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Global Cornell

Cornell University

Virtual Hosted Scholars

In 2023, Cornell pioneered the Virtual Scholars Under Threat program with IIE-SRF, creating a new model for supporting threatened scholars through regional placements. The program enables scholars to remain near their home regions through a fellowship co-hosted by a regional institution and Cornell.

Current Virtual Scholars

Rania Mahdi headshot

Rania Elsadig Elmahdi Ahmed

Rania Mahdi is a Sudanese biomedical engineer specializing in brain-computer interfaces to translate neural impulses into computer commands that can control assistive technologies. As an assistant professor at the Sudan University of Science and Technology in Sudan, she has authored a number of peer-reviewed publications and supervised postgraduate and undergraduate researchers. Virtually hosted by professors Azahara Oliva Gonzalez and Antonio Fernandez Ruiz, Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, Mahdi is now a fellow at the University of Rwanda in Kigali.

Headshot of Ayat Abdalrahman.

Ayat Abdalrahman

Ayat Abdalrahman is a Sudanese biochemist whose research focuses on natural products, phytochemistry, and medicinal plant bioactivity. An associate professor of pharmacognosy and dean of the Faculty of Pharmacy at the University of Medical Sciences and Technology in Sudan, she has supervised undergraduate and postgraduate research. Virtually hosted by Elad Tako, CALS, Abdalrahman is now a fellow at the American University in Cairo, where she is collaborating on research that bridges traditional medicinal knowledge with modern biochemical approaches.

Rania Mohamed Hassan Baleela standing in front of a poster displaying her work.

Rania Mohamed Hassan Baleela

Rania Mohamed Hassan Baleela is a Sudanese molecular biologist and public health specialist whose research examines how venomous organisms, pathogen population genetics, and climate change intersect to shape health outcomes in fragile settings. An associate professor at the University of Khartoum and founding director of the Toxic Organisms Research Centre, she has authored 23 peer-reviewed publications and supervised postgraduate and undergraduate researchers. Virtually hosted by Lorraine Francis, Veterinary College, Baleela is currently at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

Svitlana Turlakova standing near a desk.

Svitlana Turlakova 

Svitlana Turlakova is a Ukrainian industrial development economist whose research examines how emerging technologies, behavioral economics, and artificial intelligence shape economic transformation for businesses and governments. A lead researcher at the Institute of Industrial Economics of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, she has published more than 150 scholarly works and mentored dozens of students. Virtually hosted by the Department of Economics, she is beginning a collaboration with Professor Kaushik Basu to advance new research while continuing a fellowship at Sofia University.

Eric Ndoh, Wendy Wolford, and Diego Quiros (PhD '17) outside at Cape Town University.

Ndikum (Eric) Ndoh

Eric Ndoh is an associate professor of physics (geophysics) and head of the Department of Physics at the University of Bamenda, Cameroon. He uses data involving gravity, electricity, magnetism, and seismic waves to investigate the Earth’s layers. He has published many scholars' work and mentored dozens of students. Ndoh is currently a fellow at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. Geoffrey Abers, William and Katherine Snee Professor in Geological Sciences, is his virtual collaborator.

Past Virtual Scholars

Shtepenko speaking at a roundtable during her visit to Cornell.

Oleksandra Shtepenko

Ukrainian literary scholar Oleksandra Shtepenko is participating in a research fellowship at Nicolaus Copernicus University in Poland. Shtepenko visited campus in November. She met with students and participated in Working Across Wartime Borders, a roundtable moderated by Anindita Banerjee (Comparative Literature), Shtepenko's Cornell host and virtual collaborator.

Visiting scholar Eugene Nikiforovich speaks to a class of undergraduate students all seated around a table.

Eugene Nikiforovich

Global Cornell's first virtual scholar, Eugene Nikiforovich, a professor of fluid mechanics at the National Technical University of Ukraine in Kyiv, visited the campus in April. Due to the unrest in Ukraine, he was forced to flee and is currently based in Latvia with support from Cornell and IIE. During his week-long visit, Nikiforovich met with Ukrainian-language students and engineering faculty and students to explore potential partnerships for his renewable energy research.