Dr. Regina Enjuto Martinez is a Lecturer in International Development at King’s College London, based in the Department of International Development within the School of Global Affairs. She joined the university in 2021 and previously held positions at the London School of Economics (LSE), SOAS, and taught at Peking University. Her research focuses on welfare governance in China, particularly disability rights, HIV/AIDS policies, and migrant workers' welfare, examining state-society relations and NGO roles in welfare provision. Education: PhD in Development Studies (LSE, 2016), MSc in Sociology (National Chengchi University, Taiwan). Research Interests: Chinese politics, social welfare, civil society, migration, labor rights, project management and evaluation. Her work bridges international development theory and China’s unique policy contexts, analyzing how authoritarian governance structures influence welfare service delivery through contracting mechanisms. Collaborations with scholars like Yanchu Qu and Janet A. Howell highlight her engagement in cross-disciplinary research. She has contributed to debates on NGO autonomy, labor rights advocacy, and the convergence/divergence of China’s welfare practices with global models.
Laverne Jacobs, PhD, is a Full Professor at the University of Windsor's Faculty of Law where she holds the Research Chair in Disability Equality & Administrative Justice. She serves as the founder and Director of the Law, Disability & Social Change Project, a research and public policy center dedicated to fostering inclusive communities. Notably, Professor Jacobs was elected to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2022, becoming the first Canadian to serve on this UN Human Rights Treaty Body. She also serves as Co-Director of the Disability Rights Working Group at Berkeley Law's Center for Comparative Equality & Anti-Discrimination Law and previously held the position of Associate Dean (Research & Graduate Studies) for the Faculty of Law from 2018-2021. B.A. (Honours), McGill University, 1994 LL.B., McGill University, 1999 B.C.L., McGill University, 1999 Ph.D., Osgoode Hall Law School, York University, 2009 Professor Jacobs' research sits at the intersection of disability equality law and administrative law and justice, characterized by an interest in the everyday work of the administrative justice system and the lived experiences of people who use it, particularly persons with disabilities. Her work spans disability rights, administrative justice, human rights law, socio-legal theory, and empirical research methodologies. She has made significant contributions to understanding accessibility legislation, transportation inequality, post-secondary education access for students with disabilities, and the implementation of disability equality principles in administrative decision-making. Her scholarship bridges theoretical legal frameworks with practical applications, emphasizing citizen participation in policy development and the importance of inclusive design in legal systems. Analysis of Professor Jacobs' recent publications reveals a consistent focus on how administrative law can better serve persons with disabilities through inclusive design and accessible processes. Her work demonstrates growing attention to intersectional issues, particularly how women with disabilities experience administrative systems, and increasingly examines the implementation challenges of accessibility legislation across Canadian jurisdictions. She frequently employs empirical research methods to ground her legal analysis in real-world experiences of marginalized communities. Scientific Awards and Honors: Canadian Bar Association Touchstone Award (2021) Canadian Association of Law Teachers (CALT) Academic Excellence Award (2022) Hummingbird Award from the Disabled Women's Network of Canada (DaWN), 2022 Election to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2022) Professor Jacobs has held significant leadership roles including service on the Board of Directors of the Income Security Advocacy Centre and the Canadian Institute for the Administration of Justice. Through her role as Director of the Law, Disability & Social Change Project, she has secured research funding to support policy-relevant scholarship on disability rights and administrative justice. Her work has influenced accessibility legislation development across Canada, particularly through her annotated version of the Accessible Canada Act. She provides expert consultation to government bodies and international organizations on disability rights implementation. The Law, Disability & Social Change Project serves as Professor Jacobs' primary research hub, bringing together interdisciplinary scholars, disability advocates, and policy makers to develop practical solutions for creating more inclusive legal and administrative systems. The project has produced numerous research reports, policy briefs, and public resources that translate academic research into actionable recommendations for improving accessibility and disability equality in Canadian society.
Marcela Echeverri Muñoz is an Associate Professor in the Department of History at Yale University, affiliated with the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Her scholarship bridges history, anthropology, and political theory, with a focus on Latin America, the Atlantic World, and the Spanish Empire. She is recognized for her interdisciplinary approach to understanding political subjectivities, state formation, and social transformation during the Age of Revolutions. PhD in Latin American and Caribbean History, New York University, 2008 MA in History of the Hispanic World, Fundación MAPFRE-Tavera and CSIC, Madrid, 2006 MA in Social and Political Theory, The New School for Social Research, 2001 BA in Anthropology, Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá, 1997 Her research centers on the interplay of race, gender, law, and political theory in colonial and 19th-century Latin America. She investigates how enslaved and Indigenous peoples navigated imperial and republican transitions, particularly through royalist affiliations. Her work challenges peripheral narratives of Spanish America in Atlantic slavery studies, positioning the region as a central site of abolitionist and constitutional experimentation. The trends in her recent publications reveal a sustained focus on slavery, abolition, and political transformation in the Spanish American mainland. She analyzes how anti-slavery movements were intertwined with republicanism, citizenship, and state formation, especially in Gran Colombia. Her scholarship spans legal history, Atlantic processes, and transimperial dynamics, often highlighting marginalized voices in revolutionary contexts. She frequently contributes to major reference works and edited volumes on Atlantic revolutions and Latin American independence. Her scientific awards and fellowships reflect her standing in the field: James Alexander Robertson Prize Michael Jiménez Prize Bolton-Johnson Prize Honorable Mention Yale Heyman Prize for Outstanding Scholarly Publication Alexander von Humboldt Research Fellowship MacMillan Research Fellow, Yale Mellon Residential Fellow, CUNY NEH Summer Institute Participant, Johns Hopkins Fellowships from John Carter Brown Library, CSIC, Fundación Mapfre, and Instituto Colombiano de Antropología e Historia Echeverri has secured significant research grants from Harvard’s Atlantic History Seminar, CUNY Research Foundation, and Yale. She has co-edited special issues on Gran Colombian history and Spanish American abolition, and led key academic initiatives including the Race and Slavery in the Atlantic World Working Group and the Early Modern Empires Workshop at Yale. Though student advising is not explicitly detailed, her role as a senior scholar implies mentorship of graduate students. She is affiliated with several research networks and has been a visiting scholar at institutions such as Freie Universität Berlin. Her ongoing book project on Gran Colombian slavery underscores her commitment to redefining the hemispheric significance of Latin American abolition. She remains an active contributor to both scholarly and pedagogical conversations in Atlantic and Latin American history.
Roxana Willis is an Assistant Professor of Law at the LSE Law School, London School of Economics and Political Science. Her research focuses on structural inequality through a legal lens, emphasizing class and race dynamics in Britain and Cameroon. She holds an LLB from the University of Kent and Charles University, an LLM from SOAS, London, and a DPhil from the University of Oxford. Education: LLB in Law with European Legal Studies (University of Kent & Charles University, Prague) LLM in International Economic Law (SOAS, London) DPhil in Law (University of Oxford) Her research includes ethnographic studies of disadvantaged communities and legal philosophy. Notable works include her monograph A Precarious Life , examining criminal law through the lens of marginalized groups. She has held fellowships at the Freiburg Institute for Advanced Studies and the University of Oxford. Roxana teaches Criminal Law and Family Law at LSE, with prior experience at the University of Oxford and Universitat Pompeu Fabra. Her expertise spans legal anthropology, criminology, and research methods.
Krzysztof Z Gajos is a Gordon McKay Professor of Computer Science at Harvard University’s Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. He leads the Intelligent Interactive Systems Group, focusing on human-AI interaction, accessible computing, and behavioral research at scale. His work integrates technical innovation with ethical and societal considerations, emphasizing equity-centered design. Education: Ph.D., University of Washington M.Eng. and B.Sc., Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Research Interests: His research spans AI for public services , health informatics , design for equity , and behavioral research platforms like LabintheWild.org. He investigates how AI can augment human decision-making while addressing biases and ethical challenges. Recent Trends in Articles: Recent work emphasizes human-AI collaboration in healthcare , explainable AI , and equity-centered design . Key themes include reducing overreliance on AI, improving transparency in algorithmic decisions, and centering marginalized communities in technology development. Scientific Awards: Sloan Fellowship Best Paper Awards at ACM CHI, COMPASS, and IUI Advising & Grants: His federal grants support AI ethics and healthcare projects, though recent terminations have prompted efforts to secure alternative funding. He advises students on projects like AI for humanitarian negotiations and digital phenotyping. Labs & Teams: Leads the Intelligent Interactive Systems Group , collaborating with organizations on AI for social good and accessible technology.
Chris De Sa is an Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science at Cornell University, affiliated with the Cornell Machine Learning Group and leading the Relax ML Lab. His research focuses on algorithmic, software, and hardware techniques for high-performance machine learning, particularly relaxed-consistency stochastic algorithms like asynchronous and low-precision stochastic gradient descent (SGD). He earned his Ph.D. from Stanford University under advisors Kunle Olukotun and Chris Ré. His work emphasizes constructing efficient, parallel, and distributed machine learning frameworks for deep learning and data analytics. Education: Ph.D. in Computer Science, Stanford University (2017) Research Interests: Algorithmic techniques for scalable ML, quantization, distributed optimization, hyperbolic geometry in ML, and reliable measurement of ML systems. His group develops frameworks for efficient inference/training and explores the intersection of ML with domains like agriculture and plant science through courses like PLSCI 7202. Recent Highlights: DARPA YFA Grant (2024), NSF CAREER Award, Google Research Scholar Award, and multiple best paper recognitions. Key contributions include QuIP quantization methods, Coneheads attention mechanisms, and theoretical advances in decentralized training. Awards: NSF CAREER Award DARPA YFA Grant (2024) Google Research Scholar Award Mr. & Mrs. Richard F. Tucker Teaching Award Grants & Advising: Advises 8 Ph.D. students (including Ruqi Zhang, Yucheng Lu, A. Feder Cooper) and holds leadership roles in MLSys conferences. Active in grant-funded research (e.g., NSF Robust Intelligence). Labs/Teams: Leads the Relax ML Lab and participates in Cornell’s Institute for Digital Agriculture (CIDA).
Molly Greene is a Professor of History and Hellenic Studies at Princeton University. Her work focuses on the Ottoman Empire and the Mediterranean world, with expertise in early modern Christian-Muslim interactions, maritime history, and colonial dynamics. She served on the Executive Committee of the Program in Hellenic Studies from 2011 to 2022. Her research bridges Ottoman administrative systems, ethnic communities, and religious coexistence. Affiliations: Princeton University (current), Center for Hellenic Studies (past committee role) Her research explores themes such as Ottoman governance mechanisms, the role of piracy in Mediterranean trade, and socio-economic relationships between Christian and Muslim populations. Recent work emphasizes the agency of non-state actors and marginalized groups in shaping imperial structures. Greene’s publications include seminal works like A Shared World (2002) and Catholic Pirates and Greek Merchants (2010), which reframe understandings of religious and economic networks in early modern Europe. She has also published in Greek, reflecting her deep engagement with Hellenic cultural history. Teaching: Courses on the Mediterranean’s historical trajectory, Ottoman Empire studies, and early modern global connections. She advises students on topics spanning Ottoman social history, Mediterranean maritime networks, and interfaith historiography. Her research has been supported by grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Greene’s interdisciplinary approach integrates archival research from multiple languages and regions, emphasizing the Mediterranean as a cohesive yet diverse space. She is a leading voice in redefining narratives of early modern empire and cross-cultural interaction.
Prof. M. Danish Shakeel is a Professor and Director of the E. G. West Centre for Education Policy at The University of Buckingham, UK. He is also a Research Fellow at Harvard University's Program on Education Policy and Governance. His research focuses on K-12 education policy, particularly in the U.S., with expertise in systematic reviews, meta-analyses, and the political economy of education. Key areas include civic outcomes of private schooling, social capital, charter schools, and non-cognitive traits. His work has been featured in prestigious journals like Journal of School Choice and Education Next , and widely cited in media outlets such as Wall Street Journal and Washington Post . He collaborates globally, presenting at conferences like the American Political Science Association and Association for Education Finance and Policy. Prof. Shakeel advises prospective doctoral students on rigorous quantitative methods and policy-oriented research. His guidance includes structured abstracts, empirical methodology focus, and policy implications. Students pursuing a PhD must demonstrate advanced econometric skills and secure their own funding. His research has influenced philanthropic investments and policy discourse, highlighting gains in U.S. student achievement and the role of charter schools in improving outcomes for marginalized groups.
Eileen Klein is an Associate Professor of Social Work and Convener of the BSW Program at Ramapo College of New Jersey's School of Social Science and Human Services. Her work focuses on LGBTQ mental health treatment , community support systems , and policy reform for marginalized populations. Klein has presented extensively at international conferences on topics like cultural competency in social work education and LGBTQ health disparities . Ph.D., M.S., and M.S.W. from New York University and SUNY Buffalo Key research areas: LGBTQ Mental Health, Community Health Disparities, Forensic Social Work Published 15+ works (2013-2021) on topics ranging from polypharmacy to support programs for LGBTQ clients Active in professional development: Delivered presentations at conferences across the U.S. and Italy on topics including integrated treatment and supervision of student interns
Robert Thomas is a Professor of Public Law at the University of Manchester's School of Law. He holds a LL.B. from Cardiff University (1995) and a Ph.D. from Nottingham University (1998). His research focuses on administrative law, immigration/asylum law, and administrative justice, with particular emphasis on tribunals, judicial review, and institutional design. He has advised the UK Parliament on immigration reforms and authored influential works like Administrative Justice and Asylum Appeals (2011), which won the Peter Birks Prize. His recent projects include studies on AI in governance, constitutional history, and systemic administrative justice failures. Thomas is actively involved in legal education, co-authoring Public Law (5th ed., 2024) and supervising postgraduate research in public law and immigration law. Key research contributions include empirical analyses of asylum appeals, administrative tribunals, and ombudsman practices. He has addressed challenges in public sector digitalisation, outsourcing impacts on administrative justice, and the implications of pandemic governance. Thomas advocates for administrative fairness agendas in immigration systems and contributes to legal scholarship through peer-reviewed articles and edited volumes on topics ranging from judicial review to constitutional caricature history. His awards include the 2011 Peter Birks Prize for Outstanding Legal Scholarship. Thomas engages with policy-making through expert testimony, public commentary, and collaborative research funded by the British Academy and Nuffield Foundation. His work intersects law, policy, and social justice, emphasizing the practical implications of legal frameworks on vulnerable populations.
Nicole Myers is an Associate Professor and Graduate Coordinator in the Department of Sociology at Queen's University, Canada. She holds a PhD and MA from the University of Toronto and a BA from the University of Guelph. Her research focuses on criminology, particularly pre-trial detention, bail processes, and systemic discrimination within the criminal justice system. She critiques current practices such as excessive bail conditions, institutional risk aversion, and the erosion of the presumption of innocence. Her work examines bail court dynamics, including adjournment cultures, systemic overreach in conditions (e.g., banning ordinary locations), and the impact on marginalized groups. Recent studies highlight crises in Canada’s bail system, including deepening detention rates and Manitoba’s discriminatory practices. Myers emphasizes reform needs through policy analysis and empirical studies. Publications span 2009–2024, analyzing bail’s role as punishment, surety supervision roles, and youth justice. Her research bridges legal sociology and criminology, aiming to improve judicial practices and reduce pre-trial detention inequities.
Sveinung Sandberg is a Professor at the Department of Criminology and Sociology of Law, University of Oslo. His research spans marginalization, illegal drug markets, radicalization, and narrative criminology, combining theoretical frameworks from Bourdieu and narrative analysis. Academic Interests: Marginalisation, Legal & Illegal Drugs, Violence, Radicalization, Bourdieusian Criminology, Narrative Criminology, Latin American Studies, Social Movements Education: PhD from University of Bergen Research Focus includes: Street capital theory in criminology Drug market cultural dynamics Narrative approaches to extremism Latin American criminal trajectories Recent Publications examine pandemic-related crime shifts, gendered drug use patterns, and narrative mechanisms in criminal justice. His 2021-2025 projects Radicalization and Resistance and Crime in Latin America (CRIMLA) involve cross-country life-story analyses. Scientific Awards: Fridtjof Nansen's Award for Young Researchers (2011) The Meltzer Prize for Young Researchers (2010) Editorial Roles include board memberships at Theoretical Criminology , Deviant Behavior , and International Criminal Justice Review . He has conducted fieldwork in Mexico and held visiting positions at institutions including CIDE (Mexico City) and European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (Lisbon).
Raquel E. Aldana is the Martin Luther King Jr. Professor of Law at UC Davis School of Law, where she rejoined as a full-time faculty member in 2020 after serving as Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Diversity (2017–2020). She holds a J.D. from Harvard Law School and B.A. degrees in English and Spanish from Arizona State University (summa cum laude). Her academic career includes prior roles at the McGeorge School of Law and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, as well as a Fulbright Scholarship in Guatemala (2006–2007). Her research focuses on transitional justice, criminal justice reform, sustainable development in Latin America, and immigrant rights. Aldana has authored or edited five books and over thirty law review articles, earning recognition through grants such as the UC Davis Academic Senate Interdisciplinary Grant for the project Building Bridges: Narrowing the Legal-Scientific Divide in Immigration Forensic Assessments . She teaches courses on immigration law, asylum, comparative forced displacement, and critical race theory. Aldana leads the Aoki Center for Critical Race and Nation Studies, co-directing its mission to advance interdisciplinary scholarship on race, ethnicity, and law. She co-founded the Critical Race Theory Book Series with UC Press, aiming to globalize and diversify critical race discourse. Her awards include the ABA’s Margaret Brent Women Lawyers of Achievement Award and the UC Davis Chancellor’s Achievement Award for Diversity. Her service includes roles on the American Law Institute, American Bar Foundation, and the Council on Foreign Relations. She chairs the ABA’s Latin America and Caribbean Council and co-chaired the UC Davis taskforce to achieve Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) status, realized in 2024. Her work integrates legal education, policy reform, and grassroots advocacy to address systemic inequities in migration, criminal justice, and global development.
Ida Nafstad is an Associate Professor and Senior Lecturer at the Sociology of Law Department at Lund University. She holds a PhD in Criminology from the University of Oslo and has been affiliated with Lund University since 2013. Her research focuses on law and marginalization, postcolonialism, legal pluralism, and transformative justice. She coordinates the Master's Programme in Sociology of Law and leads a research project on the social construction of parallel societies in Swedish public discourse. Education: PhD in Criminology, University of Oslo (Law Faculty) Research Interests: Exclusion/integration dynamics in legal systems Legal pluralism and minority rights Postcolonial criminology Structural racism in policing Publications Trends: Recent work addresses structural racism in Swedish policing, abolitionist justice frameworks, and the discursive construction of parallel societies. Key themes include legal pluralism, marginalized group representation, and transformative justice models. Grants & Projects: EnJUSTICE: Transformative Environmental Justice (2025-2028) RePo: Reimagining Police and Public Safety (2021) Romer som offer i svenska brottmålsdomstolar (2016-2019)
Rodrigo García-Velasco is an academic staff member at the Department of History, University College London (UCL), specializing in medieval Iberian history, with a focus on economic and legal interactions between Jews, Muslims, and Christians. He leads the project Documentary Afterlives: Recycling the Past in Premodern Iberian Judiciaries, 1371-1600 , exploring how marginalized groups preserved and reused legal documents in Castile. He is also completing his first book, Jews and Muslims Before the Law in Christian Iberia, 1000-1200 , analyzing the emergence of legal distinctions for religious minorities in municipal laws. His research interests include medieval legal systems, religious minority treatments, Arabic-Latin literary exchanges, Mediterranean mobility, and the historiography of convivencia. He holds a PhD from the University of Cambridge (2019), and has worked as a Rothschild Foundation Post-Doctoral Fellow there. Publications span Medieval Encounters , al-Masaq , and edited volumes on Christian-Muslim relations. His work emphasizes the role of documentary practices in post-conquest societies, linking Islamicate legal knowledge to Christian institutional management of land and heritage.
