Team

Ali Asgary, PhD

CIFAL York Director

As the CIFAL York Director, Dr. Asgary is responsible for the overall management of the Centre, the execution of its activity plan, relationships with stakeholders, and ensuring compliance with the objectives set out for the Centre. Dr. Asgary is professor of Disaster and Emergency Management at the School of Administrative Studies in LA&PS. Ali has extensive teaching and research records in most focusing areas of CIFAL York including economic development, urban and regional planning, and disaster and emergency management with equity, diversity, sustainability, and resilience lenses.

Maleknaz Nayebi, PhD

CIFAL York Associate Director

Maleknaz Nayebi earned her PhD from the University of Calgary in 2018, followed by a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Toronto. She joined York University as a faculty member in September 2018, where she leads a research lab dedicated to developing automated techniques that enhance development practices and address user needs, with a particular focus on healthcare. Her work is extensively published and backed by multiple funding agencies.

In recognition of her contributions, Nayebi received the prestigious IEEE TCSE award at the 2023 Requirements Engineering Conference. She is an active member of the NSERC Discovery evaluation group, the York Center for Feminist Research, Y-EMREGE, Connected Minds, and York’s Center of AI for Society. She has secured large scale grants and was honored with the 2023 Lassonde Service Award for her impact on the software engineering community. Additionally, she serves as an editor for multiple academic journals.