About the Editors
Jennifer Adaeze Anyaegbunam is the founding editor of The Intima. Jennifer attended Harvard College where she studied Visual & Environmental Studies and Health Policy. She received a Master of Science in Narrative Medicine at Columbia University before starting medical school at the University of Virginia. She is currently a second year student. As an aspiring physician-writer and journalist, she hopes to use her training in Narrative Medicine to explore the synergy between the two fields.
Anjana Bala is a junior at Stanford University and the managing editor of the Intima. She is majoring in Human Biology with a concentration in the Medical Humanities and Global Health. In her spare time, she dances and teaches classes to underprivileged youth in the surrounding communities. She is extremely interested in the patient-physician relationship and the medical humanities at large.
Ruth Marks is a senior at Stanford University graduating with degrees in French and Human Biology. Her interdisciplinary interests have culminated in an honors thesis that analyzes the portrayal of medicine in two of France’s most beloved medical comedies. She hopes to pursue an MD-PhD in medical humanities, because she wishes to explore new ways to deliver health care through the practice and study of theater.
Mario de la Cruz is a recent graduate of the Master's of Science in Narrative Medicine program at Columbia University. He completed his undergraduate studies in Sociology at Arizona State University and has developed multiple HIV/AIDS prevention programs and sexual health education programs for both healthcare institutions and non-profit organizations, with emphasis on at-risk youth groups. Mario is also a contributing author to the book, The Uncharted Path from Clinic-Based to Community-Based Research. His current work is in exploring visual, oral and performance based narratives.
Aubrie-Ann Jones is a current student in the Master’s Program in Narrative Medicine at Columbia University. She holds an MFA in Fiction from The New School, and a BA in Anthropology from Fordham University. Aubrie is hoping to promote Narrative Medicine training in both medical schools and in the clinical environment after graduation, and to continue to explore the patient/clinician relationship, particularly in trauma care. She is a writer, traveler, advocate, teacher, and runner.
Nikhil Wadhwani is currently a student in the Master of Science program in Narrative Medicine. He recently graduated from Sarah Lawrence College, where he studied medical sciences and creative writing. His interests include social justice, philosophy, meditation, and the art of tea. He is from the San Francisco Bay Area, and hopes to attend medical school in the near future.
Elizabeth Barone studied literature as an undergraduate at New York University, has been working in international health and humanitarian aid for nearly a decade, and is pursuing a Masters Degree in Narrative Medicine at Columbia University. She is interested in the intersection of story and performance, how fiction can at times be truer than reality, and ways to mobilize language to approach the unknown. Elizabeth also writes poetry, and gets most of her life advice from novels, and occasionally from rock n’ roll songs.
Zohar Lederman is a medical doctor and a bioethics PhD candidate at the National University of Singapore. He has published stories and theater\book reviews in Pulse and The Yale Journal for Humanities in Medicine, as well as articles in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz and bioethical journals such as the Journal of Medical Ethics.
Donna Bulseco studied contemporary American poetry at UCLA (B.A.) and the gothic novel at Brown (M.A.). She has worked as a reporter, writer and magazine editor (Women’s Wear Daily, NY Times, Self, InStyle) for over twenty-five years. As a M.S. student in Columbia’s Narrative Medicine program, she has been teaching a workshop to middle school students in the Lang Youth Medical Program and seeing the inspiring results of the discipline at every turn.
Michael Smolka is a current student in the Master of Science Program in Narrative Medicine at Columbia University. Michael graduated from the University of Florida with a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry and a Minor in Materials Science and Engineering. He is interested in the study of the philosophy of perception, medical ethics, and enhancing the dialogue between the arts and sciences. Michael plans to attend medical school after graduating.
Prachiti Dalvi is a junior at Duke University studying biology and psychology. Serving as the vice chair of the Undergraduate Publications Board (UPB), co-editor-in-chief of Duke’s science publication Vertices, and blogger for the Duke Research Blog, she has been able explore her interest in writing on a variety of platforms. In her free time, Prachiti enjoys watching Duke basketball, reading works by Sanjay Gupta, and travelling with her twin sister. Eventually, she hopes to attend medical school and pursue a career as a physician-writer.
