Faculty

• Mohn Family Professor and Chair of the Department of Natural Sciences and Mathematics at Eugene Lang College for Liberal Arts
• Chair and Academic Advisor of the Interdisciplinary Science Program
• Director of the University Academic Science Labs
• Faculty in Residence at Kerrey Residence Hall at The New School

Katayoun is an educator, advocate, and mentor. She is the founder of the Interdisciplinary Science Program; an undergraduate program that empowers students with the knowledge, values, and methods of science to address pressing planetary health challenges. She has developed and implemented interdisciplinary science courses using a Planetary Health Framework. Her courses include an infectious disease course for graduate students studying International Affairs, a week-long intensive lab course for Design and Technology students competing in the national Biodesign Challenge, a short course connected to the New Wave Science Film Festival, a mentoring course for undergraduates alongside a summer fellowship program with Biobus, and a summer bridge course, Biology, Art and Social Justice, for incoming freshman participating in the Higher Education Opportunity Program (HEOP). She hosts faculty development workshops on infographic thinking, case studies, critical pedagogy, meta cognitive reflection, and authentic assessment to promote scientific innovation that is socially just.  She has served as a Monitoring Editor and Reviewer for Life Sciences Education journal and Editorial Board member for The National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science. As a Leadership Fellow for Science for New Civic Engagements and Social Responsibilities (SENCER), Katayoun designed the open access Stem Cells Across the Curriculum that employs STREAMD (STEM + Arts, Design and Responsibility) perspectives.

She is the recipient of The New School Distinguished University Teaching Award, The Eugene Lang College Excellence in Academic Advising, and the University Excellence Award for Social Justice Teaching. At the national level she received the John A. Moore Award for Science as a Way of Knowing by the Society of Integrative and Comparative Biology and the William E. Bennett Award from SENCER for Extraordinary Achievements in Citizen Science. She graduated with a Ph.D. in Cell and Molecular Biology from UC Berkeley in 1996 and prior to Eugene Lang College she was a visiting professor at UC Berkeley, Pomona College, and Harvey Mudd College.  

Office Hours by Appointment:

Tuesdays 12-1:00pm and by appointment (Room U618)   

Professional Affiliations:

• American Association for the Advancement of Science
• The New York Academy of Sciences
• The American Society for Cell Biology
• The International Society for Stem Cell Research
• Project Kaleidoscope, (PKAL) Faculty for the 21st Century
• Leadership Fellow for Science Education for New Civic Engagements & Responsibilities
• Editorial Board Member of the National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science
• Editorial Board Member of the journal CBE-Life Sciences Education
• Member of the Steering Committee of Symbioses
• Member of the Narrative, Health and Social Justice Seminar at Columbia University  

Research Interests:

Curriculum development and student learning outcomes assessment (biology in context, and STEAMD); the role of motivation and interest in student learning of biology; infographic thinking; case based teaching and learning; social justice/ critical pedagogy; stem cell research; the ethics of oocyte provision; public perception and understanding of new biotechnologies and reproductive technologies (ART, PGD, Genetic testing); standard of care and informed consent; HPV and its associated diagnostics, treatments, and vaccines; indigenous knowledge and resources as they related to benefit sharing; health as a human right.

Performances and Appearances:

• Is Home Where the Body Is? Aug 2025. Making Home Biennial Cooper-Hewitt/Smithsonian Museum. Discussion with Information Artist and BioHacker, Heather Dewey-Hagborg. Link. Discussant/Presenter.
• Science +Art +Design Lab Workshops. 2015-2020. Series of open labs spanning synthetic and biotechnologies hosted by The New School and developed and organized by Katayoun Chamany and implemented with Marcus Allen Banks. 8 events per year.
• Chamany, K. January 2018. Synthetic Embryos. POP A.R.T. Blog. Center for Genetics and Society. Blogger.
• Chamany, K. Panelist.November 3, 2017. The Vera List Center Prize for Art and Politics 2016-2018: International Biennial Prize Conference, "Seeds as Storyteller/Witness" panel. The New School, New York.
• Chamany, K. January 25, 2017. Research Congress. Science, Innovation, and Society Panel. Technologic de Monterrey. Monterrey, Mexico. Panelist.
• Irvine, A. and Chamany, K. March 22, 2016. Whose Body, Whose Property, and What Choice? Biopolitical Times Blog. Center for Genetics and Society. Blogger, Organizer, Moderator, and Presenter Link
• Chamany, K. November 19, 2015. New Rules Proposed to Address Privacy and Trust in the Precision Medicine Initiative. Biopolitical Times Blog. Center for Genetics and Society. Blogger. Link
• Chamany, K. September 18, 2013. The Vera List Center Prize for Art and Politics 2013-2015: International Biennial Prize Conference, "Ecologies of Organizing” panel. The New School, New York. Panelist.
• Chamany, K. and S. Lindee. 2005. Genetics and Human History. Odyssey Radio Program, Chicago Public Radio WBEZ 91.5 FM (NPR Affiliate). July 29.

• Ph.D. Cell and Molecular Biology UC Berkeley 1996
• B.A. Biology University of Iowa 1989