The Academic Parity Movement is a non-profit organization born out of a need for justice, and the protection of students', postdocs', and early career academics' (including junior faculties) most basic human rights within academic institutions. We are a group of people from all different backgrounds, perspectives, and experiences fighting to end academic discrimination, violence, and bullying with help of legal professionals, psychologists, researchers and our legislators.
Parity aims to uproot academic bullying, discrimination and violence by empowering students, postdocs, and early career academics (including junior faculties) themselves with the tools to defend their most basic rights. Historically, minorities such as women, people of color, and immigrants have been disproportionately devastated by the magnified societal prejudices and pressures that are only exacerbated in the lab environment. Together we must take a stand to make the academic world an equitable, accepting, and safe environment. We are a group of people from all different backgrounds, perspectives, and experiences fighting to end academic discrimination, violence, and bullying with help of legal professionals, psychologists, researchers and our legislators.
What is The Academic Parity Movement?
Our Timeline
Our Timeline
Short-Term Goal
To increase awareness among stakeholders.
2019 - 2023
Mid-Term Goal
To establish support platforms (e.g., psychological and legal help) for targets.
2023 - 2028
Long-Term Goal
To provide integrative functioning approaches to diminish diversity issues and bad behaviors of any kind in academia.
2028 - 2033
Morteza Mahmoudi, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Radiology and Precision Health Program at Michigan State University (MSU). Prior to coming MSU, he was an Assistant Professor at Harvard Medical School.
Read more about him and the development of the APM in a Nature piece published in 2024:
Saya Ameli Hajebi is an artist, graphic designer, and environmental activist. She is currently a national Spokesperson, and local media lead for the Sunrise Movement. She has interviewed with The Guardian, Al Jazeera, BBC, and Buzzfeed News to raise awareness about the climate crisis and represent the Sunrise Movement.
She hopes to incorporate activism and social change in academia, and make a safe learning environment for all with the Academic Parity movement.
Sherry Moss, PhD, is currently Professor of Organizational Studies in the School of Business at Wake Forest University. Her research interests include leadership, feedback, abusive supervision, multiple job holding, authenticity and meaningful work. She has also served as the Director of the Full Time MBA Program at Wake Forest and as the Area Chair for the Management Faculty.
Her research has been published in prestigious academic journals such as Journal of Applied Psychology, Administrative Science Quarterly, Journal of Organizational Behavior, Academy of Management Journal, Journal of Management, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Academy of Management Executive, and Nature. Her most impactful research has been about abusive supervision (bully bosses).
Meet Our Team
Meet Our Team
Our International Representatives & Advisory Board
Our International Representatives & Advisory Board
Jennifer Swann, PhD, has been a professor of Biological Sciences at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, PA for over 25 years. While studying the neurobiology of sex differences she has actively pursued roles within and without higher education that promote equity and inclusion. For example, she has campaigned for inclusion at the university for students, faculty and staff as the founding chair of the Student Diversity Task Force, the Council for Equity and Community and Lehigh’s Faculty and Staff of Color Network. And as the inaugural Director for Student Success in Lehigh University’s College of Arts and Sciences, she has been instrumental in revamping advising for first-year, low income and first-generation students. Professor Swann currently serves on Lehigh Faculty senate where she is working to create a faculty code of ethics and more equitable positions for non-tenured faculty.
Professor Swann is also an active member of her community promoting social justice through participation in End Mass Incarceration, the Allentown Environmental Advisory Council, the Coalition for Appropriate Transportation and the NAACP. She has served on professional development committees for the Society for Neuroscience and the Society for Behavioral Neuroendocrinology. Her work includes a number of advisory boards – including the Capstone Institute at Howard University, the Neuroscience program at Delaware State, the Ascend program at Morgan State and the Penn State Eberly School of Science. Professor Swann is an accomplished neuroscientist has published over 100 peer-reviewed articles, abstracts, book chapters and proceedings in the neurosciences, endocrinology and circadian rhythms.
Alison E. Vogelaar is the Newsletter Editor at the Academic Parity Movement. She is an independent researcher and communication consultant. Her research and writing focus on the themes of representation, activism, labor and environmental communication. She has published numerous academic articles, one manuscript and two co-edited volumes. She was a member of the faculty at Franklin University Switzerland from 2008-2021 where she taught in the Communication and Media Studies program, founded and directed the university’s SAFE Allies program, co-directed the Center for Sustainability Initiatives and advocated for the development of institutional mechanisms for reporting, prevention and education around matters of discrimination and harassment in an international organizational context. She has been both a witness and target of academic bullying. She is presently a communication consultant for a tech start-up.
Leah P. Hollis is the inaugural Associate Dean of Access, Equity, and Inclusion in the College of Education, The Pennsylvania State University, USA. Also, she is the Founder and President of Patricia Berkly, LLC, a healthy workplace advocate and diversity trainer. Her most recent book, Black Women, Intersectionality and Workplace Bullying, Intersecting Distress (2022), is an extension of her research on bullying in higher education. She has also penned Human Resource Perspectives on Workplace Bullying in Higher Education: Understanding Vulnerable Employees Experiences is available on amazon.com. This book examines the structural and organizational problems that enable workplace bullying. Further, the study shows how women, people of color, and the LGBTQ community are most vulnerable. Dr. Hollis is a noted trainer, educator, and researcher who has helped over 250 schools deal with bullying on campus. Her other books include Bully in the Ivory Tower (2012) and The Coercive Community College (2016) which was published by Emerald Publications (UK).
She has an exemplary career in higher education administration and has held senior leadership and faculty posts. Dr. Hollis has taught at Northeastern University, the New Jersey Institute of Technology, and Rutgers University. Dr. Hollis received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Rutgers University and her Master of Arts degree from the University of Pittsburgh. She received her Doctorate of Education in Administration, Training, and Policy Studies from Boston University as a Martin Luther King, Jr. Fellow. Also, Dr. Hollis continued her professional training at Harvard University through the Graduate School of Education, Higher Education Management Development Program. She also earned certification in Project Management and Executive Leadership at Stanford University and Cornell University, respectively. She also serves as an expert witness regarding workplace bullying, harassment, and discrimination. She is also the author of Unequal Opportunity Fired without Cause, Filing with the EEOC… which focuses on workplace discrimination. Also, check out Bully Beyond the Tower: A Peer-Reviewed Anthology on Workplace Bullying.
Nancy F. Olivieri, MD, MA, MFA, FRCP(C)
Advisor, United States
Dr. Nancy F. Olivieri is a Professor of Pediatrics, Medicine, and Public Health Sciences at the University of Toronto, Canada. A practicing hematologist Dr. Olivieri has conducted scientific work in thalassemia for 40 years, including over the last 25 years, in Asia to improve treatment for this common and potentially fatal disease.
In 1996, Dr. Olivieri became the target of powerful opposition in a public controversy centering around the protection of patients in clinical trials, academic freedom, and scientific integrity. Dr. Olivieri was subsequently honoured, including by The Nader Foundation, several honorary degrees, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science which presented her with its Award for Scientific Freedom and Responsibility, “for indefatigable determination that patient safety and research integrity come before institutional and commercial interests.”
In 2004, Dr. Olivieri with Professor Sir David Weatherall founded Hemoglobal®, a charity to improve care for children affected with blood diseases throughout Asia, of which she remains Executive Director.
In 2003, Dr. Olivieri completed a master’s degree in Medical Ethics and Law at King’s College, London, UK. In 2021, Dr Olivieri completed a Masters of Fine Art from the School of Journalism at King’s College, Dalhousie University, Canada. She is completing a book outlining the past 25 years about her own experience of the influence of the pharmaceutical industry in medical research.
Loraleigh Keashly, PhD, is a Professor, Associate Dean (Curricular and Student Affairs), and Distinguished Service Professor at the Department of Communication, College of Fine, Performing and Communication Arts, Wayne State University, Detroit. Her research and consulting focus on quality of work relationships particularly the amelioration of uncivil, hostile and bullying behaviors. She has a particular interest in developing bystander efficacy to address negative work relationships and build constructive work relationships. Most recently, she has focused her attention on problematic behaviors in academic environments and works with universities on these issues.
Pooya Sareh, PhD, is an Assistant Professor and Director of the Creative Design Engineering Lab (Cdel) at the University of Liverpool, UK. Prior to these current appointments, he was Course Leader and Lecturer of Engineering Design in the Department of Aeronautics at Imperial College London (2016-18), and a visiting lecturer at the Royal College of Art. He graduated from Cambridge University with a PhD in Engineering (Structural Mechanics) in 2014, during which he also attended the Florence Academy of Art, Italy. Subsequently, he joined the Department of Aeronautics at Imperial College London as a Post-doctoral Research Associate in Robotics. He holds BSc (First Class Hons.) and MSc (Distinction) degrees in Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering from Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, Iran, and the University of Sheffield, UK, respectively.
He has a special interest in investigating cases of bullying, mobbing, and discrimination in academic environments.
At the end of 2022, Prof. Janet Hering retired as Director of the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science & Technology (Eawag) and Professor at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zürich (ETHZ) and Lausanne (EPFL). Prior to moving to Switzerland in 2007, Prof. Hering was a faculty member at Caltech and UCLA. She is a former Associate Editor of Environmental Science & Technology and member of the Board of Reviewing Editors for Science. She is an elected member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering and the Academia Europaea.
As emerita Director and Professor, Prof. Hering is focusing on diversity in academia, particularly on issues facing women in academic leadership. Prof. Hering was the founding Vice Chair of the ETH Women Professors Forum, serving as Vice Chair from 2012 – 2016 and Chair from 2016 – 2020. In 2015, Prof. Hering received a Distinguished Women in Chemistry or Chemical Engineering Award from the IUPAC.
Ursula Keller, PhD, has been a tenured professor of physics at ETH Zurich since 1993 (www.ulp.ethz.ch) and also a director of the Swiss multi-institute NCCR MUST program in ultrafast science since 2010 (www.nccr-must.ch). She received her Ph.D. from Stanford University in 1989 and the Physics “Diplom” from ETH in 1984. She was a Member of Technical Staff (MTS) at AT&T Bell Laboratories from 1989 to 1993, a “Visiting Miller Professor” at UC Berkeley in 2006 and a visiting professor at the Lund Institute of Technologies in 2001. She has been a co-founder and board member for Time-Bandwidth Products (acquired by JDSU in 2014) and for a venture capital-funded telecom company GigaTera (acquired by Time-Bandwidth in 2003). She was a member of the research council of the Swiss National Science Foundation from 2014-2018. She is the founding president of the ETH Women Professors Forum (WPF).
The focus of her group (foto) in research is exploring and pushing the frontiers in ultrafast science and technology (online info). Awards include the OSA Frederic Ives Medal/Jarus W. Quinn Prize (2020) – OSA’s (resp. OPTICA’s) highest award for overall distinction in optics, SPIE Gold Medal (2020) – SPIE’s highest honor, IEEE Edison Medal (2019), European Inventor Award for lifetime achievement (2018), two ERC advanced grants (2012 and 2018), member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, German Academy Leopoldina and Swiss Academy of Technical Sciences. She supervised and graduated 88 Ph.D. students (list), published > 490 journal publications (list) and according to Google Scholar, an h-index of 114 with more than 49000 citations.
Timothy David Noakes, MD
Advisor, South Africa
Timothy David Noakes, MD DSc, best known for his work in sports science and for his support of a low-carbohydrate, high-fat diet, is a South African scientist and emeritus professor at the University of Cape Town in the division of Excercise Science and Sports Medicine. He is also a member of the National Research Foundation (South Africa), and listed as one of their highest-rated members.
His research in sports science has lead to the publication books including, The Real Meal Revolution and Lore of Nutrition: Challenging Conventional Dietary Beliefs.
Susanne Täuber, PhD, is Rosalind Franklin Fellow and Associate Professor at the Faculty of Economics and Business at the University of Groningen (Netherlands). She graduated from Friedrich-Schiller University Jena (Germany) with a Ph.D. in Social Psychology. She studies the effects of organizational and societal change on polarization and social cohesion, particularly when change concerns moral norms and values.
Dr. Täuber is interested in the dynamics that undermine the effectiveness of diversity initiatives and anti-harassment policy. She is a member of the Dutch national advisory committee on diversity in higher education and research. Her advocacy for culture change in academia has been published for instance in Women’s Higher Education Network, Nature and The Lancet.
Saman Hosseinpour, PhD, is the surfaces and interfaces group leader at the Institute of Particle Technology at Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg (Germany). He received his B.A. and M.A. degrees in material science and engineering in Iran and later was promoted as a faculty member of the Department of Material Science at Azad University. After finishing his Ph.D. at the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH-Sweden) he moved to Max-Planck Institute for Polymer Research (MPIP-Germany) as a postdoc.
He has always been keen on supporting young researchers against academic bullying and actively works toward increasing the awareness regarding scientific and personal misconduct in academia.
Nafisa M. Jadavji, PhD, is a Neuroscientist. She is an Assistant Professor at Midwestern University (US) and Research Professor at Carleton University (Canada). In 2012, she completed her doctoral training at McGill University in Montréal, Canada. Her laboratory investigates how the brain responds to different biological processes throughout the lifespan.
Dr. Jadavji has been interested in the prevalence and consqeuences of academic bullying. She lead the eLife Ambassador Anti-bullying initiative in 2019 to 2020, which accomplished creating a bullying awareness video as well as writing a blog post on what academic bullying looks like. These resources are available on GitHub.
Taulant Muka, MD, PhD, is a medical doctor and epidemiologist, currently working as Associate Professor in Preventive Medicine. He integrates knowledge from different disciplines and approaches that include epidemiology, population-based studies, systematic reviews and meta-analyses, nutrition, epigenetics, sex differences, reproductive health, cardiometabolic disease, and the pharmaceutical industry to manage interdisciplinary projects. He has published over 120 peer-reviewed articles, co-authored three books on Elsevier in epigenetics, and supervised over 30 MSc, MD, or PhD students. His scientific work has been covered by the BBC, CNN, Reuters, the Times of London, and the New York Times.
Dora Kostakopoulou, PhD
Advisor, United Kingdom
Dora Kostakopoulou, PhD, is the Chair of the Scientific Committee of the Fundamental Rights Agency of the EU and has had Jean Monnet Professorial positions in the United Kingdom. She has been British Academy, Thank Offering to Britain Fellow (2003-2004) and recipient of an Innovation Award by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (2004-2005). She is the author of Citizenship, Identity and Immigration in the European Union: Between Past and Future (2001, Manchester University Press), The Future Governance of Citizenship which was published by Cambridge University Press in 2008 (Law in Context Series), Institutional Constructivism in Social Sciences and Law: Frames of Mind, Patterns of Change (2018, Cambridge University Press) and European Union Citizenship Law and Policy (2020, Elgar, European Law Series). Her articles have appeared in the Canadian Journal of Law and Jurisprudence, Columbia Journal of European Law, Oxford Journal of Legal Studies, Modern Law Review, European Law Journal, European Law Review, Journal of Common Market Studies, Political Studies, European Political Science, Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, Journal of European Public Policy, European Journal of Migration and Law, European Security, Perspectives on European Politics and Society, International Journal of Law in Context and the Journal of Political Philosophy. Further information can be found at: http://www.dorakostakopoulou.com
Steven Zanganeh, PhD, is currently an assistant professor of bioengineering in the school of engineering at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. His research goals are directed toward developing immunoengineering systems for high-dimensional analysis of tumor microenvironment, immuno-imaging, and uncovering the overlooked factors in sex-specific variations in nano-immunotherapy.
Natacha Chetcuti-Osorovitz
Advisor, France
Natacha Chetcuti-Osorovitz, sociologist, Senior Lecturer – HDR (Habilitation to direct research) – Centrale Supélec and researcher at the IDHES Laboratory (Institutions and Historical Dynamics of the Economy and Society) – ENS-Paris-Saclay (France). Her work focuses on prison sociology, feminist epistemology and gender violence. Her latest book is on the prison experience of women serving long sentences: Femmes en prison et violences de genre. Résistances à perpétuité, Paris, Ed. La Dispute, 2021. She coordinates with Valérie Icard a monthly seminar at the MSH Paris-Saclay laboratory at the IDHES of ENS-Paris-Saclay: “Genre et monde carcéral” (http://msh-paris-saclay.fr/seminaire-genre-et-monde-carceral-2020-2021/)
Some of her publications from 2019 to 2022: She published in 2022 with Sandrine Sanos (ed.): Le genre carcéral : Pouvoir disciplinaire, agentivité et expériences de la prison, XIX-XXIe siècles, Paris, éditions EMSHA ; in 2020 with Patricia Paperman Genre et monde carcéral : perspectives éthiques et politiques (ed. ), collection ” Actes “, MSH-Paris-Saclay, n°6, November 2020 ; with Sarah Jean-Jacques ” Usages de l’espace public et lesbianisme : sanctions sociales et contournements dans les métropoles françaises “, in Cahiers de Géographie du Québec – Université de Laval, vol 62, n°175 ; 2019, ” Reflections on historic lesbian feminisms “, in Niharika Banerjea, Kath Browne, Eduarda Ferreira, Marta Olasik, and Julie Podmore (sous la dir. ), Lesbian Feminism. Essays Opposing Global Heteropatriarchies, London, Zed Books, pp. 230-249. She also coordinated, in 2019, with Pauline Delage and Marylène Lieber, “Violences de genre: retours sur un problème féministe,” Cahiers du Genre journal, n°66.
Maral Mahdad is an Assistant Professor of Innovation Management at the Technical University of Eindhoven, having previously served as an Assistant Professor at Wageningen University and Research. Her research centers around collaboration dynamics in ecosystems and stakeholder engagement in sustainability transition initiatives.
Dr. Mahdad’s commitment to fostering positive change extends beyond her research activities. She actively participated in the employee council of the Social Science Group, representing Tenure Trackers, where she played a role in addressing important issues and advocating for the rights and interests of her colleagues. Additionally, she contributed to the Strategic Committee focused on creating a safe and pleasant work environment for academics, demonstrating her dedication to enhancing the overall academic system.
Dr. Mahdad firmly believes in actively engaging in this discourse to elicit positive transformations within the academic system. By being involved in discussions, she aims to contribute to the ongoing improvement and evolution of academia, bringing out the best in the field and nurturing a vibrant and progressive academic community.
Junya Ono
Advisor, Japan
Dr. Junya Ono is a distinguished scientist and entrepreneur renowned for his contributions to the allergy-related biomarker development field and his vehement commitment to combating academic bullying and harassment in Japan.
With a career spanning almost two decades in the pharmaceutical industry, Dr. Ono’s illustrious tenure from 2002 to 2021 saw him deeply involved in cutting-edge research in immunoassay development. His body of work is regarded as seminal and continues to have significant implications in allergy research.
Recognizing the critical social issue of academic bullying and harassment in Japan, Dr. Ono transitioned his focus towards fostering a supportive and conducive environment for researchers and academia. In 2022, he founded an initiative dedicated to providing research support. The initiative has provided assistance in hundreds of cases, helping researchers who have faced academic bullying and harassment within university institutions.
Dr. Ono’s dedication and unwavering resolve in addressing the challenges researchers face have earned him plaudits and respect within the academic community. His impact is characterized by the tangible difference he has made in the lives of many researchers and his relentless pursuit of creating an inclusive and progressive academic ecosystem in Japan.
John Ó Laoidh, PhD
Advisor, Ireland
John Ó Laoidh, PhD, is a former Government of Ireland-Irish Research Council Scholar, independent researcher and proud alumnus of Maynooth University in Ireland. His research has been in the field of Asian Studies with a focus on Korea. He has worked as an assistant-lecturer at the International School of Buddhist Studies in South Korea run by Dongguk University and has also lectured at Bucheon University near Seoul where he produced a documentary on elderly Korean survivors of the Japanese colonial period. His main area of interest is in Zen rhetoric, Global Buddhism and East Asian religiosity amongst migrant communities in contemporary Ireland. Returning to Europe from Korea, he managed a Zen centre in the south of France and was a member of Migrants Matter, an advocacy group which was campaigning for the ratification by an EU member state of the UN Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers & Members of Their Families. His research interests also include the academic study of martial arts and the sociology of violence & conflict. He also consults with people experiencing stress, burnout & harassment at companies, state bodies and universities. John has experience advising people negotiating bullying & discrimination at higher education institutions in both Ireland and Portugal.
Romane Cristescu is a veterinarian and a conservation ecologist with a wide range of research areas – all centered around investigating how we can best help wildlife in a world dominated by humans. She has a strong focus on innovations to maximize conservation outcomes. In particular she has developed, tested and deployed: i) new survey methodologies including detection (sniffer) dogs and drone-mounted thermal imaging; ii) non-invasive molecular analyses (genetic, pathogens and hormones measured in scats); and iii) innovative technologies to monitor movement – both ear tag and collar based.
She endeavors to work with varied partners and stakeholders to test and apply these innovation in on-the-ground management to maximize limited funding and accelerate implementation e.g. comparison of detection rates of methods, genetic measures for conservation genetics, using mass produced technology and adapting it for conservation. Her work also includes analyzing legislation and legislative loopholes to propose feasible solutions.
Homa Dehghan, M.A. in International Relations, specializes in advocating for the rights and integrity of Afghan Nationals as a minority group in Iran. With extensive experience in researching, documenting, and reporting to international bodies, including the United Nations (UN) and Human Rights Council (HRC), she provides insights into the challenges faced by this marginalized community and offers solutions to alleviate the obstacles.
Homa is adept at conducting comprehensive analyses, forging strategic partnerships, and implementing initiatives aimed at promoting equality and empowerment for underrepresented populations. She has actively contributed to the Academic Parity Movement, where she leads funding projects and expands services to advance human rights, social justice, and inclusive development initiatives.