I am a labor organizer based in Philadelphia, PA, focusing
on the healthcare sector, and a member of the
Washington-Baltimore News Guild Local 32035. I am also an
Associate Faculty at the
Brooklyn Institute for Social Research
(BISR), and author of
Metastasis: The Rise of the Cancer Industrial Complex
and the Horizons of Care
(Common Notions Press, February 2025).
Previously, I was a Postdoctoral Scholar in David Kaplan’s
lab at the Department of Biomedical Engineering, Tufts
University (2019-2021), where my research focused on
developing 3D models to study brain tumors. I received my
Ph.D. in Cell, Molecular and Developmental Biology from the
Tufts Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences in 2019. My
graduate work, under Ana Soto and Carlos Sonnenschein,
enlightened the role of vitamin D in breast development and
cancer using 3D culture models. I received a B.S. in Biology
from Lafayette College in 2011. In between, I worked as a
lab technician in a translational breast cancer lab at
Thomas Jefferson University (2011-2013). I received the
Norman and Susan Krinsky Excellence in Teaching Award from
Tufts University in 2018; I also received the David A.
Portlock Cross-Cultural Relations Award in 2010 from
Lafayette College.
My current research interests focus on the intersection of
biomedical sciences, science policy, history of science and
scientific research under capitalism; I am a fervent
advocate of the dialectical approach to understanding
biological phenomena and the natural world at large. These
themes appear in my BISR courses and my writings in Jacobin,
Science for the People among other outlets, and my
forthcoming book.
I was born in Bangladesh and moved to the United States in
2007 to pursue higher education, but my roots continue to
compel me to delve into my culture and history. My writings
on Bangladesh’s politics have appeared in Le Monde
Diplomatique, Red Pepper, Jamhoor and more.
I belong to the editorial collectives at
Science for the People, a
radical science magazine, and
Jamhoor, a left media platform focusing on
South Asia and its
diasporas. I am a proud member of the
Democratic Socialists of America, the largest
socialist organization in the US, where I
have worked on energy democracy campaigns, electoral
campaigns and political education.
During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, I helped
establish the Jamaica Plain/Roxbury Mutual Fund in Boston,
MA, and fundraised and delivered groceries. I was also part
of the #FreeTheVaccine movement that seeked to remove
intellectual property barriers on the COVID-19 vaccine to
make them accessible worldwide.