Angela Armendariz, Ph.D.

Finance & HR Operations

Angela Armendariz, Ph.D. (she/her) is the Finance & HR Operations Specialist at Genspace. Before coming to Genspace Angela was the  Living Systems Facility Manager at the  Exploratorium, a museum of science, art, and perception, in San  Francisco, CA. Previously, she was a postdoctoral fellow  at Children’s Hospital of Oakland Research Institute. She has over ten  years of research experience in molecular biology laboratories, and has a  Ph.D. in molecular and biochemical nutrition from the University of  California, Berkeley.  

Vanessa Fleury champagne

Development and Communications Manager

Vanessa Fleury Champagne (she/her) is the Development Manager at Genspace. She is passionate about social service and community building. She has worked in nonprofit development for over nine years. Her work has included program planning and development, outreach, fundraising, special events and social media management. She studied Public Relations and International Studies at the University of North Florida and is an Americorps Alumna. She has a love for community service and the desire to create sustainable impact in communities by building community accessibility and equity.

Arden Feil

Biohacker Boot Camp Instructor

Arden Feil (she/her) is the Biohacker Boot Camp Instructor at Genspace. She is a researcher and educator at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory’s DNA Learning Center in Downtown Brooklyn. She has a M.A. in Biology from Wesleyan University and was a Research Specialist at the University of Chicago. Her research focuses on using molecular and genetic tools to understand fundamental life processes, specializing in meiotic cell division and tissue growth. Arden believes that the power of science comes from sharing it with others and is dedicated to making hands-on science education accessible and relatable to everyone.

Carolyn Hall

Creative Programs Coordinator

Carolyn Hall (she/her) is a Brooklyn-based historical marine ecologist, award winning dancer/performer, and science communications instructor. Her blending of all of these finds a home in personal, interactive art-meets-science projects designed to encourage reconnection and awareness between people and their environments. She is often found working along shorelines hatching plans to make complex, data-rich issues around fish, water, and climate change more understandable, embodied, and memorable through artistic and public engagement. Two such projects are Sunk Shore (with collaborator Clarinda Mac Low) an experiential shoreline walking tour that uses climate change data to time travel to a speculative future, and Timelines Through a Fish-Eye Lens – an interactive visualization of the complicated history of New York City’s fish and fisheries. 

Some other hats she wears: she is on the Steering Committee of the Climate Ambassadors Program, a climate change communication project of the American Fisheries Society, is a co-founder of Exact Communication, is a core member of the art/environmental collective Works on Water, and currently performs with Carrie Ahern and Maho Ogawa.

Leyla Hernandez Tavarez

Education Manager

Leyla Hernandez Tavarez (she/her) is the Education Manager at Genspace. Before joining Genspace, she worked at the CUNY's Office of K-16 Initiatives, contributing to STEM accessibility and education. Her work focused on serving middle and high school students by developing inclusive science curriculums, overseeing mentorship in science research programs, and training instructors to deliver successful science content to students of diverse backgrounds and learning abilities. Her studies at her Alma mater, the City College of New York, in ecology and evolution, cultivated experience in research, fieldwork, and teaching, forming her passion for making science accessible to all in both traditional and non-traditional settings.

CASEY LARDNER, Ph.D.

LAB and OPERATIONS Manager

Casey Lardner (she/her) holds a Ph.D. in neuroscience from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and completed postdoctoral research at Columbia University. Building on a background in ecology and evolutionary biology, much of her research used molecular neuroscience techniques and next-generation sequencing in mice and wild, urban rats to model and understand the human brain. As a graduate student, she co-directed an outreach group called “MINDS” and produced a science storytelling show called Studying the Brain. After her postdoc, she pursued full-time science communication and informal science education as a program coordinator in the Neuroscience Institute at NYU Langone. She is the president of BraiNY, a regional organization of the Society for Neuroscience in NYC and is enamored with all brains and minds – whether they belong to mice, pizza rats, people, or other living things. 

Clarinda Mac Low

Creative Programs Coordinator

Clarinda Mac Low was brought up in the avant-garde arts scene that flourished in NYC during the 1960s and ‘70s. Clarinda started out working in dance and molecular biology in the late 1980s and now works in performance and installation, creating participatory events that investigate social constructs and corporeal experience. She is also a professor in digital arts and a former HIV/AIDS medical journalist. Mac Low is co-founder and Executive Director of Culture Push, an organization that links artistic practice and civic engagement and co-founder and co-director of Works on Water, an organization that supports art that works on, in, and with waterways. Recent work and ongoing projects include: “Sunk Shore,” participatory tours of the future rooted in climate change data, made in collaboration with Carolyn Hall, a dancer and historical marine ecologist; “Incredible Witness,” a series of game-based participatory events looking at the sensory origins of empathy; and “Free the Orphans,” a project that seeks to “free” copyright orphans, investigating the spiritual and intellectual implications of intellectual property in a digital age. Residencies include as a Back Apartment Resident in St. Petersburg, Russia through CEC (2019), as a MacDowell Fellow (2000, 2016), through the Society for Cultural Exchange in Pittsburgh (2007) and as a guest at Yaddo and Mount Tremper Arts (2012). She received a BAX Award in 2004, a Foundation for Contemporary Arts grant, 2007 and a 2010 Franklin Furnace Fund for Performance Art grant. Mac Low holds a BA, double major in Dance and Molecular Biology, from Wesleyan University and an MFA in Digital and Interdisciplinary Arts Practice from CCNY-CUNY, and has taught at NYU, CCNY-CUNY, Hunter College, Parsons School of Design, and Pratt Institute.

Sarai Mena

Program Associate

Sarai Mena (they/she) is a Program Associate at Genspace. They studied Environmental Studies and Natural Systems at SUNY ESF and want to work on blending art and science in education, science communication, and museum science. They are going to be pursuing this through teaching in formal and informal education settings, aiming to inspire and empower students’ creativity and ownership of their learning.

Larry Le

Lab and Education Associate

Larry Le (He/Him) is a Lab and Education Associate at Genspace. He studied physiology/neuroscience in college and has extensive experience in medical research. He was also a barista and can make a nifty espresso drink. He enjoys running, boxing, and playing the guitar. He loves dogs and cannot resist petting a pug when one is in proximity.

Neda Afsarmanesh, M.A., President

Director, Research Strategy and Program Development at NYU Langone Health

Neda Afsarmanesh, M.A. is Associate Director for Research Strategy at NYU Langone Health, helping shape the future of biomedical research at the Institute. Previously, she worked in media outreach and science communication, with a decade of experience working with scientists and journalists to improve our discourse about science and research in public forums. Neda has a B.S. from Caltech in biology, and a Master's degree from Boston University School of Medicine in neurobiology, focusing on autism. When not indoors working, she likes to hike up mountains, and down valleys.

Issa Fakhoury, treasurer

Director, Anheuser-Busch.

Previously a Venture Partner with ZX Ventures, Issa is passionate about the possibilities of biotechnology and a future of sustainable food. He brings a decade of strategic and operations experience and will provide financial and operational guidance as Genspace expands its operations beyond today’s location.

Karl Schmieder, M.S./M.F.A.

Founder, MessagingLab.

Two decades communicating innovative biotechnology solutions to the world position Karl to guide Genspace’s brand and communications strategies.

Susan Schofer, Ph.D.

Partner at SOSV global venture capital firm and serves as Chief Science Officer at HAX. She brings many decades of executive leadership of high growth deep tech companies, extensive expertise in materials and biotech sectors, and has experience in roles spanning all elements of technology commercialization from lab to market, including R&D, product development and product management, and leading business development and partnerships.