Director, Resilience, Intersectional Stigma, and Empowerment Lab

Angelina Bhojwani is an undergraduate student studying biology and psychology in the College of Arts and Sciences at NYU. With a passion for public health and social justice, Angelina works as a student intern for Dr. Walters and assists on projects related to harm reduction and intersectional stigma. Hoping to provide safety, dignity, and care for vulnerable populations, she works on a range of products from grant citations to stigma data collection.

Marvin Brown is a doctoral student at the NYU Silver School of Social Work and a psychotherapist in private practice. He also works as a school response clinician–consultant with the NYC Department of Education, supporting schools in addressing complex student needs. His research explores psychedelic-assisted therapy, harm reduction, and overdose prevention, reflecting his commitment to innovative, evidence-based care. He integrates storytelling and social justice into his work, guided by Janet Mock’s belief that: “Telling our stories, first to ourselves and then to one another and the world, is a revolutionary act.”

Juliet Flam-Ross is a public health researcher with expertise in substance use and harm reduction. With a master’s in science specializing in public health from The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and a background in economics, she has worked to translate complex data into actionable insights. She is passionate about bridging research and practice and focuses on innovative approaches to public health and community-driven solutions.

Tiarra Fisher is a doctoral student in the Department of Population Health at NYU Grossman School of Medicine. Her research uses ethnographic and participatory action research methods, as well as PhotoVoice to study structural factors affecting people who use drugs to support evidence-based community interventions. Her work is grounded in harm reduction principles, and she is interested in how storytelling and data can inform social policy. Prior to joining NYU Langone, she worked as a community coordinator for the Massachusetts HEALing Communities Study and operations coordinator for CONNECT, a post-overdose follow-up program in rural Massachusetts.

Dr. Roman Ivasiy is a public health researcher and epidemiologist specializing in opioid use disorder treatment, HIV prevention, and LGBTQ+ health in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and the United States. With a background in medicine and public health, his research focuses on system-level policy analysis and large-scale population studies to improve access to care for marginalized communities. He holds a doctor of medicine from Danylo Halytskiy Lviv National Medical University and a master’s in public health, specializing in epidemiology, from Georgia State University, where he was a Fulbright scholar.

Dr. Sarah Leonard is a nurse–scientist and current postdoctoral research fellow in the Population Health Science Scholars Program at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, mentored by Dr. Walters. Dr. Leonard’s developing program of research is focused on improving healthcare delivery for people living with chronic illness, especially those who experience intersectional stigma while seeking healthcare.

Alex Mejia is a dedicated social work student who is passionate about substance use research and culturally competent therapeutic interventions for adolescents in the Latinx community. Committed to advocacy, harm reduction, and reducing stigma for communities of color, Aleks combines evidence-based practice and direct practice to bridge gaps in care. Their work is driven by a deep commitment to healing, equity, and systemic change.

Dr. Jack Vertovec is an anthropologist and applied researcher specializing in qualitative, mixed-methods, and community-based participatory research (CBPR) on socioeconomic inequities, health, and well-being. He earned his doctorate in anthropology from Florida International University and has more than a decade of experience conducting ethnographic research. He has led and worked on numerous PhotoVoice projects in collaboration with community-based organizations and public health initiatives in settings such as Miami, Cuba, and New York City. He finds that participatory photography is an effective, empathetic, and often cathartic way to explore local perspectives on health and structural vulnerability. As a senior research associate at Behavioral Science Research Institute and a collaborator on several NIH-funded studies, Dr. Vertovec brings expertise in participatory methods, ethnographic research, and program evaluation to projects that center the voices of people most impacted by systemic inequities.