Dr. Desmond Upton Patton is an assistant professor at the Columbia School of Social Work and a Faculty Affiliate of the Social Intervention Group (SIG) and the Data Science Institute. His research utilizes qualitative and computational data collection methods to examine how and why youth and gang violence, trauma, grief and identity are expressed on social media and the real world impact they have on well-being for [ ... ]
Susan Lob currently teaches Introduction to Community Organizing at the Columbia University School of Social Work. Ms. Lob founded and for the last 9 years has directed the Voices of Women Organizing Project (VOW), an organization that brings together a diverse group of survivors of domestic violence from across the City to fight to ensure that battered women get the services they need and hold accountable the systems the [ ... ]
Dr. Ellen Lukens has extensive experience in the development, application and evaluation of educational and psychoeducational interventions designed to improve quality of life and outcomes for adolescents, adults, and families faced with trauma, mental illness, or other significant life challenges. She is involved in adapting these techniques both in the context of applied clinical and community practice and as a te [ ... ]
Kalima DeSuze possesses a diverse background of work and life experience and as a result, has developed many skills and strengths which she brings to her community organizing work. She is currently the Community Development Director at Service Women’s Action Network (SWAN) where her chief responsibilities are to create, implement and evaluate innovative healing programs for women service members and veterans. A si [ ... ]
Dr. Sormanti's work experience includes extensive clinical practice with children and families at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute and Children's Hospital in Boston, MA, where she specialized in bone marrow transplantation and bereavement. From September 2002 through August 2003 Dr. Sormanti served as the Clinical Program Director for a newly developed Project Liberty funded program that addressed the mental health [ ... ]
Beth Silverman-Yam, DSW, LCSW has been the Director of Clinical Programs at Sanctuary for Families since 1994 where she is responsible for crisis shelters, individual and group counseling, and advocacy services for adults and children who are victims of domestic violence. A social work clinician, program developer and administrator for more than 35 years, Dr. Silverman-Yam has served in leadership roles with the New [ ... ]
Ovita Williams is an Associate Director of Field Education and teaches the Social Work with Battered Women course at CUSSW. She received her Master of Science in Social Work from Columbia University in 1993 and her Bachelor of Arts from Vassar College. Ms. Williams is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker specializing in domestic violence and forensic social work practice. Prior to her work at CUSSW, she was the Directo [ ... ]
Dr. Nabila El-Bassel provides significant national and international leadership to the global health agenda. Dr. El-Bassel is a Professor at the Columbia University School of Social Work and Director of the Social Intervention Group (SIG), which was established in 1990 as a multi-disciplinary center focusing on developing and testing effective prevention and intervention approaches and disseminating them to local, nationa [ ... ]
Dr. Wu is an Associate Director of the CUSSW Social Intervention Group and the Co-Director of the HIV Intervention Science Training Program for Racial/Ethnic Minority New Investigators. His practice experience includes direct clinical practice with individuals, couples, and groups with agencies serving primarily the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender communities; evaluation of violence prevention programs for pe [ ... ]
