Relationships: Same, Same but Different

Relationships, whether social or biological, shape who we are. A closer look at these relationships reveals paradoxes and unexpected complexities.

Jasmin Imran Alsous, a biophysicist at the Flatiron Institute’s Center for Computational Biology, investigates how biological systems cooperate to function and, ultimately, sustain life. Her research delves into cases like the egg cell, which relies on the altruistic support of surrounding community cells for its growth and survival, and how thousands of massive fruit fly sperm, which can be as long as the fly itself, pack and interact. These unique cases offer valuable insights into the vast repertoire of interactions that allow life to thrive.

Orna Guralnik is a clinical psychologist and psychoanalyst who works with couples to navigate the complex emotional landscapes of relationships. Her practice is the focus of the popular docuseries “Couples Therapy” on Showtime. She is interested in positioning psychoanalysis within the broader conversation of cultural theory. She uses this framework to understand how personal dynamics and societal forces shape our connections with one another.

Though they come from seemingly disparate worlds, Alsous and Guralnik both explore concepts like boundaries, differentiation, codependency, entanglement and symbiosis to unravel the underlying mechanisms of relationships. This prompts us to wonder: What can the biological intricacies of cellular cooperation tell us about human connections?

Join us as they sit down with John Tracey, program director of the Simons Foundation’s Science, Society & Culture division, for a conversation that examines the peculiarities and universalities beneath the surface of relationships, exploring the surprising and often subtle connections that unite our understanding of both biological systems and human interaction.

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS:

Imran Alsous joined the Simons Foundation in 2021 as a research scientist in the Center for Computational Biology’s Developmental Dynamics group. Jasmin completed her doctorate work at Princeton University before joining MIT’s Department of Biology as a postdoc. Before that, she received her B.S.E. and M.S.E. degrees in chemical engineering from the University of Pennsylvania. Imran Alsous works on problems of collective growth in developmental systems.

Orna Guralnik is a clinical psychologist and psychoanalyst practicing in New York City. She is a faculty member of the NYU Postdoctoral Program in Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis and at the National Institute for the Psychotherapies. Guralnik lectures and publishes on couples treatment and culture, dissociation and depersonalization, and culture and psychoanalysis. She is on the editorial boards of Psychoanalytic Dialogues and Studies in Gender and Sexuality. She co-founded the Center for the Study of Dissociation and Depersonalization at the Mount Sinai Medical School. Guralnik is a graduate of the NYU Postdoctoral Program in Psychotherapy and Psychoanalysis. She has starred in several seasons of Showtime’s documentary series “Couples Therapy.”