been the principal investigator on five NIH-funded projects at the Rakai Health Sciences Program on HIV risk among youth including empirical research bioethics and social determinants of health. He is a past President of the Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine and was a member of the planning committee for the 2016 Lancet Commission on Adolescent Health and Wellbeing.

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 a number of other committees. 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 served as Executive Director of the Summer Program for Under-Represented Students at CUIMC for close to two decades. 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. Howard J. Worman, M.D., Professor of Medicine and Pathology and Cell Biology in the College of Physicians and Surgeons, has been at Columbia since 1994, researching cell biology and liver diseases, teaching medical and graduate students, and caring for patients at the medical center. On the University Senate, Dr. Worman co-chairs the Committee on External Relations and Research Policy and serves on the Budget Committee and the Faculty Affairs, Academic Freedom and Tenure Committee.

Sen. Elizabeth Adeoye (she/her) is a Columbia College student majoring in political science, with a minor in sociology and a special concentration in business management. She previously served on the Columbia College Student Council as Pre-professional Representative and currently sits on the boards of several cultural and pre-professional organizations, including the African Students Association. She is also a Resident Adviser, supporting undergraduate students throughout their time in University housing. Coming from a Nigerian-American background, Elizabeth advocates for increased support and resources for FLI students, international students, and students of color. She also dances on two teams, Raw Elementz and the Columbia University Dance Team, remaining active in Columbia’s cultural life.
 

As a University Senator, Elizabeth plans to push for clearer communication between students and administration, more equitable resource distribution, and stronger representation for underrepresented communities in university policy. She brings to the role a strong track record of leadership, cross-campus collaboration, and a deep investment in equity and inclusion at Columbia.

Sen. Benjamin Bostick is a professor of geochemistry at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and has been a dedicated member of the Columbia University faculty for over 15 years. His research focuses on environmental systems, and he has collaborated extensively with colleagues across Columbia’s campuses. Sen. Bostick recognizes the vital role that research officers play in advancing the University’s mission. As a University Senator, he is committed to implementing changes that bridge the divide between instructional and research faculty. He advocates for stronger connections across academic units and ranks to foster a more integrated and supportive Columbia community. He places a high value on enhancing engagement between research faculty and students and is deeply committed to supporting the research staff who are critical to the University’s scholarly success. Additionally, Sen. Bostick is passionate about expanding the University’s connection with the broader New York City community through research and academic life.

Sen. Anika Navaroli is an award-winning writer, lawyer, and researcher focused on journalism, social media, artificial intelligence, trust and safety, and technology policy. She is the Craig Newmark Assistant Professor of Professional Practice and director of the Craig Newmark Center for Journalism Ethics and Security at Columbia Journalism School. Over the past decade, her work has ranged from law firms and think tanks to advocacy organizations and senior policy positions at Twitter and Twitch.

Biography:

Professor Aliou Cissé Niang earned his B.A. in Religious Studies with a minor in history (Cum Laude) at Williams Baptist College in 1994 in Walnut Ridge, Arkansas.  He received a M.A. Th.  (Graduate Dean’s Award of Excellency) at Logsdon School of Theology (HSU) in 1997 in Abilene, TX, and  a Ph.D.  in Biblical Interpretation–New Testament (with Distinction) at Brite Divinity School (TCU) in Fort Worth, TX in  2007.  While at Brite Divinity School, he served as Graduate Assistant and Lecturer in New Testament Survey classes  and co-taught a course on Postcolonial Biblical Interpretation with Dr. Leo G. Perdue.  He was also instructor at the Department of Religion at TCU where he taught Understanding Religion: The Bible from 2002-2003 and was a guest lecturer on the “African and the African Diaspora: History, Religion, and Culture” (RELI – 20503) (Honors).  He was engaged in inter-religious dialogue on “Christian Perspectives on the Jesus of the Gospels” with Dr. Yushau Sodiq (Professor at the Department of Religion–TCU) at the Moslem academy in  Arlington, TX. Before joining Union in August 2011, he served as assistant and associate professor of New Testament at Memphis Theological Seminary in Memphis, TN, where he was named The Rev. Dr. James L. Netters Associate Professor of New Testament (2008) and received The Paul R. Brown Distinguished Teaching Award in 2010.  While in Memphis, he served as Biblical Theologian in Residence at the First Baptist Church of Memphis, TN, and spoke at many churches and the Church Health Center providing workshops on Understanding the Bible and seminars on various biblical topics.  He continues to speak in local churches and lectures in both academic and ecumenical settings.

He is a member of the Commission on Baptist-Muslim Relations of the Baptist World Alliance and a member of the Editorial Board of the International Voices in Biblical Studies (IVBS)–Society of Biblical Literature (SBL) Peer-reviewed series.

Professor Niang’s first book (Faith and Freedom in Galatia and Senegal: The Apostle Paul, Colonists and Sending Gods, Brill, 2009) compares the colonial objectification of his people by French colonists to the Graeco-Roman Colonial objectifications of the ancient Celts/Gauls/Galatians, and explores Paul’s role  in bringing about a different portrayal.  He is working on his third book on Illness and Health.  His teaching and research explore themes and issues in Biblical and Postcolonial Theologies.  Niang believes it takes a village to create a leader and turns his classroom into a micro-village–a learning community where brothers, sisters, and non-binary friends learn to appreciate their diverse and yet unified experiences of God.  His teaching pedagogy reflects his exercise of the wisdom of his West African Diola elders as he seeks to create and foster a learning environment where students would freely yet responsibly engage in the ongoing critical quest for healthy ways to shape the social and spiritual dimensions of their journeys of faith.  He is passionate about translating academic work to the Church.

Education

BA., Williams Baptist College, 1995
M.A., Hardin-Simmons University, 1997
Ph.D. Texas Christian University, 2003

Sen. Adana A. M. Llanos, PhD, MPH, is a geneticist, cancer and molecular epidemiologist, and health equity scholar whose research bridges molecular biology and population health to illuminate the complex pathways linking social inequities and biological mechanisms of disease. She is a tenured Associate Professor of Epidemiology at the Mailman School of Public Health and Co-Leader of the Cancer Population Science Program at the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Dr. Llanos' pioneering studies have advanced understanding of the biological effects of adiposity-related hormones in breast cancer and have revealed how chronic stress, neighborhood deprivation, and racial segregation contribute to breast cancer inequities. Another exciting area of her research program focuses on investigating the health implications of long-term exposure to environmental toxicants, especially endocrine-disrupting chemicals and carcinogens found in personal care products, including hair products.

Beyond her scientific contributions, Dr. Llanos is a dedicated mentor, educator, and community partner. She works closely with non-profit organizations to promote health advocacy, education, and survivorship, particularly among historically marginalized populations. Through her research, leadership, and service, Dr. Llanos is committed to advancing a more equitable future in which all people have the opportunity to thrive.