THE MEDIA ROUND UP
Read some of the media and other online coverage featuring Atlantic Fellows and their work around the world.
Israeli-Arabs comprise 20% of the population of Israel yet, for a number of reasons, are not truly represented in Israeli politics. Atlantic Fellow for Social & Economic Equity, Alon Lee-Green, is trying to change that. This recent opinion piece in the New York Times outlines his plan for politics in the country alongside Israeli-Arabs and Palestinians with whom he is collaborating.
Coinciding with Black Lives Matter Month—a period focused on driving impactful social awareness and fundraising—the Black Futures Lab has launched its most ambitious initiative yet. Founded in 2018 by Atlantic Fellow Alicia Garza, the Black Census Project has grown from an initial 30,000-person poll that shaped early Biden administration policies to a massive 200,000-respondent survey that catalyzed local housing and budget victories in Georgia and Milwaukee. Now, in response to rising anti-DEI movements and voting rights rollbacks, the project is launching a future-focused survey aiming to poll 300,000 Black Americans on structural reforms to the Supreme Court, the Electoral College, and the two-party political system. Read more about the initiative here.
Atlantic Fellow for Social Equity Ella Havelka is to be featured in a new exhibition that will be exclusively on display from September 2026 to May 2027 at the Australian Museum of Performing Arts (AMPA). The exhibition, titled “ENCORE! 50 Objects. 50 Years. One Collection,” features costumes, instruments and props from many of Australia's greatest stage performers such as Hugh Jackman and Baz Luhrmann. It will include a pair of Ella’s signed pointe shoes, as The Australian Ballet’s first dancer of First Nations heritage.
Atlantic Fellow for Health Equity in South Africa Haseena Majid recently wrote an article for the Daily Maverick about South Africa’s ongoing migration tensions. In the article, Haseena makes the case that South Africa’s escalating anti-immigrant tensions are not purely driven by xenophobia, but are actually a symptom of profound institutional distrust and a crisis of accountability. Read her full piece here.
Atlantic Fellows for Health Equity Global Mario Jimenez and Ifeanyi Nsofor recently co-authored an article in Global Issues that highlights a critical health equity failure: despite scientists identifying the Bundibugyo Ebola virus nearly two decades ago, no approved vaccine or treatment existed when a recent outbreak began in Central and East Africa due to a chronic lack of global investment and political attention. Read the full opinion piece here.
Atlantic Fellow for Equity in Brain Health Geeske Peeters was recently quoted in an article published by Het Parool describing a public event in Amsterdam where residents used simulation gear—like weighted suits and dementia-simulating VR glasses—to physically experience what it feels like to age. Geeske, a senior geriatrics researcher at Radboudumc, noted that the topic of population aging has gained significant traction in recent years and emphasized that we must address the challenges of an aging population. Read the full article here.
Atlantic Fellow for Health Equity Global Dom Kelly was recently spotlighted in Forbes as a trailblazing disabled leader driving industry change. Kelly serves as the co-founder, president, and CEO of New Disabled South, making history as the first regional disability justice organization in the US South. Read the story here.
Atlantic Fellow for Racial Equity Jessica Feierman was quoted in an article published by AP News detailing Hawaii’s Senate Bill 2108, a juvenile justice reform law designed to make Hawaii one of the first states to require judges to evaluate a minor's past exposure to trauma before deciding to transfer their case to adult criminal court. As the chief legal officer at the Juvenile Law Center, Jessica emphasized that moving young people to adult court fails to make communities safer, stating that "the adult court is not set up to provide the kinds of services and supports that will help young people to thrive." Read more about what Jessica had to say here.
Atlantic Fellow for Health Equity in Southeast Asia Jason John Joyce was recently featured in coverage of the powerful 7.8 magnitude earthquake that struck the Southern Philippines. As the mayor of Jose Abad Santos, Mayor Joyce provided critical updates on the localized impact of the disaster, noting that continuous aftershocks and subsequent landslides have buried portions of his town's primary highway. This damage has severely restricted transportation, leaving roughly half of the municipality accessible only by alternative routes as local authorities work to coordinate relief efforts and restore vital infrastructure. Read more about the ongoing response here.
In a recent episode of The Caste Pod podcast, Thenmozhi Soundararajan—an Atlantic Fellow for Racial Equity, founder of Equality Labs, and author of The Trauma of Caste—shares her personal journey toward recognizing caste oppression as the child of Dalit parents living in concealment. The discussion highlights how her career as a community organizer has been deeply shaped by a lifelong commitment to anti-caste philosophy, Black feminism, and Indigenous ways of knowing. Listen to the full podcast here.
Atlantic Fellow for Equity in Brain Health Dani Macri produced and acted in Olivia, a play that portrays a woman's progressive cognitive decline. The production, which took place in Buenos Aires coincided with the tenth anniversary of the Global Brain Health Institute (GBHI). Following performances, panels featuring neuroscientists including Atlantic Fellow for Equity in Brain Health Adolfo García, discussed dementia and preventative measures. Read more here about how GBHI aims to broaden dementia awareness across various sectors through artistic and scientific events in Buenos Aires and globally.
Atlantic Fellow for Racial Equity Koketso Moeti was recently featured on an SMWX podcast about the food security crisis in South Africa. As the founding executive director of amandla.mobi (a mobile phone civic engagement tool) and part of the Union Against Hunger, Koketso joined a panel discussion on the SMWX podcast series, Economic Justice Matters (produced in partnership with the Institute for Economic Justice) to unpack the stark realities of South Africa's systemic food insecurity crisis. Watch the full episode here.
Several states, including California and the District of Columbia, are reducing state-funded healthcare coverage due to federal Medicaid cuts and the end of Obamacare subsidies. According to Atlantic Fellow for Health Equity Global Medha Makhlouf, a law professor at Penn State Dickinson Law, these states face budget challenges that force them to cut healthcare spending for noncitizens. The scaling back affects states that previously used their own funds to cover healthcare for immigrants. Read more here.
Atlantic Fellow for Social and Economic Equity (AFSEE) Lily Jamaludin and AFSEE Executive Director Armine Ishkanian recently hosted a panel conversation with award-winning British-Turkish novelist Elif Shafak at their fifth annual keynote lecture titled “How stories can transcend borders and boxes of identity.” Watch the full lecture here.
Atlantic Fellow for Racial Equity Minhaj Jeenah was quoted in MSN South Africa’s article about concerns over the rushed Coalitions Bill ahead of 2026 municipal elections. Minjah signed a letter arguing that citizens should be given enough time and opportunity to review and provide input on the proposed bill. He expressed deep concern over the severely compressed timeline for the Coalitions Bill and warned that it is inappropriate to rush the process without giving Parliament, the public and President Ramaphosa the substantial time needed to thoroughly debate and review it. Read more about what he had to say here.
The Walking the Talk for Dementia Institute recently hosted the fourth annual Walking the Talk for Dementia in Spain. Founded by Atlantic Fellow for Equity in Brain Health Fernando Aguzzoli-Peres, Walking the Talk for Dementia is an immersive week-long event where people living with dementia, caregivers, clinicians and Fellows partake in a 40 kilometer walk along the Spanish Camino de Santiago. This year saw nearly 90 participants take part in the walk which aims to highlight and deepen our understanding of dementia. A recent study published in Springer Nature illustrates the development of multiple new connections and collaborations among Walking the Talk for Dementia participants.
Atlantic Fellow for Racial Equity Aria Florant was quoted in a story by Associated Press that detailed an editorial partnership between Nonprofit Quarterly (NPQ) and Liberation Ventures to launch a site-wide storytelling takeover called the "Week of Repair" from Juneteenth through July 4, 2026. Timed alongside the United States' 250th anniversary, the 16-day campaign aimed to showcase essays, poetry, and art centered on reparations and multi-racial democracy to prevent official commemorations from glossing over historical harms. Aria, the co-founder and president of Liberation Ventures, expressed that the initiative is coordinating dozens of nationwide reparations groups to share truer historical narratives and envision a better future. Read the full story here.
Atlantic Fellow for Health Equity in Southeast Asia Sabrina Gacad was recently highlighted in a PhilStar Global opinion piece by the Australian Ambassador Marc Innes-Brown as an exemplar of inclusive leadership. The article commends her work as the founder of Lunas Collective, a grassroots, volunteer-driven network dedicated to supporting women and the LGBTQIA+ community against gender-based violence in the Philippines. Read the full article here.
Atlantic Fellow for Equity in Brain Health Mike Hanrahan was recently featured on Today FM - The Last Word with Matt Cooper Ireland. Mike discussed his time during his fellowship year at Trinity College and emphasized how important creative arts are for brain health. Listen to the episode here.
Atlantic Fellow for Health Equity Global Adrian Billings, a family physician and rural health professor at Texas Tech University, was recently quoted in an article published by the Texas Tribune criticizing the lack of maternity care in rural Texas. Commenting on the high number of rural counties without hospitals or delivery rooms, Billings argued that prioritizing corporate profits over patient care has left rural communities dangerously under-invested. You can read the full article here.
Atlantic Fellow for Equity in Brain Health Pablo Alexander Reyes Gavilan recently co-authored a column published in La Silla Vacia discussing how what we think others think of us fuels political polarization. To better understand how group dynamics are shaped by our own identities, our views of opposing groups, and how we believe those groups view us, Pablo and authors, alongside the Neuroscience, Cognition, and Context Laboratory at Javeriana University and La Silla Vacía surveyed citizens on political identity, language, dehumanization, and well-being. You can find the results here.
In an interview with ABC News Australia, Atlantic Fellow for Social Equity Sean Gordan criticized the latest New South Wales state budget as a missed opportunity for First Nations communities. Sean, the chief executive of the Indigenous consultancy firm Gidgee Group, labeled the fiscal plan "disappointing," arguing that its heavy focus on managing deficits came at the expense of meaningful investment in Indigenous people. Read the full ABC News article here.
Atlantic Fellow for Equity in Brain Health Susanne Röhr has co-authored a new study examining the relationship between lifestyle habits and cognitive performance in young adults. The research shows these effects begin as early as age 20. Explore the complete study here.
Atlantic Fellow for Racial Equity Tess Peacock recently co-authored an op-ed in the Daily Maverick explaining a landmark court ruling for children in South Africa. The High Court has officially ruled that early childhood development is a fundamental right. The court also declared that when local government departments make late or inconsistent subsidy payments to poor preschools and crèches, they are breaking the law and violating the Constitution. Read the full article here.
In a recent El Espectador column, Atlantic Fellow for Social and Economic Equity Rafael Barrio de Mendoza was quoted weighing in on Keiko Fujimori’s presidential win and the revival of Fujimorism in Peru. The piece warns that her right-wing agenda threatens the country's democratic stability. According to Barrio de Mendoza, Fujimori’s victory stems less from overwhelming popular support and more from a fractured, demoralized, and deeply exhausted opposition. Read the full article here.
Atlantic Fellow for Equity in Brain Health Ignacio Illan-Gala and colleagues recently published a study in the journal Neurology demonstrating that using Alzheimer's biomarkers (via blood or spinal fluid tests) is highly beneficial for diagnosing and predicting cognitive decline in elderly patients over the age of 80.
Researchers from the Global Brain Health Institute (GBHI) based at Trinity College Dublin are serving as key partners in a newly launched, PEACEPLUS-funded healthcare initiative. The project focuses on establishing a new framework of comparable public health indicators across Ireland and Northern Ireland, providing policymakers with the unified data needed to drive better health outcomes.
The Atlantic Fellows for Social Equity (AFSE) recently celebrated the launch of People, Place and Nature in Indigenous-Settler Relations: Recentering the More-than-Human World, a new book co-authored by Melissa Kennedy and Dr. Erin O’Donnell. The launch event featured a panel discussion moderated by AFSE Executive Director Damien Miller. The discussion focused on how shifting research away from purely human-centered angles can help heal environmental damage and challenge colonial narratives.