Paul Rubery
EXECUTIVE Director

Paul (he/him) is the Executive Director of Biodesign Challenge. He studied Art History with an emphasis on Visual Cultural Studies at the University of Rochester before pursuing a Ph.D. in Art History, Theory & Criticism at Stony Brook University. He has occupied various roles in cultural nonprofits, serving most recently as the chief curator of a historic natural history museum on Long Island. His research interests include the history of photography, artistic responses to anthropogenic climate change, and the phenomenology of science. As a nonprofit administrator, Paul aims to extend access to STEAM education and to advance the critical discourse around biotechnology. His published writings can be found in the Journal of Visual Culture, Media-N: The Journal of the New Media Caucus of the CAA, and Continental Philosophy Review.

Fun Fact: Paul canoed the Moose River up to Moosonee, Ontario, the “Gateway to the Arctic” and the only saltwater port in that province. As an active paddler, he takes his canoe to the riverways of Long Island, where excursions through the saltmarshes make for great birdwatching.

Veena Vijayakumar
INTERIM EXECUTIVE Director

Veena (she/her) is the Program Director of Biodesign Challenge. She studied Art History and Biology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and received an MA in Museum Studies from San Francisco State University. Veena has focused on audience development and public programming at museums such as The Exploratorium and the Museum of Modern Art. Her research, programs, and writing highlight the value of interdisciplinary education, namely its potential to make learning richer and more accessible to non-expert audiences.

Fun fact: During all four years at university, Veena studied West African drumming with a master djembe player from Guinea. Her instrument was the sangban.

Michael Balangue
Program MANAGER

Michael (he/they) is the Program Manager at Biodesign Challenge. He studied Chemical Engineering with an emphasis in Biotechnology at the University of Oklahoma and received an MS in Translational Medicine from the City College of New York, a biodesign-focused medical technology development program. His work experience spans teaching at CCNY, product management for a health tech startup, and wet lab research. His ambitions have expanded to supporting advocacy and community-building for a more sustainable future.

Fun Fact: Michael co-organizes a creative collective called planetqueer and DJs/makes music under the artist name Anito Soul. He also built an off-grid A-frame cabin in rural Oklahoma with his dad at the beginning of 2021.

Orkan Telhan
President

Orkan’s work focuses on critical issues in social, cultural, and environmental responsibility. He holds a PhD in Design and Computation from MIT's Department of Architecture. He is the Chief Information and Data Officer at Ecovative.

Alison Irvine
TREASURER

Alison is Senior Writer and Publications Manager at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, where she reports on clinical trials and emerging therapeutics. She is the former Program Manager of the Biodesign Challenge and has taught biodesign studio courses at The Cooper Union, Pratt Institute, and The New School University. In 2019, she was an artist-in-residence at the Innovative Genomics Institute and Stochastic Labs, where she explored the future of CRISPR gene-editing technology. Alison has a degree in Theater and Interdisciplinary Science from The New School University.

Daniel Grushkin
Founder

Dan (he/him) is founder and Executive Director of Biodesign Challenge. He is co-founder of Genspace, a nonprofit community laboratory dedicated to promoting citizen science and access to biotechnology. Daniel has been a Fellow at Data & Society, a Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, and an Emerging Leader in Biosecurity at the John Hopkins Center of Health Security. As a journalist, he has reported on the intersection of biotechnology, culture, and business for publications including Bloomberg Businessweek, Fast Company, Scientific American and Popular Science.