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Experts on countries of origin by surname

Laizer, Sheri J

Extensive experience in expert reports on all the countries listed, and also in particular, Kurds in country of origin and diaspora

Occupation: Freelance writer & broadcast journalist since 1985 specializing in the Near East; photographer; political commentator, Middle East country of origin specialist
Countries of expertise: Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Occupied Palestinian Territories, Syria, Turkey

Landesmann, Sonya

Intercultural and psychoanalytic psychotherapist, specialising in issues relevant to various Muslim countries, incl vendettas, honour killing, domestic violence, PTSD, Rape Trauma Syndrome, assault in detention and traumas of migration and exile.

Occupation: Intercultural and psychoanalytic psychotherapist. Formerly taught English to speakers of other languages. Also worked for the Refugee Council, Goldsmiths’ College, and Nafsiyat Inter cultural Therapy Centre.
Countries of expertise: Albania, Iran, Iraq, Turkey

Lasco, Gideon

The Expert, MD, PhD is a physician and medical anthropologist. He is senior lecturer at the University of the Philippines Diliman's Department of Anthropology, affiliate faculty at the UP College of Medicine’s Social Medicine Unit, research fellow at the Ateneo de Manila University's Development Studies Program, and honorary fellow at Hong Kong University's Centre for Criminology

Occupation: Medical Anthropologist
Countries of expertise: Philippines

Lawrance, Benjamin Nicholas

Academic, based in USA, experienced in written and oral expert reports in USA, Canada and UK, on many social groups and diverse matters including violence and torture.

Occupation: Barber B. Conable Jr. Endowed Chair in International Studies, Rochester Institute of Technology (former Professor of History, University of California)
Countries of expertise: Benin, Ghana, Togo

Leclerc-Madlala, Suzanne

The Expert is an anthropologist whose research and publications since 1995 have focused on the intersections of culture, sexuality, gender and HIV in Africa, especially in South Africa and in relation to young women’s vulnerability. Her academic work as former Professor and Head of the Anthropology Department at the University of KwaZulu-Natal was complimented by active involvement in the design, implementation and evaluation of HIV programs in South Africa and its neighboring countries. Currently working as a Senior Advisor for HIV and health with the US Agency for International Development, The Expert got her start in development as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Gabon.

The Expert has worked as a consultant to UNAIDS, SADC, the World Bank, and WHO, as well as to several regional non-government organizations and community-based organizations. She helped to draft South Africa’s Sexual Offences Act and the Children’s Bill and authored UNAIDS’ 2009 Action Brief on Inter-generational and Transactional sex in Southern Africa. She worked with the Commission on Gender Equality, the South African Law Commission and other legal bodies to assess various cultural and medical practices for human rights violations. Professor Leclerc-Madlala is also a member of the Scientific Committee… Read more

Occupation: Anthropologist- Senior Advisor
Countries of expertise: Gabon, Lesotho, Mozambique, South Africa, Zimbabwe

Levina, Olga

The Expert, Olga S. Levina, PhD, graduated St.Petersburg State University (Russia), faculties of psychology and management. In 1996 – 2008 was working as an organizational consultant for small and medium businesses, contributed to in-country and international programs aimed at socio-economic development in post-soviet Russia. In 1998 - 2015 as a social psychologist, a Co-founder and Development Director of the NGO Stellit she was part of a wide range of health research and prevention initiatives, working in collaboration with stakeholders and scientists from Russian regions, European countries and the U.S. Many of those projects were focused on injection drug users and their sex partners; imprisoned women; socially excluded, abused and neglected children; female sex workers and their sex partners; STI clinic patients; and law enforcement, health, and other professionals and structures across Russia and other post-soviet countries. Olga Levina has experience in development and evaluation of regional and institutional level projects and programs, contributed to over 70 scientific publications in Russia and internationally. In 2013-2014 she received post doctorate training at Yale School of Public Health. In 2015 immigrated to the U.S. and working as an independent consultant/… Read more

Occupation: Independent Consultant
Countries of expertise: Armenia, Belarus, Estonia, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan

Levy, Jordan

The Expert is a sociocultural anthropologist with a research program focused on state formation, political culture, and out-migration in Honduras. He has been studying Honduras and conducting non-governmental (NGO) work in the country since 2001. He was present during the 2009 military coup, and has since studied how these events polarized Honduran society and have increased different forms of violence.

The Expert's doctoral dissertation focused on the political activism of schoolteachers and post-coup policies of governance. During the course of conducting ethnographic research inside Honduran schools he learned a great deal about Hondurans' experiences with violence – including gang violence and gender-based violence. At the University of Connecticut he teaches courses on contemporary Latin America, and the Anthropology of Migration.

Occupation: Visiting Assistant Professor of Anthropology
Countries of expertise: Honduras

Logvinenko, Igor

The Expert is an expert in autocratization, democracy, and rule-of-law institutions. He is a tenured Associate Professor of Diplomacy & World Affairs at Occidental College. His research and commentary have been published in highly regarded academic journals such as Communist and Post-Communist Studies, Democratization, European Journal of Politics and Gender, Europe-Asia Studies, and Russian Politics, among others. I have also contributed to popular publications such as The Washington Post.

His first book, Global Finance and Local Control: Corruption and Wealth in Contemporary Russia, was published by Cornell University Press in 2021 and received the co-winner of the 2023 Best Book Award given by the International Political Economy section of the International Studies Association. He holds a doctorate in Government from Cornell University and has taught at Wellesley College, the Cornell-in-Washington Program, the Harriman Institute at Columbia University, and the Monterey Institute for International Studies. As a native of Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, he studied Physics and Mathematics at Lyceum #61.

Occupation: Associate Professor of Diplomacy and World Affairs
Countries of expertise: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Ukraine

Lorusso, Marilisa

After almost 30 years of studies, research, and professional experience, The Expert is a recognized expert on Post-Soviet States, in particular the Republic of Georgia, the Republic of Armenia, and the Russian Federation. Their fields of research are democracy, human rights, rule of law and State capacity, sub-state actors, informal networks and corruption, elections and political violence.

Occupation: COUNTRY OF ORIGIN EXPERT – Armenia, Georgia, Russian Federation
Countries of expertise: Armenia, Georgia, Russia

Lynch, Emily A.

Dr. Emily A. Lynch is a cultural anthropologist and consultant with extensive experience conducting research on the Great Lakes region of East Africa, specifically the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda. Her ethnographic areas of expertise focus on the everyday experience of refugees and forced migration, humanitarian intervention and settings, protracted conflict and displacement, resettlement systems, repatriation networks, trauma and resilience, and genocide. She earned her Ph.D. and M.A. from the University of Texas at Austin, and B.A. from Earlham College.

Occupation:
Countries of expertise: Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda