Meet the team
Can Calici, PhD
Dr. Can Calici, a sociologist and faculty member at Istanbul University-CerrahpaÅŸa in Turkey, specializes in criminology and victimology. Currently, he is a Visiting Fulbright Scholar at George Mason University's Department of Global and Community Health, where he is conducting research on "Examining Intimate Partner Violence Against Women in Turkish Immigrant Communities in the US” under the supervision of Dr. Jhumka Gupta.
Demi Bajela
Demi Bajela is a Master of Science in Public Health candidate at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Her research interests include women’s health, sexual and reproductive health, gynecological conditions, chronic disease, and health equity. She is particularly interested in the role of social determinants in contributing to health inequities that shape health outcomes across the life course. Within the JHUMKA Lab, she supports SurrEndo, a serious gaming intervention designed to support adolescents with endometriosis. Demi holds a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish and Anthropology, with a concentration in Global Health and Environment, from Washington University in St. Louis.
Samantha Kanselaar is a PhD student in the Public Health Program at George Mason University. She has worked as a graduate research assistant with Dr. Gupta for five years, contributing to projects such as EA$E, a women’s social and economic empowerment intervention for forcibly displaced populations, and SurrEndo, a serious gaming intervention designed to support adolescents with endometriosis. Currently, her research focuses on the structural determinants and consequences of violence against women and girls, examining how systems such as structural racism, U.S. child marriage laws, and immigration policies drive inequities in safety, health, and well-being. She earned her M.S. in Global Health at George Mason University, also under the guidance of Dr. Gupta.
Samantha Kanselaar, MS
Kyle Machicado, MPH
Kyle Machicado holds a B.A. in Human Biology with a concentration in Public Health and Sustainable Development and a minor in African and African American Studies from Stanford University, and an MPH with a concentration in Epidemiology from George Mason University. Beginning his career as an Emerson National Hunger Fellow with the Congressional Hunger Center, he has held a variety of roles in the nonprofit, philanthropy, and public health sectors, most recently as an Associate Director at Arabella Advisors and as a Project Officer at HRSA’s Maternal and Child Health Bureau Office of Epidemiology and Research. Kyle’s research interests include Latino, indigenous, and immigrant health, social contagion, mis- and disinformation, and digital determinants of health. His current research centers on gun violence intervention evaluation methodology, immigrant health and well-being, and digital influences on health and behavior.
Julia Mandeville, MPH
Julia Mandeville is a PhD Public Health candidate, concentrating in Social and Behavioral Science at George Mason University. Her main research focuses on environmental and psychosocial factors that influence women's health conditions, specifically endometriosis, polycystic ovary syndrome and uterine fibroids. Julia prioritizes community-engaged research with African American and Caribbean women, to better understand key exposures associated with these conditions, and the subsequent impact on their quality of life. She previously obtained a Master of Public Health with a specialization in Global Health from the University of Manchester and a Bachelor of Science in Biology with Microbiology from the University of the West Indies.
Sofía Nicholas
Sofía Nicholas is a graduate student at George Mason University, pursuing an MPH in Epidemiology with a Graduate Certificate in Health Informatics and Data Analytics. Currently, they are a Graduate Research Assistant for SurrEndo and a nationally certified pharmacy technician at a value-based pharmacy. Sofía is passionate about combining health and technology, chronic illness advocacy, and lifelong learning.
Kate Rogers, PhD, MPH
Kate Rogers, PhD, MPH is a postdoctoral fellow in the Jhumka Lab and has research expertise in gender norms, gender-based violence, and adolescent sexual and reproductive health. She has led and supported the study design, recruitment, and analysis for projects involving the influence of community gender norms on gender-based violence and sexual and reproductive health outcomes in a variety of settings in both the Global South and the United States. Prior to her work in research, she worked as a social worker with survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence and managed a Rape Prevention Education grant in the Women and Maternal Health sector of the New York State Department of Health and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. She holds a PhD in Community Health and Health Behaviour and a Master’s of Public Health from the University at Buffalo (State University of New York). When she’s not working, you can find her laying on a beach somewhere, running ultra marathons, cooking pasta-filled feasts, or road tripping with her cat, Rigatoni. She lives in Brooklyn, NY.
Cheyu Zhang, MPH
Cheyu Zhang is a PhD Candidate in the Public Health program, specializing in Epidemiology, at George Mason University’s School of Public Health. She works as a graduate research assistant under the guidance of Dr. Jhumka Gupta. She earned her MPH in Biostatistics from George Washington University, where she also worked as a Research Associate for two years. Cheyu's research interests include gender-based violence against women, reproductive health, HIV prevention, and immigrant health. In her free time, Cheyu likes to read novels and watch live animal cameras.