Research News, Awards, and Honors

November 2024

Nadine Debbas Achkar (Visiting Professor of Practice, Legal Studies) has been appointed to a three-year term as a member of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) International Court of Arbitration, joining 191 members from 119 countries. Nadine has also been named co-chair of the ICC Advanced Arbitration Academy for the MENA region for 2024-25.

Khulood Al Awadi (Lecturer of Engineering Design) was selected from more than 1,100 applicants to represent the Advanced Sciences and Research sector under the Economic Growth cluster as part of the UAE’s National Experts Program. The cohort was chosen not only for their skills and achievements but also for their commitment to be a force for innovation in their sector and growth in the UAE.

Shaikha Al Mazrou (Assistant Arts Professor of Visual Arts) was featured in The National in her brand-new collaboration with Sandra Choi (Creative Director), who commissioned bespoke artwork for the iconic shoe brand Jimmy Choo. Sheikha’s creation sparks dialogue about luxury and the transformation of raw beauty by mirroring the jeweled stones central to Jimmy Choo's aesthetic. The piece will be displayed permanently in the boutique located in The Dubai Mall.

Awam Amkpa (Dean of Arts and Humanities; Professor of Drama, Social and Cultural Analysis) was interviewed by Nathalie Handal (Professor of Literature and Creative Writing) in Guernica for directing the film The Man Died, which was inspired by Wole Soyinka’s (Arts Professor of Theater) memoir about the months he spent imprisoned in Nigeria. Most recently, the film was screened at the African International Film Festival,  the Lagos Book and Art Festival, and the Eastern Nigeria International Film Festival, and Awam has been featured in several interviews, including in Making The Man Died, exploring the origins and motivations behind the film. 

Camilla Boisen (Associate Dean of Undergraduate Academic Planning and Student Success; Senior Lecturer of Writing) co-authored and recently published her new book Merit, Justice, and the Political Theory of Academic Knowledge Production (Springer 2024). The book analyzes and critiques contemporary systems of merit and academic knowledge production.

Ouided Bouchamaoui (2015 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate) was recently awarded an honorary doctoral degree by the Universidad César Vallejo (UCV) for her exemplary dedication to democracy and women’s rights. Ouided’s visit included a formal ceremony to recognize her influence and achievements, presented by Jeannette Tantaleán (UCV Rector) and César Acuña (UCV Founder). Her commitment to peace and justice continues to inspire communities worldwide.

Dipesh Chaudhury (Associate Professor of Biology; Global Network Assistant Professor of Biology) and two former NYUAD undergraduate co-authors (Marko Šušić and Mariam Anwar) and undergraduate student (Aleksa Petković) have uncovered significant nighttime-specific gene expression changes that shed light on resilience to chronic stress in their recently published journal article in Nature titled “Nighttime-specific differential gene expression in suprachiasmatic nucleus and habenula is associated with resilience to chronic social stress.” In the study, mice that demonstrated resilience exhibited distinct transcriptomic profiles at certain night hours. The findings contribute to understanding how diurnal variations impact gene expression and mood regulation, paving the way for more effective interventions.

Scandar Copti (Associate Arts Professor of Film) won the “Best Screenplay Award” for his feature-length film Happy Holidays in the Orizzonti Competition at the Venice Film Festival. The film had its North American premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in mid-September. It was also invited to other prestigious international film festivals, including Chicago, Hamburg, Marrakech, and Tokyo.   

Benjamin L. Davis’ (CASS Fellow & Research Associate) research paper on “Identification of Intermediate-mass Black Hole Candidates among a Sample of Sd Galaxies” was published in the highly acclaimed The Astrophysical Journal. His research identifies 23 intermediate-mass black hole (IMBH) candidates among 85 face-on Sd galaxies, predicting central black hole masses using a novel scaling relation. 

Tishani Doshi (Visiting Associate Professor of Practice, Literature, and Creative Writing) published her scholarly essay "Tender, yet creepy" in Aeon Magazine, a digital magazine of ideas, philosophy, and culture. Tishani's piece focuses on how dolls play a big part in a child's imagination but also represent unsettling reminders of the past.

Yi Fang (Associate Professor of Computer Engineering) is harnessing the power of AI to create smart wearable devices for the visually impaired, making navigation accessible and affordable globally. The device (called the AI Companion) utilizes embodied AI and robotics to empower machines to perceive, understand, and interact with their surroundings. Fang’s mission is to develop a USD 100 clip weighing less than 100g that can be attached to spectacles or a necklace for eight hours of verbal support in a pioneering move towards inclusion that has the potential to change the lives of over 338 million visually impaired people worldwide.

Azam Gholami (Associate Professor of Physics) and her team’s research on the behavior of green algae, which can support future treatments for cancers, chronic lung disease, and reproductive illnesses, was featured in The National. The algae, primitive organisms typically found in bodies of water, have hair-like protrusions called flagella that are only one-millionth of a meter in size, which beat in unison to generate the flow of green algae. Since similar bundles of flagella work in some human cells, studying algal flagella may provide insights into how specific cells, such as cancer cells, move through the human body, potentially leading to new ways to slow the spread of the disease.

Nancy Gleason (Professor of Practice of Political Science; Director, Hilary Ballon Center for Teaching and Learning) and alumna Sara Pan Algarra (Social Research and Public Policy) co-authored a chapter titled “Disruption and Public Policy Education Across Asia: The Fourth Industrial Revolution, the Climate Crisis, and COVID-19” in Emerging Pedagogies for Policy Education: Insights from Asia (Springer, 2022). This book has been selected for the 2024 NASPAA Outstanding Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Book Award, recognizing excellence in public service education. The award will be presented at the NASPAA Annual Conference. 

Nancy was also quoted by Business Insider in the article “Want to get into the AI industry? Head to Abu Dhabi” and featured in Bird and Bird Middle East’s Women in Tech podcast series. The podcast features stories from inspirational people at the forefront of innovation.

Carlos Guedes (Associate Professor of Music) was featured in Aletihad for his research on the Gulf’s musical traditions as part of the Music and Sound Cultures (MaSC) research laboratory. Carlos uses AI and machine learning, alongside traditional ethnomusicology and anthropology, to capture, document, and preserve the rich but largely understudied musical traditions of the Arabian Gulf for future generations.

Abdulrazak Gurnah (Arts Professor of Literature) delivered the 22nd Nelson Mandela Annual Lecture in Johannesburg on September 28. An important event on the Foundation's calendar, the lecture encourages people to engage in dialogue — often about difficult subjects — to address today's challenges. Before the Mandela Lecture, Abdulrazak hosted a reading and talk at Georgetown University, moderated by writer Aminatta Fornaat (Director of the Lannan Center for Poetics and Social Practice). Abdulrazak also delivered a lecture at Princeton University on October 30 hosted by the Africa World Lectures. Exploring themes of colonialism and displacement central to his works, he discussed his creative process and the representation of respective themes in novels like Memory of Departure, Paradise, and Afterlives, as well as in short stories such as The Arriver’s Tale. 

Nizar Habash (Professor of Computer Science; Global Network Professor of Computer Science, Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences) offers a different perspective on Arabic’s interface with AI in an article written for Majara Insights. Nizar argues that while it might seem as if the Arabic language does not align with AI algorithms, Arabic-powered AI systems are merely support tools, and the ultimate responsibility for content accuracy and originality rests with the user.

Nidal Hilal (Global Network Professor of Engineering) was recognized as a Highly Cited Researcher by Clarivate Analytics. The Highly Cited Researchers 2024 list honors researchers whose work is cited in the top 1% in their respective fields over the past decade, indicating exceptional influence in their respective disciplines. Nidal also recently appeared on Our Good Land - Season 2 on Emirates TV, discussing The Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Water Initiative. In the interview, he explores the urgency of water scarcity and the innovative research efforts at NYUAD Water Research Center aimed at sustainable water solutions. 

Saif Eddin Jabari (Associate Professor of Civil and Urban Engineering) received the 2024 Meritorious Service Award from Transportation Science (the top journal in the field) for his work as Associate Editor. The announcement was made at the INFORMS conference and will appear in the journal's December issue. Additionally, Saif’s research article “Countering adversarial perturbations in graphs using error correcting codes” was accepted for publication in Physical Review E.

Ken-ichiro Kamei (Associate Professor of  Biology and Bioengineering) has recently taken the lead in establishing Cell Engineering Connect, a new peer-reviewed, open-access journal dedicated to advancing the field of cell engineering. Ken-ichiro will serve as the founding editor-in-chief of a journal published by Scifiniti, a publisher established last year and based in Abu Dhabi. This foundation aims to connect researchers globally and enhance scientific engagement in the UAE and the broader MENA region.

Suphan Kirmizialtin (Visiting Assistant Professor of History) and Lauren Kata (Archivist/Academic Librarian) co-authored a case study called “One Class Five Ways,” which appeared in The Society of American Archivists, "Case Studies on Teaching with Primary Resources” series. The peer-reviewed case studies in the series feature course examples, including primary source literacy instruction in the classroom.

Kangsan Lee (Assistant Professor of Social Research and Public Policy) recently published “Organizational Isomorphism during Crisis: Market Practices and U.S. Art Museums, 2006–2011” in Socius: Sociological Research for a Dynamic World. Using data from US art museums between 2006-2011, the study examines how the 2008 economic crisis influenced museums’ adoption of market practices. 

Abhishek Majumdar (Associate Arts Professor of Theater) is the author of Tathagat aur anya natak (Tathagat and other plays), a collection of five Hindi political plays between 2018-2023. Originally in Hindi, one was translated from English. The plays premiered recently in different parts of the world and have been performed in Hindi, English, Swedish, Kannada, Gujarati, and Marathi. Des and Tathagat deal with the phenomenon of religious intolerance, while Najma Nama, Namak, and Raashan deal with the impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on the lives of a sex worker, a family of construction workers, and a migrant worker, respectively, in a city in India.

Maximilian Mihm (Associate Program Head of Economics; Associate Professor of Economics) recently had his paper, The Political Economy of Zero-Sum Thinking, accepted by Econometrica. Co-authored with Nageeb Ali (Penn State University) and Lucas Siga (University of Essex, formerly of NYUAD), the study explores how zero-sum thinking influences elections, where one party’s gain is perceived as another’s loss. It shows that even policies benefiting voters can be opposed due to asymmetric information and distributional concerns, leading voters to support policies counter to their interests.

Merritt Moore (Distinguished Artist in Residence, Adjunct Professor of Practice) attended the International Society for Technology in Education conference and expo in June in Denver, Colorado, where she danced with a custom-programmed robot. You can view Merritt’s stunning performance here.

Henriette Müller (Assistant Professor of Gender, Governance, and Society) recently co-authored an article with Ingeborg Tömmel (University of Osnabrück), published in the Journal of Common Market Studies Annual Review, titled “Between Cooperation and Rivalry: The Leadership of Charles Michel as President of the European Council.” Drawing on leadership theory, the article analyzes Michel’s performance as European Council President, focusing on the demands of his office. 

Ghazi Al-Mulaifi (Assistant Professor of Music) became the first Kuwaiti and Gulf musician to be nominated for a Grammy in the Best Latin Jazz Album category. Bridging traditional Bahri music and global jazz, Ghazi was nominated alongside fellow musicians, DJs, and Boom.Diwan manager Amin Abdal. Ghazi also recently signed with Tiger Turn,  a marquee Jazz and instrumental music label. The Kuwaiti Times featured Al-Mulaifi in September on his work in the interview: “Kuwaiti musicians earn historic Grammy nod.”

Yaw Nyarko (jointly appointed Professor of Economics at NYU NY and NYUAD) was nominated for the Falling Walls 2024 Social Sciences & Humanities award. 

Zeynep Ozgen (Assistant Professor of Social Research and Public Policy) won the annual “Best Paper” award from the American Sociological Association’s Section on Sociology of Religion for her paper in Theory and Society titled From Secularization to Religious Resurgence: An Endogenous Account.

Francesco Paparella (Associate Professor of Mathematics and Director of the Mubadala Arabian Center for Climate and Environmental Sciences) received a grant of AED 145,385 from the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment to develop the white paper Towards UAE’s Regional Ocean-Atmosphere Climate Model. The paper will explore the feasibility of a National Climate Model tailored to the Gulf region, including critical features like resolving the Hajar Mountains to predict rainfall better and coupling atmospheric and oceanic modules to assess the growing risk of tropical storms affecting the Arabian Peninsula, such as cyclones Gonu and Shaheen.

Giuliana Pardelli (Assistant Professor of Political Science) recently published an article on “Agrarian Elites, Wealth Inequality, and State Capacity. Evidence from Early Twentieth-Century Brazil” in World Politics. Her research challenges the view that agrarian elites always resist state expansion. In early 20th-century Brazil, wealth inequality led to greater elite support for fiscal capacity when they dominated politically and benefited from public spending. This study highlights how economic interests and political power shape state-building.

Gregory Pardlo (Professor of Literature and Creative Writing) has been longlisted for the 2024 National Book Award for Poetry with his latest collection, Spectral Evidence. This collection explores the historical and societal perceptions of blackness and femininity, weaving narratives from the Salem Witch Trials to modern times. He has also been appointed to chair the jury for the 32nd Gratiaen Prize, the most coveted recognition for English-language creative writing in Sri Lanka.

Luca Maria Pesando (Associate Program Head of Social Research and Public Policy; Associate Professor of Social Research and Public Policy) has been recognized with the Best Paper Award by the Canadian Population Society for his paper, “Demography as a Field: Where We Came From and Where We Are Headed?” Luca’s latest publication, “What’s a Parent to Do? Measuring Cultural Logics of Parenting with Text Analysis,” was published in Science Direct. Luca was also awarded a CAD 312,000 Insight Grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (as co-I) to study stepfamilies and family recomposition in sub-Saharan Africa. Using a life-course approach, this project aims to understand the process and sequences of family change since the first union in sub-Saharan Africa. 

Luca was also named a finalist for the Times Higher Education (THE) Awards Arab World 2024. His paper, “Women and Science: Trust My Competence (Not My Gender!),” is shortlisted as “Research Project of the Year: Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences.” Additionally, Luca also collaborated with Hanbo Wu (Postdoctoral Associate) on a new paper in Scientific Reports titled "Educational boundaries explain strength and variation in global fertility convergence." Their findings provide insights for informing policymakers as they evaluate the suitability of specific educational policies to further narrow inequalities between societies.

Goffredo Pucetti (Associate Professor of Practice of Visual Arts) published an article in Grafica Magazine, a new graphic design and visual communication magazine edited and produced by Stefano Cipolla, one of Italy's most respected graphic designers and Art Director of L'Espresso magazine. The first issue features seven pages on design at NYUAD, including an article by NYU Shanghai alumna Celia Forster (Master's student of Design at Harvard), who spent a year studying design at NYUAD. 

Harshana Rambukwella (Visiting Professor of Literature and Creative Writing) published “The Cultural Life of Democracy: Notes on Popular Sovereignty, Culture, and Arts in Sri Lanka’s Aragalaya” in the South Asian Review. The article explores the critical role culture and artistic performance played during Sri Lanka's 2022 people's uprising and its implications for understanding popular democratic mobilization. Harshana also hosts a podcast published by the Journal of Sociolinguistics called Decolonizing Sociolinguistics, which critically examines the implications of “decolonizing” the discipline of sociolinguistics, drawing on diverse contexts such as Mexico, Norway, and South Africa.

Rashmi Devi Sawhney (Associate Arts Professor of Film and New Media) co-authored an article on Curating Documentary Film and Video Art in a Museum in the book Resistance in Indian Documentary Film: Aesthetics, Culture, Practice, co-edited by Shweta Kishore and Kunal Ray (Edinburgh University Press). The article draws upon a Sawhney and Imaz King exhibition curated at the Hong Gah Museum in Taipei.

Farah Shammout (Assistant Professor of Computer Engineering) has been appointed as an ADIA Lab Visiting Research Fellow by the ADIA Lab Advisory Board. ADIA Lab is an independent institution focused on fundamental and applied research in data and computational sciences. As a Visiting Fellow at ADIA Lab, Farah will participate in collaborative research opportunities with scholars from various disciplines worldwide.

Wole Soyinka (Nobel laureate and Arts Professor of Theater) was presented with the Loynaz International Prize at the 63rd anniversary of the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba (UNEAC) from the president of UNEAC, Marta Bonet. Wole stated having great political and cultural adventures in Cuba, recognizing the indispensable role played by the Antillean nation in the liberation of the African continent.

Robert Volcic (Associate Professor of Psychology) recently published the study “Tool-Sensed Object Information Effectively Supports Vision for Multisensory Grasping” in the American Psychological Association’s Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, exploring how tools extend hands' sensing capabilities beyond their anatomical limits. The findings demonstrate that object information sensed through a tool can guide bimanual object manipulations as effectively as direct hand sensing. In collaboration with the University of Lyon (France) and Zayed University (UAE), this research highlights the interchangeable use of tools and hands for skilled actions. It also suggests new applications for prosthetics and rehabilitation.

Dan Ohtan Wang (Professor of Biology) and her research team have collaborated with Shenyang Pharmaceutical University and RIKEN to explore new, potential selective estrogen receptor modulators in traditional Chinese medicines for treating menopausal syndrome in the article “New potential selective estrogen receptor modulators in traditional Chinese medicine for treating menopausal syndrome” in Phytotherapy Research. They identified protopanaxatriol, paeoniflorin, astragalin, catalpol, and hyperoside, among others, as potential for developing alternative treatments with better efficacy and safety. 

Étienne Wasmer (Program Head of Economics, Professor of Economics) met with French Prime Minister Michel Barnier to present his economic report on the French labor market. The report proposes reforming a 30-year-old policy of labor tax cuts, which now costs EUR 75 billion and accounts for three percent of GDP. The goal is to reduce low-wage traps and encourage upskilling within the labor force. Co-authored with Antoine Bozio (Paris School of Economics), with assistance from Sophie Maillard (Inspection Générale des Finances), the report is based on new research conducted with Christian Aleman (Post-Doctoral Associate), Pranav Mimani (Assistant Instructor of Social Science), Raül Santaeulàlia-Llopis (Associate Professor of Economics), and several undergraduate students from NYUAD majoring in Economics, including Lydia Sanz Lozano, Mandip Subedi, and Yiqing Yan.

Marion Wrenn (Executive Director of Writing; Senior Lecturer of Writing and Literature and Creative Writing) published Teaching Textual Irreverence in The Pocket Instructor, Writing: 50 Exercises for the College Classroom (Princeton UP, 2024). In addition, her poems appeared in The Georgia Review (fall 2024) and are forthcoming in the American Poetry Review.