Academic Oversight Committee
The Academic Advisory Committee guides The Joshua Institute’s research with multidisciplinary expertise across education, health policy, political science, data analysis, and mental health. Drawing on experience in large-scale data, conflict and society, clinical psychology, and adolescent development, the committee helps ensure that the Institute’s work is rigorous, credible, and grounded in real-world outcomes. Its role is to strengthen the research foundation behind policies and programs that support Lone Soldiers before, during, and after their service.
Dr. Michael Freedman
Michael Freedman is an Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Haifa. His research focuses on religion, citizen interactions, and conflict in Israel and the Muslim world. His work combines big data approaches with experiments and in-depth interviews. Before Haifa, he did a post-doc at Hebrew University and his PhD at MIT in political science.
Dr. Shlomit Margo
Dr. Shlomit Margo, originally from Montreal, Canada, earned both her M.Sc. and Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Calgary. In Canada, she cultivated extensive clinical experience across both public healthcare settings and private practice, with a specialization in the psychological assessment and treatment of children and adolescents.
Since relocating to Israel, Dr. Margo’s professional endeavors have centered on academia and adolescent mental health within the non-Jewish sector. Dr. Margo also currently serves as an adjunct professor at Touro University Israel, where she teaches undergraduate courses primarily in clinical psychology and psychopathology.
Dr. Sarit Silverman
Dr. Sarit Silverman is a senior researcher, as well as a post-doctoral fellow at the Bar-Ilan School of Medicine. She holds a PhD from the School of Education and an MA in Learning Disabilities from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Sarit’s research operates at the intersection of education and health policy.
Brett Kaufman studies the history, languages, and archaeology of the Middle East and Mediterranean from the Bronze Age through contemporary times and is the Helen Corley Petit Associate Professor of the Classics at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Prior to joining UIUC, he held a postdoctoral fellowship at Brown University and a faculty appointment at the University of Science and Technology Beijing. He received his BA at Brandeis University, and his MA and PhD at UCLA. Prof. Kaufman co-founded Faculty for Academic Freedom and Against Antisemitism (FAFAA) and was awarded the StandWithUs/Mothers Against College Antisemitism “Campus Heroes” award following October 7. His research has been funded by the National Science Foundation, the National Geographic Society, the Getty Research Institute, and the National Natural Science Foundation of China.