Elena Abrusci

Dr. Elena Abrusci serves as Senior Lecturer in Law at Brunel Law School within Brunel University London's College of Business, Arts and Social Sciences, joining in 2021 after impactful roles including Policy Advisor on Digital Regulation at the UK Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport and Senior Research Officer at the University of Essex's ESRC-funded 'Human Rights, Big Data and Technology Project'. Her interdisciplinary expertise bridges law and politics with significant contributions to modern slavery research through the Rights Lab and Walk Free Foundation.

Her academic credentials feature a PhD in Law from the University of Nottingham (awarded Vice-Chancellor Scholarship for Research Excellence), Postgraduate Advanced Diploma in Politics from Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies (Honor Fellow), MA in International Relations from the University of Florence and Sciences-Po Paris, and BA in Politics and International Relations from the University of Pisa.

Dr. Abrusci's research critically examines regional human rights systems alongside technology's impact on fundamental rights, with particular focus on AI governance, online disinformation/misinformation, hate speech regulation, and digital platform accountability. Her work consistently analyzes how emerging technologies challenge traditional human rights frameworks while proposing regulatory solutions for democratic participation.

Analysis of her 2017-2024 publications reveals evolving scholarly attention from judicial convergence in regional human rights systems toward contemporary digital governance challenges, with increasing emphasis on automated decision-making, content moderation frameworks, and cross-jurisdictional regulatory comparisons between EU/UK legislation.

Scientific recognition includes:

• Vice-Chancellor Scholarship for Research Excellence (University of Nottingham)
• Honor Fellow designation at Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies

She actively supervises PhD candidates in regional human rights systems, human rights technology intersections, and AI governance, while contributing to major research initiatives including the ESRC-funded 'Human Rights, Big Data and Technology Project' and Walk Free Foundation's Global Slavery Index. Her consultancy for UN agencies (WHO, UNESCO, OHCHR), governments, and tech companies demonstrates real-world policy impact.

At Brunel, she co-leads the Human Rights, Society & Arts research group and serves as SLS Council Member, building on prior affiliations with Nottingham's Rights Lab and Essex's Human Rights Project to advance interdisciplinary human rights scholarship in digital contexts.