Invited Speakers

Devaleena Das, PhD

Devaleena Das (she, her or they, them) is Associate Professor of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, with a joint appointment in the Department of Family Medicine and Biobehavioral Health in the Medical School of University of Minnesota and in the Department of Studies in Justice, Culture and Social Change (Duluth campus).

Dr. Das is the co-director of MPact Minnesota Health Curriculum program at the University of Minnesota Medical school. She works in the field of bioethics, embodiment, transnational intersectionality in health, race and sexuality, queer ecology, new materialism, critical disability studies, and migration and diaspora studies.

She is a globally known author with multiple published books including the forthcoming book Anatomophilia: The Liberation of the Body. Her scholarly peer reviewed articles have been featured in leading academic journals published by John Hopkins University Press, Duke Univ Press, Oxford University Press, and Univ of Queensland Press among others. 

In 2024, Dr Das assumed the role of Co-Editor-in-Chief of Philosophy, Ethics, and Humanities in Medicine (Pellegrino Center for Clinical Bioethics at Georgetown University Medical Center) and she also serves as one of the series editors of Palgrave Studies in Contemporary Women’s Writing.

Dr. Das’s significant contributions to public health research during the COVID-19 pandemic was awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities, leading to her receiving the highest prestigious Impact Case Award from the University of Minnesota’s Research and Innovation Office. Additionally, in 2020, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) honored her as an “Outstanding Professor and Researcher of International Recognition” for her work in bioethics and public health.

Anand K. Devaiah, MD

Anand K Devaiah, MD is an otolaryngologist (ENT) at Boston Medical Center (BMC) and a member of the BU-BMC Cancer Center. Dr. Devaiah is also a professor of neurosurgery and ophthalmology at Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine. He received his medical degree from University of Iowa Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine and has been practicing at BMC since 2002. Dr. Devaiah specializes in endoscopic minimally invasive skull base surgery, otologic/vestibular disorders, lateral skull base diseases and tumors, anterior skull base tumors/paranasal sinus diseases, head and neck surgery, head and neck cancer, and general otolaryngology.

 

 

 

Bruce R. Gordon, MD

Bruce R. Gordon, MD, University of Rochester, MA, Molecular Biology, U. California, Berkeley, Otolaryngology residency, U. California, San Diego. Past Otolaryngology chief, Cape Cod Hospital, Past associate surgeon, associate staff, Massachusetts Eye & Ear Infirmary, and Past clinical instructor in Laryngology and Otology, Harvard University.

Fellow, Past President, Past Medical Education Chairman, and Past Director of the American Academy of Otolaryngic Allergy (AAOA)  Basic and Advanced allergy courses.  Fellow of American Academy of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery, American Academy of Facial Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery, and American College of Surgeons.  

Dr. Gordon fully retired at the end of 2021. He has published in allergy, immunology, otolaryngology, computational modeling, and molecular biology. A dedicated clinician & teacher, he has taught students and MDs at Harvard and around the world.  He received the AAO–HNS Honor Award, AAOA Golden Apple Teaching Award, AAOA President’s Award, and AAOA Lifetime Achievement Award.  Currently he is writing a novel, walking his sheltie, birding, and enjoying time with his wife, children, and four granddaughters.