Medical treatment of mass casualties

Joseph Galante, chief of the UC Davis Division of Trauma, Surgical Critical Care and Acute Care Surgery, is an expert in surgical treatment of blast injuries from the battlefield or mass-casualty incidents. His research focuses on improving medical treatment in response to disasters and using military medical techniques to benefit civilian medical practice. In addition to his work at UC Davis, Galante is a member of the U.S. Naval reserves who has served with distinction both in the U.S., Western Pacific and Afghanistan. Interviews with Galante can be arranged through Karen Finney, UC Davis Health System, at 916-734-9064 or klfinney@ucdavis.edu.

Gun violence

Dr. Garen Wintemute, director of the Violence Prevention Research Program at the UC Davis Medical Center, is a national expert on gun violence, mass shootings and public attitudes about guns. Wintemute, a professor of emergency medicine, has conducted numerous studies about gun accessibility, connections between gun ownership and violence, etc. Contact: Dr. Garen Wintemute, Emergency Medicine, (916) 734-3083, gjwintemute@ucdavis.edu. The center can also provide relevant data at (916) 734-3539.

Racial profiling, counterterrorism

Sunaina Maira is a professor of Asian American studies. She can speak about racial profiling, counterterrorism, and “radicalization” of Muslim youth and “homegrown terrorists.” She is the author of “Desis in the House: Indian American Youth Culture in New York City” and “Missing: Youth, Citizenship, and Empire After 9/11.” She co-edited “Contours of the Heart: South Asians Map North America,” which won the American Book Award in 1997, and “Youthscapes: The Popular, the National, and the Global.” Maira’s recent publications include a monograph based on ethnographic research, “Jil [Generation] Oslo: Palestinian Hip Hop, Youth Culture, and the Youth Movement” (Tadween), and a volume co-edited with Piya Chatterjee, “The Imperial University: Academic Repression and Scholarly Dissent” (University of Minnesota Press). Her new book project is a study of South Asian, Arab, and Afghan American youth and political movements focused on civil and human rights and issues of sovereignty and surveillance in the War on Terror. Contact: smaira@ucdavis.edu.

Middle East terrorism, Osama bin Laden

UC Davis religious studies professor Flagg Miller is a terrorism expert. He has examined how Western intelligence and terrorism experts, together with global media networks, helped fuel Osama bin Laden’s growing reputation in ways that were exploited by bin Laden and those who supported his militant vision. Miller’s recent book “The Audacious Ascetic” examined bin Laden’s role in terrorism. Miller’s work examines the contents of bin Laden’s personal audiotape library, a collection of more than 1,500 tapes acquired from his residence in Qandahar, Afghanistan, by CNN in 2001. Miller has been the sole researcher to study and publish findings on the tapes. He has worked as a linguistic anthropologist in Yemen, bin Laden’s ancestral homeland, and is the author of the book, “The Moral Resonance of Arab Media: Audiocassette Poetry and Culture in Yemen” (2007). Contact: (530) 574-3758, fmiller@ucdavis.edu.

Muslim fundamentalism and ISIS

Karima Bennoune, a professor of international law, is an expert on Muslim fundamentalism and can address issues related to the Islamic State, or ISIS. She also has extensive regional expertise on the Middle East and North Africa and on terrorist and extremist movements and responses to them. She has carried out fieldwork across these regions. Bennoune appeared as an expert commentator on “Anderson Cooper 360: The ISIS Threat,” which aired on CNN on March 2, 2015. She is the author of “Your Fatwa Does Not Apply Here: Untold Stories from the Fight against Muslim Fundamentalism,” winner of the 2014 Dayton Literary Peace Prize in nonfiction. The book is the basis for her TED talk, “When people of Muslim heritage challenge fundamentalism,” which has received over 1.3 million views. Separate from her work at UC Davis, she also serves as the United Nations Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights. Contact: kebennoune@ucdavis.edu.

Second Amendment and its history

Carlton Larson, School of Law, specializes in constitutional law and can comment in particular on the Second Amendment and its history. He is not an expert on gun control policy. (530) 754-5731, clarson@ucdavis.edu.

UC Davis has other faculty with expertise on these issues, so please check with the contact listed for further information and experts.