The Research Team
Our interdisciplinary team approaches conceptual, clinical, and neuroscientific questions from a variety of perspectives. We are always looking for new collaborators - reach out!
Principal Investigator:
Ally Peabody Smith, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Population Health, Lehigh University
Affiliated Faculty, Lehigh University: Health, Medicine, and Society Program; Center for Community-Driven Assistive Technologies
Stacie Brennan is Curator of Education at Lehigh University Art Galleries (LUAG), a free public art museum, where she develops inclusive programs and community partnerships that connect people with art. Her work and research explore the intersections of art, accessibility, community engagement, and population health, with a focus on how museums can support individual and collective well-being. She is a PhD student in Population Health at Lehigh University and has served as an adjunct professor of Museum Studies. Previously, she held leadership roles in visual arts education at ArtsQuest and Main Line Art Center. Stacie holds an M.S.Ed. in Leadership in Museum Education from Bank Street College of Education and a B.S. in Marketing and B.A. in Art from Lehigh University, where she also minored in Spanish.
Email: sen403@lehigh.edu
Doria (she/her/hers) is a PhD student and researcher with the Minds at the Margins Lab. She is also an adjunct professor at Thomas Jefferson University. Her research centers around weight stigma—both internalized and externalized—and its effects on both clinical and social experiences, and health outcomes. She is interested in the ways in which intersectionality as a framework can inform health and wellbeing. She is a graduate of Temple University, with an MFA in Creative Writing (2022) and an MPH in Social & Behavioral Sciences (2026).
Email: dcw326@lehigh.edu
Gillian is a sophomore (class of 2029) at Lehigh University majoring in Bioengineering.
Thomas is a fourth-year undergraduate student pursuing a dual degree in neuroscience and philosophy. He is currently in an independent study in Minds at the Margins, mostly researching philosophical and neuroscientific understandings of consciousness. Thomas is interested in thinking, thinking about thinking, and thinking about the conditions of possibility that allow him to think.
Undergraduate Student Researcher.
Undergraduate student researcher.
Undergraduate student researcher.
Undergraduate student researcher.
Lab Members
In alphabetical order:
Ellie Anderson, PhD, Associate Professor of Philosophy, Pomona College
Natasha Ansari, PhD Candidate, Department of Urban Studies and Planning, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Yevgeny Berdichevsky, PhD, Associate Professor of Bioengineering, Lehigh University
Leo Anthony Celi, MD, MS, MPH, Senior Research Scientist, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School
Austin Duncan, PhD, Assistant Professor of Community and Global Health, Lehigh University
Nanette Elster, JD, MPH, Professor, Neiswanger Institute for Bioethics and Health Policy, Loyola University
Ashley Feinsinger, PhD, Associate Professor of Neurosurgery and Ethics Chair, UCLA Geffen School of Medicine
Debjani Muhkerjee, PhD, HEC-C, Associate Professor of Medical Ethics in Clinical Medicine, Cornell Weill Medical College
Kayhan Parsi, JD, PhD, HEC-C, Professor of Bioethics & Health Policy, Neiswanger Institute for Bioethics, Loyola University
Ian Peebles, PhD, Assistant Professor of Philosophy, Arizona State University
Sara Protasi, PhD, Associate Professor of Philosophy, University of Puget Sound
Rhonda Tucker, MSPT, Clinical Researcher, Good Shepherd Rehabilitation
