About Us
Dr. Anne Soon Choi is the Assistant Vice President of the Office of Faculty Programs and Initiatives and joined CSUN in August 2024. Before coming to CSUN, she was Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies at California State University, Dominguez Hills and the Associate Director of the Faculty Development Center. She earned her Ph.D. in history from the University of Southern California and her MSW/MPH from UCLA. She is the author of L.A. Coroner: Thomas Noguchi and Death in Hollywood (2025).
Ms. Kimberly Posin-McConnell provides administrative support for the office.
Faculty Equity Compliance Representatives
Dr. Doris Abrishami is a Professor and Director of Radiologic Sciences program in the Department of Health Sciences, College of Health and Human Development. Her scholarship is focused on Cultural Competency and mentoring in the Radiologic Sciences and other STEM majors. She published a peer-reviewed article titled: “The Effects of Cultural Competency Education on Radiography students” in Journal of American Society of Radiologic Technologists. Her latest article titled: “The Benefits of a Mentoring in Allied Health Programs” was published in the Journal of Radiologic Science & Education. She enjoys career advising, mentoring, and recruiting students from community colleges and high schools who are interested in STEM majors. She has presented on state and national levels, is the past president of California Society of Radiologic Technologists, and on the advisory board of Career Technical Education at Birmingham Highschool. She was the recipient of the Highly Influential & Sustained Faculty Innovation Award in 2023 at CSUN.
Edith Wen-Chu Chen is Professor of Asian American Studies. She received her Ph.D. in Sociology from UCLA and her undergraduate degree from University of Texas at Austin. Much of her research has been policy-oriented and/or community engaged. This includes Asian Americans and health; examining experiences of faculty of color in higher education; creating curriculum and educational materials for high school and college teachers; and an oral history and digital archival project of Japanese Americans in the San Fernando Valley. Currently she is wrapping up a National Institutes of Health funded project, "Is Assimilation Costing Asian Americans their Health: Type 2 diabetes in California's Asian American populations." This is the first multi-year large scale grant at CSUN dedicated to working with undergraduate and graduate students on Asian Americans and health research. During her sabbatical (2023-2024), she "enjoyed" studying Mandarin at the Mandarin Training Center at National Taiwan Normal University.
Dr. Karin Crowhurst is a Professor of Biochemistry in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and its Graduate Coordinator. She received a PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Toronto and was a postdoctoral fellow at Caltech before joining CSUN. Dr. Crowhurst’s research explores acid-stress chaperone proteins in pathogenic bacteria, which help prevent the irreversible clustering of other proteins in the acidic stomach, aiding bacterial survival at low pH so it can infect the intestines and cause dysentery (food poisoning). Her lab uses NMR (Nuclear Magnetic Resonance) spectroscopy for atomic-resolution investigation of the structure, flexibility and function of these proteins alone and with “client” proteins to better understand their activity; this moves us closer to treatments for this widespread and sometimes-deadly disease. Dr. Crowhurst’s lab trains undergraduates and graduate students, preparing them for higher degrees and jobs in the biotech industry. She has been continuously funded by the NIH and/or NSF since 2010.
Dr. Kandice Soraya Grote is an Associate Professor in the Department of Child and Adolescent Development, College of Health and Human Development and director of the CSUN Orange Lab, a child developmental cognitive research lab. Her research interests include the cognitive benefits of bilingualism, with particular focus in areas of cognitive flexibility such as executive functioning, visual-spatial memory, and growth mindset. Additional areas of research include recommendations and policy surrounding effective bilingual and multilingual preK-12 education. Dr. Grote has published in peer-reviewed journals and presented at local, national, and international conferences and maintains active research lab, mentoring 20+ undergraduate researchers. Over the past 10 years here at CSUN, she has also engaged in local efforts to support bilingual education as an active Foundational Board member and as a former Executive Board member of the Multicultural Learning Center, a dual immersion charter school in Canoga Park.
Dr. Jade Huell is faculty in the College of Arts, Media and Communication.
Dr. Anna Dina L. Joaquin is Professor and Chair of the Department of Linguistics and TESL. Her research interests include the application of conversation & discourse analysis to atypical populations, the neurobiology of language of first and second language acquisition, language socialization, translanguaging, and TESL/TEFL Pedagogy. She is the co-author of The Interactional Instinct: The Evolution and Acquisition of Language (Oxford, 2009), author of Enculturation Processes in Primary Language Acquisition (Equinox, 2013) and co-editor of Exploring the Interactional Instinct (Oxford, 2013). She is the former chair of the Applied Linguistics Interest Group for TESOL and College/University Group for CATESOL. She has taught ESL throughout Southern California and EFL in The Republic or Georgia, Armenia, Myanmar, East Timor, Kazakstan, and Uzbekistan. Her journal publication record is varied and includes articles in Applied Linguistics, Discourse Analysis, Journal of Religion, Spirituality, and Aging, and Asian EFL journal.
Dr. Santosh Khadka is a Professor of English and the Academic Lead for the DCDL program at CSUN. He has authored or co-edited seven books and two special issues of a journal. His monograph, Multiliteracies, Emerging Media, and College Writing Instruction, along with three co-edited books, was published by Routledge between 2018 and 2021. Additionally, two of his co-edited collections, Bridging the Multimodal Gap: From Theory to Practice and Professionalizing Multimodal Composition, were published by Utah State University Press. Dr. Khadka has also contributed numerous scholarly articles to journals both in the United States and abroad. He currently teaches graduate and undergraduate courses on artificial intelligence, digital media, professional communication, academic writing, rhetoric and communication theories, and writing theories and pedagogies.
Iswari Pandey (Ph. D.) is a professor of English, who taught at Tribhuvan University (Nepal), the University of Louisville, and Syracuse University (New York) before joining CSUN in 2013. His recent honors include the Advancement of Knowledge Award for his book SOUTH ASIAN IN THE MID-SOUTH: MIGRATIONS OF LITERACIES (from National Council of Teachers of English/Conference on College Composition & Communication), Outstanding Faculty/Preeminent Publication Award (California State Univ.), Excellence in Teaching Award (Dept of English/CSUN), Senior Fellowship (National Endowment for the Humanities/American Institute of Indian Studies), Outstanding Scholarship Award (International Writing Centers Association), etc. He teaches courses in writing & rhetoric, Anglophone/postcolonial/world literature and criticism, rhetorical theories, global Englishes, Asian/Asian-American studies, composition pedagogy & theory, research methods, and business/professional communication. Professor Pandey has also held professional leadership positions in the US and serves as a program developer and evaluator for under/graduate programs in English (both literary and writing) studies.
Dr. Dana Stone is faculty in the College of Education.
Dr. Vickie Yu is a Professor in the Department of Communication Disorders and Sciences, College of Health and Human Development. A certified bilingual speech-language pathologist, she specializes in dysphagia, adult neurogenic language disorders, cognitive disorders, and motor speech disorders. Her research explores bilingualism, executive function, and speech and language processing, with a particular focus on psycholinguistics and speech acoustics. Dr. Yu has extensively published in peer-reviewed journals and presented at national and international conferences. She has received multiple research grants and awards, including funding from the National Science Foundation, the Office of Special Education Programs, and CSUN. Beyond her research, she is actively involved in professional service as Co-President of the Asian Pacific Islander Speech-Language-Hearing Caucus, advocating for greater representation in the field and supporting the API community.