Lab Members
Cathy Schaeff
Dr. Schaeff ‘s training is in evolutionary biology and behavior. Her current research explores how sex, gender and sex/gender inform one’s identity or sense of self, and how one’s sense of self shapes and is shaped by one’s relationship with their body. Dr. Schaeff’s ongoing studies incorporate quantitative and qualitative methods, integrating the strengths of the natural and social sciences. American University faculty profile here.
Amelia Zug
Amelia is a second year undergraduate student at Brown University studying Computational Biology. She is considering a second concentration in Gender and Sexuality Studies focusing on trans healthcare and reproductive justice. Amelia is interested in finding ways to make healthcare more accessible, inclusive, and aware of the ways in which it falls short for marginalized communities. At Brown she is part of a computational biology lab that is investigating the genetics of preeclampsia, an early birth disorder that disproportionately affects black women. She is excited to be part of this research team at American and learn more about the resources available to trans-feminine individuals.
Kyra Stella
Kyra is a third year undergraduate student at American University studying biology on the Pre-Medical track. She hopes to one day become an Infectious Disease specialist, working in internal medicine. As a member of the LGBTQ community, Kyra is passionate about this research to better support the community. Outside of American University, Kyra works as a Research Assistant at Whiterabbit.ai, working to advance AI technology in healthcare.
Halima Bangoura
Halima is a third-year undergraduate student at American University majoring in Biology with a minor in Public Health. Halima is currently preparing for the MCAT in hopes of becoming a surgeon. She is passionate about using her career path to aid in countries where health is less accessible. Halima’s passions do not stop there. Her drive to help marginalized communities is why she enjoys being a part of the research team. She is confident that her time as a team member will help build awareness about the LGBTQ community.
Shai Elghanian
Shai is a third-year undergraduate student at American University majoring in Economics with a minor in International Studies. He has worked with Dr. Catherine Schaeff as a Program Leader for American University’s Complex Problems Course on Human Sexuality. He currently works as an Outreach Coordinator in the Fateline Multimedia Arts Collective, which is a multimedia arts collective with the aims of inspiring peace and justice in Washington, D.C. through creative collaboration. His desire to research and raise awareness for the LGBT community, specifcally the issues facing the trans-feminine community, has led him to join the Gender & Sexuality Research Group.
Genevieve Loveland
Genevieve is a second-year undergraduate student at American University majoring in Economics. She is considering a minor in Psychology in order to gain a better understanding of the treatment side of healthcare. In 2018, she attended a seminar at the National Press Club in regards to child development and national outreach in which she proctored a group for the LGBTQ community. Genevieve hopes to one day work as a healthcare economist to make healthcare more affordable and accessible to all including members of the LGBTQ community and other marginalized groups. She is excited to see how her studies on asexuality can help the asexual community, particularly in reference to healthcare.
Suzie Stitt
Suzie Stitt is a third-year student at Scripps College in Claremont, CA. She is studying Psychology and Dance and is considering minoring in Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. Prior to coming to Scripps College, Suzie studied at American University where she took a course on Desire and Love with Dr. Schaeff. Since then, she has been fascinated by the study of humans’ patterns of sexual and romantic attraction. She is thrilled to continue working with Dr. Schaeff on Asexuality at her new school and loves collaborating with the inclusive team. Suzie hopes to create an impact by teaching sex education to all ages and is excited to explore this work in her multiple disciplines of study.
Alumni
Lee Clyne
Lee is a former American University student and current Johns Hopkins student on a pre-medical track. Lee has been involved in the LGBTQ community through on-campus activism, serving on the Executive Board of AU’s PRIDE, or as an LGBTQ Peer Educator with the American University’s Center for Diversity and Inclusion. Lee has interned for the Human Rights Campaign and is active with LGBTQ social groups in DC as well as in the health field. Envisioning a future in trans health as perhaps an OB/GYN or endocrinologist, Lee is interested in this research due to personal experience and investment in the community.
Roma Kaczmarkiewicz
Roma Kaczmarkiewicz is a current undergraduate student at American University studying Public Health. She hopes to one day become an OB/GYN and help empower women to feel confident in their sexuality and gender. At American University, she is active in her Rotaract Club as well as the medical fraternity, Phi Delta Epsilon. She also spends many hours working at the Davenport Coffee Lounge, drinking copious amounts of coffee. As for her work with sex and gender identity research, she has been contributing for just over two semesters, and is continuing this work into her junior year. This field of study has always been of interest to her since early high school, leading her to become the president of the Gay Straight Alliance (GSA). She grew up surrounded by her beautiful and inspirational LGBTQ+ friends and family, and this sparked her desire to contribute to research that could be utilized by this underrepresented population. She also recently received the AU Summer Scholars Grant to fund her research over the summer.
Roxy Stapleton
Roxy is a current AU Pre-medical Post-Bacc student in her second year of the program. Roxy has participated in previous research at the University of Washington where she and the Social and Personality lab studied student’s perceptions on diversity and how language surrounding it (inclusion vs. tolerance) impacted on-campus behavior. Roxy is interested in helping improve healthcare for the LGBTQ and other marginalized communities through research and advocacy as she moves forward in her medical school journey.
Aspen Russell
Aspen Russell is an Information Science PhD student at Cornell University. There she studies the emergence and maintenance of norms in online spaces. Currently, she is studying the politicization of science online, the labor of queer content creators, and defense strategies against toxic speech online. At Cornell, Aspen is a member of the Social Media Lab (SML) and is a Data Science Fellow for the Cornell Center for Social Sciences (CCSS) where she develops workshops on computational social science. Aspen is supported by the National Science Foundation’s Graduate Research Fellowship and is a Sloan Foundation Fellow.