Our Team

Dr. Gershon is an interdisciplinary occupational and environmental health and safety researcher with extensive experience in the areas of disaster preparedness, healthcare safety, and risk assessment and management in high-risk work occupations. She earned her doctorate in Public Health from Johns Hopkins University, School of Public Health, where she was on faculty for several years. Click here to view her website

Dr. Alexis Merdjanoff is a Clinical Assistant Professor in Social and Behavioral Sciences at New York University’s School of Global Public Health. Trained as a sociologist, the goal of her research is to understand the factors that shape the preparedness, recovery, and resilience of individuals and communities exposed to acute disasters, including floods, hurricanes, and wildfires, as well as slow-onset climate disasters such as sea-level rise and coastal erosion.

Michael Cziner is a doctoral student in Epidemiology concentration. He has worked in a variety of public health settings focusing primarily on infectious diseases. After receiving his BA from NYU, Michael served as a Clinical Data Assistant in the Infection Prevention and Control Department at NYU Langone Health. He then received his MPH in Epidemiology from George Washington University where he worked as Graduate Research Assistant for the Antibiotic Resistance Action Center. Michael is interested in researching social, behavioral, and ecological impacts on pandemics, emerging infectious diseases, and zoonoses.

Selina is a senior at New York University majoring in Global Public Health/History and French. She is interested in how economic and political factors impact policy-making surrounding disaster preparedness and management. Selina is currently working on her undergraduate thesis, which analyzes how pre-existing economic and ideological conditions influenced governmental epidemic response during the 1720 Plague of Marseille.

Postdoctoral Research Scientist

Dr. Daniel Hagen is a social and psychiatric epidemiologist who recently completed his PhD in Public Health at NYU GPH. Previously, he studied social sciences at the Universities of Mannheim, Bonn, and Copenhagen before majoring in Epidemiology in the International MPH program at the French School of Public Health (EHESP) in Paris. He has worked as a consultant for the World Bank, as a project and science manager for the funding initiative “Research Networks for Health Innovations in Sub-Saharan Africa”, and for the Regional Office for Africa of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) in Nairobi. As part of the NYC Transit Worker Study team, Daniel is particularly interested in psychiatric and psychosocial ramifications of the COVID-19 pandemic among essential workers. 

Research Project Coordinator for the NYC Transit Workers and COVID-19: Impact of Multilevel Interventions Study

Shelagh Herzog received her MPH in Epidemiology from NYU’s School of Global Public Health. Shelagh’s background is in working with marginalized groups of people with a special interest in working with children. She has conducted research on children in post-disaster settings, using data from Hurricane Katrina (The Gulf Coast Child and Family Health Study). Her current research interest lies in Disaster Epidemiology and the necessity for comprehensive disaster plans to help vulnerable populations. As a part of the Transit Worker Study, Shelagh recently completed a Pandemic Resource Guide written for NYC transit workers in the event of another pandemic.

Administrative Project Coordinator for the NYC Transit Workers and COVID-19: Impact of Multilevel Interventions Study

Tanzim Islam recently received her MPH in Public Health Management and Policy from NYU GPH. Tanzim is experienced in program/project development, implementation, and evaluation. Previously, she has worked within clinical operations and healthcare communications. Tanzim’s research interests include maternal-child health, population health, and health literacy.

Gabriella Meltzer is a postdoctoral research fellow in environmental health and epidemiology at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health in the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences-funded T32 combined training program. Her public health research interests broadly encompass how environmental exposures—ranging from natural hazards, technological disasters, biohazards, and industrial pollution—create and exacerbate health disparities at critical and sensitive periods of the life course, including infancy, childhood and adolescence, pregnancy, and old age. She uses a variety of methods to explore these issues, including quantitative data analysis, in-depth interviewing and qualitative data analysis, community-based participatory research, and geospatial analysis. Gabriella received her PhD in public health from NYU School of Global Public Health in 2022, where she was primarily affiliated with the Center for Public Health Disaster Science. Her dissertation examined the adverse consequences of child and adolescent exposure to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the context of cumulative environmental and family stress. Prior to her doctoral studies, Gabriella received her bachelor’s degree in Health and Societies from the University of Pennsylvania and was a global health research associate at the Council on Foreign Relations.

Project Coordinator for the ADA Coordination Survey

Owen Slyman is the Project Coordinator for the ADA Coordinator Survey in NYU's Complex Public Health Disaster Lab. Through his research, he aims to investigate the connections between policy, program administration, and access for people with disabilities. Prior to moving to New York, Owen lived in Portland, Oregon, where he served as manager for the Portland Bureau of Transportation's curb ramp request program and helped implement the Bureau's Citywide ADA Transition Plan. He is a current Master of Public Health candidate at New York University and hopes to contribute to international health for people with disabilities after graduation.