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This project is a collaboration between researchers at Barnard College/Columbia University and Boston College, partnered with The Doe Fund in New York City. The purpose is to better understand the short- and long-term experiences of grief among Black adults who have lost loved ones to police violence.
The research team will be conducting interviews through the end of 2025. The study is open to any Black adult in the U.S. Those located in the NYC area can choose to be interviewed in person; participants elsewhere will be interviewed via Zoom.
Please contact us if you're interested in being interviewed, know someone who might be, or have questions about the study. You can fill out the eligibility survey at bit.ly/GriefStudy or reach out to us by email: columbia.grief.project@gmail.com.
Below you can learn more about the members of the research team.
Nora Gross, PhD
Nora Gross, PhD
Dr. Nora Gross is an Assistant Professor of Education at Barnard College, Columbia University. She grew up in New York City and previously taught high school writing in Chicago.
Nora is a sociologist by training and researches and writes mostly about youth, racialized masculinity, and emotion. She recently published a book about Black teenage boys' experience of grief after losing friends to neighborhood gun violence.
Beyond her research, Nora loves teaching undergraduates, listening to podcasts, watching reality tv, and spending time with her two young sons.
Uzma Chowdhury
Uzma Chowdhury
Uzma Chowdhury is a PhD Student in Sociology and Education at Teachers College at Columbia University with a certificate in Psychoanalytic Studies. She researches political status of children, focusing on trans and colonized childhood.
Her research focuses how who gets to be a child and have a childhood, children’s emotional worlds, how they experience their own status as children in specific political and historical contexts, and how they claim self-determination in repressive contexts.
She is originally from Atlanta, Georgia and now lives in Brooklyn, New York. In her free time, she works at various farms and gardens in NYC, cooks, and plays with her cats.
Joseph R. Sanchez
Joseph R. Sanchez
Joseph R. Sanchez, born and raised in NYC, is a violence prevention facilitator, CUNY Adjunct Professor and a doctoral student at Teacher’s College, Columbia University Public Health and Community Education Program.
His career has included culturally competent roles within NYC government, community based organizations and independent consultancy.
Joseph’s doctoral research focuses on gun violence, youth development and preventive programs. This foundational insight shapes his hybrid approach to social justice, blending academic rigor with street-level pragmatism.
Betselot Wondimu
Betselot Wondimu
Betselot Wondimu is a PhD Candidate in Sociomedical Sciences at Columbia University, with a concentration in Anthropology. He focuses on how people’s health and emotions are shaped by racism and inequality.
His research looks at how Black people and communities cope with trauma—especially in the face of violence and state harm. He particularly looks at how calls for resilience can silence grief and prevent broader conversations about resistance.
Betselot grew up outside Washington, D.C. and now lives in Harlem. When he’s not working, he enjoys watching stand-up comedy, curating music playlists, and wandering around the city.
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