New Postdocs

Johnathan Borland is a neuroscientist who is investigating the neuronal mechanisms regulating the rewarding effects of social interactions.  In conjunction with this postdoctoral fellowship, he is currently investigating potential increases in the communication between neurons in the nucleus accumbens with repeated social interactions.  He plans to be an independent investigator who will continue to investigate the adaptations in the brain that regulate social behaviors, focusing on potential differences between males and females and the role of the oxytocin circuit in this regulation.  He received his PhD in Neuroscience from Georgia State University in 2019 and received his undergraduate education at Emory University, majoring in Chemistry and Psychology.

Raahil Madhok is an environmental economist whose research spans the fields of environmental and development economics. His research aims to better understand the magnitudes and mechanisms associated with economy-environment tradeoffs. His current research agenda explores how economic development shapes land use regimes and natural resources, such as biodiversity, food supply, and air quality. Although his work is anchored in economics, it draws insights from ecology, political economy, and geography. Raahil holds a Ph.D. and M.A. from the University of British Columbia and a B.A. from McGill University. 

Chansophal Mak (Sophal) is originally from Cambodia. She received her PhD in Human Development and Family Science with emphasis in Marriage and Family Therapy from the University of Georgia in Spring 2023. Chansophal’s broad research areas are around Traumatic Stress/Intergenerational Transmission of Traumatic Stress and Resilience, Global Mental Health, Mental Health and Relational Needs Assessment, Cultural Adaptation of Family-based Interventions such as Parenting, and Early Prevention Science. Chansophal is passionate about improving Mental Health, Family Relationships, and Wellbeing of Forcibly Displaced Populations through Multi-level Interventions (i.e., Individual, family, community). During the PPFP fellowship, Chansophal is hosted under the Department of Family Social Science, College of Education and Human Development, University of Minnesota. Chansophal’s project aims to document parenting strategies and assess the needs for parenting within Cambodian refugee communities in Minnesota. The ultimate goals of her project are to support refugee parents and promote child outcomes in the context of forced displacement, and to interrupt the intergenerational transmission of traumatic stress among Cambodian refugee communities across the U.S.

Omar Sharifi is the Senior Research Fellow and Kabul Director of the American Institute of Afghanistan Studies.  He is also a research fellow and lecturer at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota. Omar Sharifi is Asia Society Fellow and member of Afghan 21 Young Leaders Forum. He graduated from Kabul Medical Institute in 2003. Following his medical studies, he worked as Head of research and publications for the Foundation for Culture and Civil Society in Kabul, and as Director of the Open Media Fund for Afghanistan. From 2006 to 2008, he studied Cultural Anthropology at Columbia University in New York under a Fulbright Scholarship. He also received a fellowship at the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) at Johns Hopkins University. He completed his PhD in anthropology from Boston University in 2019. He recently joined the New School University Scholars in Exile Consortium. 

Carolina Velloso earned her M.A. and Ph.D. at the University of Maryland's Philip Merrill College of Journalism. She researches at the intersection of gender, race and identity in journalism, with particular interests in the professional experiences of women and minority journalists and the representation of women and minorities in news media. She has published scholarship in several leading journals and presented at conferences including those of the International Communication Association (ICA) and the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC). From the latter, she has won top paper awards in the History, Critical/Cultural Studies, Graduate Education, and Minorities and Communication Divisions; the History Division's Diversity in Journalism History Research Award; and the Media Ethics Division’s Professional Relevance Award. At the University of Minnesota, Carolina looks forward to working on a book-length project based on her dissertation, as well as conducting research relating to race, journalism, media and democracy.