Gilbert Fridgen is Full Professor in Digital Financial Services and holder of the PayPal-FNR PEARL Chair at the University of Luxembourg's Interdisciplinary Centre for Security, Reliability and Trust (SnT). He leads the FINATRAX research group focusing on blockchain, digital identity, and sustainable digital solutions. His research explores decentralized technologies in finance, energy systems, and public administration. Current projects investigate blockchain applications in industrial demand response, NFT markets, EU digital identity wallets, and DeFi institutional adoption. Prof. Fridgen examines the intersection of technology with regulatory frameworks and user behavior in energy and financial systems. He collaborates extensively with industry partners including PayPal and Spuerkeess. Prof. Fridgen actively contributes to EU digital policy discussions, particularly regarding the European Digital Identity Wallet framework and decentralized finance governance.
Sir Paul Collier is a distinguished Professor of Economics and Public Policy at the Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford, where he also directs the Centre for the Study of African Economies. He serves as the Oxford Academic Director of the International Growth Centre, a collaboration between the London School of Economics and Oxford University. Professor Collier has established himself as a leading authority on development economics, particularly focusing on African economies, poverty reduction, and the political economy of development. His academic journey includes significant public service, having served as Director of the World Bank Research Development Department from 1998 to 2003. He currently advises the International Monetary Fund Strategy and Policy Department and writes regularly for major publications including The Independent and The New York Times. His extensive contributions to economic thought have been recognized with numerous prestigious awards. Professor Collier's research interests span a wide range of critical development issues. He has made significant contributions to understanding the "bottom billion" - the poorest populations in the world - and has developed innovative approaches to addressing regional inequality, natural resource management, and the political barriers to development. His work consistently bridges academic rigor with practical policy applications, making complex economic theories accessible to policymakers and the general public alike. His publications reveal a consistent focus on practical solutions to development challenges. Recent works have examined urbanization in developing countries, the relationship between elections and economic performance, infrastructure investment in Africa, and the cultural foundations of economic success or failure. His research demonstrates how institutional design, cultural factors, and appropriate policy frameworks can enable neglected regions to "spiral up" toward prosperity. A.SK Social Science Award (2013) Arthur Ross Prize (for The Bottom Billion) Handesblatt Prize (for The Future of Capitalism) Adam Smith Prize by Glasgow's Philosophical Society (2023) Global Citizenship Award by Belgium's cooperative movement (2018) Professor Collier is actively engaged in advising governments on practical approaches to regional renewal. His recent work emphasizes the importance of local agency, collective learning, and moral leadership in addressing the challenges faced by neglected communities in both developed and developing countries. He challenges conventional economic orthodoxies that prioritize market forces alone and advocates for more nuanced, context-specific policy approaches that recognize the complex interplay of economic, social, and political factors in development processes.
Dr. Emily Cuming is a Senior Lecturer in the Humanities and Social Science school at Liverpool John Moores University , specializing in British literature, culture, and social history from the 19th century to the present. Her research focuses on maritime relations, working-class girlhood, life writing, and representations of domestic spaces including council estates, slums, and bedsits. PhD, MA, BA in English & Russian from University of Manchester (2006, 2002, 2001) Editor of Key Words: A Journal of Cultural Materialism Co-leader of the Home and Domestic Cultures research network Committee member of the Research Institute for Literature and Cultural History Board member of the Centre for Port and Maritime History Her research combines literary analysis with historical and cultural studies, emphasizing material culture, port cities, and marginalized voices. Recent publications include Maritime Relations: Life, Labour and Literature at the Water’s Edge, 1830-1914 (Cambridge University Press, forthcoming 2025) and Housing, Class and Gender in Modern British Writing, 1880-2012 (CUP, 2016). She has received multiple research grants including AHRC Connected Communities funding and Liverpool John Moores University QR awards. Dr. Cuming teaches undergraduate modules on Life Stories , Representing Domestic Space , and Waterscapes , as well as MA courses on Place: Imagining Place in Modern Times . She supervises three PhD projects and welcomes new supervisees in her research areas. 2025: Enhancing Research Cultures funding for 'The Sinking of the Lancastria' 2024: Editorial board member of Journal of Victorian Culture 2023: NCCPE Engage Prize for 'Around the Toilet' project 2022: Caird Short-term Research Fellowship 2016: NCCPE Engage Prize winner
Douglas C. Ligor is a Professor of Policy Analysis at the RAND School of Public Policy and Director of the Management, Technology, and Capabilities Program at RAND's Homeland Security Research Division. He holds dual roles as a Senior Behavioral Scientist and academic researcher, specializing in homeland/national security law, immigration policy, space governance, and international legal frameworks. Education: J.D. from University of Connecticut School of Law (2000s) and B.S. in Economics from U.S. Military Academy at West Point (1990s). Prior to RAND, he served in federal legal roles including Deputy Chief Counsel at USCIS and Assistant District Counsel at DOJ/ICE. Research focuses on border security, asylum processing, outer space regulation, and federal-state-local coordination. His work frequently addresses intersections between statutory compliance and operational realities in domains like immigration enforcement and space traffic management. Notable contributions include policy analyses on Title 42 immigration restrictions, ISIS prisoner management in Syria, and frameworks for international space traffic governance. He regularly engages in public commentary through podcasts and op-eds on topics like U.S. border policy and emerging space law challenges.
Dr. Paul McGarr is a Lecturer in Intelligence Studies at King’s College London (since 2023), part of the Department of War Studies within the Faculty of Social Science & Public Policy. He holds an MA in International History from Royal Holloway, University of London, and a PhD from Royal Holloway (2008). Prior to joining King’s, he served as Lecturer and Associate Professor in US Foreign Policy at the University of Nottingham (2011–2023), where he also held an AHRC Postdoctoral Fellowship (2009–2011). He is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and Royal Asiatic Society. His research focuses on security and intelligence outside the Anglosphere, clandestine diplomacy, and covert propaganda. Notable projects include a British Academy-funded study (2017–2019) analyzing emotions in British-India security relations and research fellowships at institutions like the Library of Congress and British Library. Dr. McGarr teaches modules on intelligence in war studies, diplomacy, and peace/war contexts. He supervises PhDs in intelligence agencies outside the Anglosphere, covert action, and disinformation. His authored/co-authored books include Spies in South Asia (2024), The Cold War in South Asia (2013), and India at 70 (2019). Recent articles explore topics like Soviet disinformation in India and the Sino-Indian War’s colonial cartographic roots. He contributes to the King’s Centre for the Study of Intelligence, a hub for interdisciplinary intelligence research.
Suzi Hall is Professor of Sociology and Head of Department at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). Her research explores the intersections of global migration, urban marginalisation, and racialisation, with a focus on everyday life in multicultural cities. She is a leading figure in urban ethnography and contributes significantly to debates on citizenship, public space, and migrant livelihoods. University: London School of Economics and Political Science School: Department of Sociology Academic Rank: Professor Her research interests include urbanisation, migration, racialisation, livelihoods, and ethnography, with a strong emphasis on the lived realities of marginalised communities in cities. She combines sociological theory with architectural insight, drawing from her background as a practicing architect in South Africa. The recent publications of Professor Hall reveal a consistent trajectory in urban ethnography, focusing on migrant infrastructures, gendered precarity, and the politics of urban space. Her work spans high-impact journals in sociology, urban studies, and geography, demonstrating interdisciplinary reach and methodological rigor. Themes such as super-diversity, street economies, and urban belonging recur across her scholarship, often grounded in fieldwork in London, Cape Town, and other global cities. Scientific awards and recognitions include: Philip Leverhulme Prize in Sociology (2017) ESRC Future Research Leaders award (2015–2017) LSE Student Union 'Outstanding Teacher of the Year' (2025) Rome Scholarship in Architecture (1998–1999) LSE Robert McKenzie Prize for outstanding PhD research (2010) She teaches on the MSc City Design & Social Science programme and convenes an undergraduate module on Racial Borderscapes. She is part of the Urban Sociology research cluster at LSE and welcomes PhD enquiries in her research areas, though not for the 2026–27 session. She has supervised and mentored numerous students and contributes to academic leadership as Head of Department. Her major works include the books The Migrant’s Paradox (2021) and City, Street and Citizen (2012), as well as edited volumes like The Sage Handbook of the 21st Century City . She has also contributed to public scholarship through films like Ordinary Streets and the open-access website Race, Space and Architecture .
David Manuel Bozzini is a Full Professor at the University of Fribourg , affiliated with the Faculty of Letters and Human Sciences within the Department of Social Sciences . He also serves as a Lecturer in the Department of Computer Science (Faculty of Science and Medicine), indicating interdisciplinary expertise. Joined University: 2017 Research Focus: Bozzini's work examines state surveillance mechanisms in militarized contexts, particularly in Eritrea and its diaspora. His research spans political anthropology, digital security, and cryptography, analyzing how insecurity is socially constructed and resisted through both traditional and technological means. Publications: His recent works explore: Ethnographic analysis of surveillance practices Digital repression in authoritarian regimes Political mobilization among exiles Technological resistance strategies Contact: Email: david.bozzini@unifr.ch Phone: +41 26 300 7840
Krista Lynes is a Professor of Communication Studies at Concordia University, holding the Canada Research Chair in Feminist Media Studies and directing the Feminist Media Studio. Their research focuses on intersectional frameworks addressing feminist media studies, queer theory, migration studies, critical race studies, environmental humanities, and infrastructure studies. Lynes employs research-creation methodologies to interrogate systems of power and mobility. Thesis supervision: Media Studies (MA), Communication (PhD), Humanities (PhD) Labs/Teams: Director of the Feminist Media Studio, a space for interdisciplinary art and activism Recent work examines vital energy in greenhouse infrastructures, queer migrant activisms, and decolonizing corporeal representations in art. Their scholarship bridges media theory with global social justice concerns, emphasizing transnational circuits and planetary aesthetics.
Oreet Ashery is Professor of Contemporary Art at the Ruskin School of Art, University of Oxford, where she serves as Director of the MFA programme and Director of Studies in Fine Art at Exeter College. A visual artist whose practice navigates both institutional and grassroots contexts, Ashery's work engages with bodies, worldbuilding, autoethnography, gender and technology through multiplatform projects spanning video, 2D image-making, performance and assemblage. Her research focuses on the intersection of digital culture and mortality, speculative fiction, and gender politics. Characterized by the use of speculative fiction and humor, her work often occupies utopian, discursive and incongruous spaces. She has developed significant projects exploring digital death, grief, and the politics of representation, particularly through her award-winning web-series Revisiting Genesis and her film Dying Under Your Eyes which documents her father's passing. Her practice bridges academic research and public engagement through projects like Death Cafés that bring conversations about mortality into community spaces. Ashery's artistic output shows a consistent trajectory from early performance works exploring identity and cultural politics to more recent projects examining digital legacy and mortality. Her work increasingly engages with medical humanities and the representation of illness, as evidenced by the Wellcome Collection-commissioned Misbehaving Bodies: Jo Spence & Oreet Ashery exhibition (2019-2020) which examined illness representation through collaborative work with the late photographer Jo Spence. Oxford- UdK Berlin Award (2022) Turner Prize Bursary (2020) 10th Jarman Film Award (2017) As a supervisor, Ashery guides doctoral students working at the intersections of performance, visual art, and critical theory. She has secured significant commissions from institutions including KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Wellcome Collection, and Stanley Picker Gallery. Her leadership of the MFA program at the Ruskin School of Art demonstrates her commitment to developing the next generation of artists while maintaining an active studio practice that informs her pedagogical approach.
Dr. Isabel Straw is an Assistant Professor in Healthcare Artificial Intelligence & Cybersecurity at the Faculty of Population Health Sciences, University College London. She leads the CRASH Team (Cybersecurity Resiliency & AI Safety in Healthcare) and collaborates with the Centre for Healthcare Cybersecurity at the University of California San Diego. As an Emergency Doctor at Homerton Hospital NHS Trust, her research bridges clinical practice, AI development, and cybersecurity. PhD in Artificial Intelligence Contributed to UNESCO's Recommendation on the Ethics of AI Developed CIPHER: tool for modeling patient harms from cyberattacks Co-led international workshops on healthcare cybersecurity Featured in 15+ international media outlets Her research examines technology-facilitated abuse, algorithmic bias in healthcare, and risks from interconnected medical technologies. She has delivered over 70 invited talks, including DEF CON and May Contain Hackers events. Recent publications include: 2025: Cybersecurity in family medicine clinics 2024: Sex-based disparities in cardiac ML algorithms 2023: Biotechnological syndromes and digital pathologies 2022: Ethical model calibration in medical AI 2020: AI biases in mental health She leads UCL postgraduate modules on Healthcare AI and Cybersecurity, and mentors MSc students on topics including AI fairness in oncology and cardiology. Her work has informed WHO policy, UK parliamentary frameworks, and UN AI governance reports.
Lucas Introna is a Distinguished Professor of Organisation, Technology, and Ethics at Lancaster University's Management School. He holds a BCom, BA (Hons), MBA, and PhD. His research focuses on the ethical and social implications of technology, particularly information systems, informed by phenomenology and process philosophy. He has served as Associate Dean for Research (2010-2016) and Head of the Organisation, Work and Technology Department (2007-2010). **Research Interests:** Sociomateriality and performativity Ethical implications of IT (privacy, surveillance) Political studies of technology design Plagiarism and cultural values Virtuality and embodiment **Recent Work Trends:** His publications explore algorithmic governance, digital ethics, and the interplay between technology and social structures. Notable themes include blockchain trust dynamics, refugee precarity, and the ethical dimensions of facial recognition systems. **Awards:** IFIP Outstanding Service Award **Grants & Roles:** Co-founder of the Centre for the Study of Technology and Organisation Member of multiple ethics committees and editorial boards Visited professor at University of Amsterdam **Labs/Groups:** Affiliated with the Centre for Technological Futures and the Society Management and Society group.
Vincent Joos is an Associate Professor in the Department of Modern Languages and Linguistics at Florida State University, affiliated with the College of Arts and Sciences. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill and specializes in cultural anthropology with a focus on post-disaster reconstruction, Haitian citizenship dynamics, and migration studies. His research examines the intersections of state policies, international aid, and grassroots resilience in the Caribbean, particularly in Haiti and France. Joos’ work critically engages with disaster capitalism, documenting how marginalized communities creatively transform urban spaces despite exclusion from formal aid systems. His book *Urban Dwellings, Haitian Citizenships* (2021) analyzes vernacular architectures in post-earthquake Port-au-Prince, while his co-edited volume *Migrants Shaping Europe* (2022) explores historical and contemporary migration impacts. He also researches Calais’ border infrastructure and the literary intersections of ethnography. Teaching includes advanced courses like *Caribbean Music and Politics* and *Graduate Seminar in Cultural Anthropology*, emphasizing interdisciplinary approaches. His scholarship spans articles in *Vibrant: Virtual Brazilian Anthropology*, *The Conversation*, and *Southern Quarterly*, addressing topics from Haitian political crises to African American cultural memory in Mississippi. Vincent Joos actively contributes to public discourse through op-eds in *World Politics Review* and *The Globe Post*, critiquing foreign intervention in Haiti and analyzing systemic governance failures. His research bridges academic rigor with urgent social commentary on migration, disaster, and postcolonial identity.
Annelies Zoomers is a Professor of International Development Studies at Utrecht University's Faculty of Geosciences. Her research focuses on climate change, land governance, migration, and sustainable livelihoods. She co-founded the Netherlands Land Academy (LANDac) and the Shared Value Foundation, and served as Chair of WOTRO Science for Global Development (2019–2022). Her current projects include the EU-funded 'Welcoming Spaces' initiative, which explores integrating migrants into shrinking European regions, and 'Diamonds in the Delta,' addressing climate resilience in delta cities. Zoomers has extensive experience in policy咨询 for global organizations like the World Bank and ILO, and has authored over 200 publications. She is a member of the Dutch Advisory Council on International Affairs (AIV). Her work bridges academic research with practical solutions for inclusive development, emphasizing participatory approaches to land governance and migration policy.
Delali Kumavie is an Assistant Professor of English at Syracuse University, affiliated with Women's and Gender Studies. She holds a Ph.D. in English from Northwestern University (2020), with prior fellowships at Harvard University’s Mahindra Humanities Institute and the University of Virginia’s Carter G. Woodson Institute. Her research bridges Global Black Literature, Science and Technology Studies, and Black Ecologies, focusing on aviation’s role in shaping racialized geographies. Her book project Aerial Geographies examines air travel infrastructure as sites of Black life/death and racial structuring. Education: Ph.D., English Language and Literature, Northwestern University (2020) M.A., English Language and Literature, Northwestern University (2018) M.S., English Studies, Illinois State University (2012) B.A., English, University of Ghana (2009) Research Interests: Kumavie’s scholarship interrogates how aviation technology and airspaces (airplanes, airports) mediate Black mobility and identity. She analyzes texts by authors like Abdulrazak Gurnah, Nnedi Okorafor, and Lesley Nneka Arimah to explore themes of displacement, haunting, and ecological justice. Recent work critiques airport spaces as sites of racialized violence and migrant vulnerability. Awards & Grants: "Aerial Geographies" grant from Institute for Citizens & Scholars (2024-2024) Faculty Creative Activities and Research (FCAR) Grant (2023-2024) Teaching & Service: Teaches courses on race, literature, and empire. Served on Syracuse’s Graduate Committee and mentors through the FPP program. Active in professional organizations like the Modern Language Association and American Comparative Literature Association.
Nana Osei Quarshie is an Assistant Professor at Yale University, affiliated with the Department of History, Program in the History of Science and Medicine, Yale School of Medicine’s History of Medicine Section, and the Department of Anthropology. His research focuses on the intersection of psychiatry, social stratification, and colonial/postcolonial histories in West Africa. Education: BA from University of Toronto (2011), MSc from LSE (2012), MA from Columbia University (2013), PhD from University of Michigan (2020) Research interests include global histories of psychiatry, African systems of thought, and decolonizing historical methodologies. His book project An African Pharmakon examines psychiatric care’s role in shaping social hierarchies and identities in West Africa. Publications span topics like mass expulsion policies, psychiatric nursing conspiracies, and confinement practices in colonial contexts. His work has been supported by prestigious fellowships including the Chateaubriand Fellowship and SSRC IDRF. Teaching: Courses on global psychiatric history, African intellectual traditions, and archival methodologies
