Use the links below to navigate the 2026 Mason Graduate Interdisciplinary Conference website.
Panel Discussion
Innovation Across Disciplines: Research, Responsibility, and the Futures We Build
9:00 AM – 10:15 AM | Merten Hall, Room 1201
The Mason Graduate Interdisciplinary Conference celebrates innovative and interdisciplinary graduate research and creative work across George Mason University. As part of this year’s conference, the featured panel, Innovation Across Disciplines: Research, Responsibility, and the Futures We Build, examines how scholars understand and enact innovation and responsibility in shaping the futures we collectively build. As research and creative practice increasingly intersect with artificial intelligence, public health, climate change, education, cybersecurity, policy, the arts, and community life, the need for sustained interdisciplinary dialogue has become central to graduate research and professional practice. Today’s most urgent challenges cannot be addressed within disciplinary silos; they demand collaboration across methodologies, theoretical traditions, and professional practices.
This panel explores how ethical decision-making, integrity, transparency, and public engagement are understood across disciplines. Panelists will reflect on how researchers navigate interdisciplinary collaboration, emerging technologies, community engagement, and institutional responsibilities in a rapidly changing research landscape. Through interdisciplinary exchange, the panel highlights the critical role research plays in shaping ethical research cultures and advancing innovation that is inclusive, sustainable, and grounded in care.
GAPSA President and Panel Organizer
Nilima Hakim Mow, PhD student, Linguistics
Nilima Hakim Mow is a PhD student in the Linguistics program within the English department and the President of the Graduate and Professional Student Association (GAPSA). Her research focuses on the documentation and reclamation of Akuzipik, an Alaska Native language spoken on St. Lawrence Island. More broadly, her work examines language contact, variation, and community based language documentation, with particular attention to St. Lawrence Island English and its relationship with Akuzipik. She is engaged in collaborative research that supports language revitalization and explores the intersections of linguistics, education, and community engagement. In addition to her research, she actively advocates for graduate student interests and supports interdisciplinary dialogue across the university.
Moderator
Christopher A DiTeresi, Associate Vice President, Research Integrity and Assurance, and University Affiliate Faculty of Philosophy
Dr. DiTeresi provides leadership and strategic direction for the Office of Research Integrity and Assurance (ORIA) and its six major compliance programs, including human participants protection, animal care and use, research integrity and responsible conduct of research, secure research, export control and sanctions, and conflict of interest. Dr. DiTeresi is also University Affiliate Faculty of Philosophy at George Mason University.
Panelists
Dibyashree Basu, Master’s student, Bioengineering
Dibyashree Basu is a master’s candidate in Bioengineering at George Mason University whose research focuses on lung cancer cell morphology and the use of deep learning for quantitative biomedical image analysis. Her work integrates cancer biology, biomechanics, and computational imaging to better understand structural changes in tumor cells. She has also contributed to diagnostic software development using ultrasound image classification and participated in assistive prosthetic design initiatives through Project S.E.R.V.E., emphasizing human-centered biomedical innovation. Dibyashree is passionate about interdisciplinary research and aspires to become a research scientist developing technologies that improve cancer diagnostics and patient care.
Jhumka Gupta, ScD, Professor, Global and Community Health, PhD Program Director
Jhumka Gupta, ScD, is a Professor in the Department of Global and Community Health within the College of Public Health. Her research program applies a social epidemiology framework towards advancing the science of gender-based violence against women and girls (e.g. intimate partner violence, sex trafficking). Specifically, she investigates the mental and reproductive health implications of gender-based violence, and conducts intervention studies aimed at reducing violence against women. Her primary focus is with vulnerable populations, both within and outside of the United States, and includes refugees, immigrants, and communities impacted by conflict. She has authored or co-authored over 50 peer-reviewed publications on these topics. She also serves as Associate Editor of BMC International Health and Human Rights. Prior to coming to Mason, Dr. Gupta was an Assistant Professor at the Yale School of Public Health.
Jesse Kirkpatrick, Associate Research Professor, Co-director of the Mason Autonomy and Robotics Center (MARC)
Jesse Kirkpatrick is a research associate professor and co-director of the Mason Autonomy and Robotics Center. Jesse is an International Security Fellow at New America and serves as a consultant in the public and private sectors. He has received various honors and awards and is an official “Mad Scientist” for the U.S. Army. Jesse’s research focuses on the ethical, societal, and policy implications of emerging technologies, with a focus on AI. Jesse received his PhD from the University of Maryland and was a Research Fellow at the US Naval Academy. His work has appeared in numerous journals, including Ethics, Journal of Military Ethics, and Journal of Human Rights. Jesse’s work has also appeared in Special Warfare Magazine, Washington Post, Baltimore Sun, and Slate. His current book, Drones, Robots, and Super Soldiers: Emerging Technologies and Military Virtue, is under contract by Harvard University Press.
Holly Matto, PhD, LCSW-C, Professor, Social Work
Holly C. Matto, PhD, LCSW-C is a Professor in the Department of Social Work in the College of Public Health at George Mason University. She has over 20 years of experience in the field of addiction science and has conducted treatment intervention studies with a variety of clinical populations. Dr. Matto’s research focuses on the development and testing of personalized digital recovery support tools to help individuals manage drug stimuli reactivity in real-time to reduce relapse risk post-treatment. She is a member of the Center for MedTech Innovation at Mason where she enjoys working in interdisciplinary research teams.
Giulia Masella Soldati, PhD Candidate, Linguistics
Giulia is a PhD candidate in the Linguistics program at George Mason University. Her main research is on phonetics and language documentation and revitalization. She is currently working on her dissertation, in which she documents and analyzes the sounds of Akuzipik, an endangered Alaska Native language. Her research is part of a broader, community-centered language documentation project led by Dr. Sylvia Woodrose Schwartz (George Mason University) and Dr. Lane Woodrose Schwartz (University of Alaska, Fairbanks).