Experts on countries of origin by surname

Historian, specialised in the history, politics and cultures of Iran and the Kurds.

Lauren Carruth is an Assistant Professor at the School of International Service at American University who provides testimony regularly on country conditions in the Horn of Africa. She is a medical anthropologist, gender specialist, and migration specialist with expertise in Ethiopia, Somalia, Djibouti, and Haiti.

Simone Elyse Carter is a public health and humanitarian expert with over 15 years of experience in outbreak analytics, research coordination, and strategic leadership. She currently serves as the Lead for Integrated Outbreak Analytics (IOA) at UNICEF, providing technical guidance and capacity strengthening for emergency response efforts worldwide.

Throughout her career, Simone has played a key role in developing data-driven solutions for complex health crises, leading interdisciplinary teams, and fostering global partnerships. Her work has included chairing the IOA working group under the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN) and overseeing systematic research dissemination to improve outbreak response strategies.

Previously, Simone managed the Integrated Analytics Cell (CAI) in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where she contributed to the development of evidence-based response mechanisms during public health emergencies. Her expertise spans epidemiology, humanitarian coordination, and policy development, making her a vital resource in advancing data-informed decision-making in crisis contexts.

The Expert is a Sub-Saharan Africa specialist with extensive experience in Country Operations Management, Resource Mobilization, Business Development, Communications and Advocacy across multiple countries with leading international NGOs.

Dr. Grace Cheng is the Founding Director of the Center for Human Rights in the College of Arts and Letters at San Diego State University, where she also teaches courses on human rights, political violence, and the politics of resistance at SDSU.  Dr. Cheng's writings and research interests concern questions of human rights, self-determination, and sovereignty, as well as migration and displacement.  She was a Fulbright Specialist (2018-2023), involving a project at the Centre for Human Rights, Multiculturalism and Migration, University of Jember in Indonesia and is involved in scholar-practitioner projects to integrate human rights principles and redress for past abuses in efforts to re-establish peace, including as a member of the Board of Advisors of the West African Transitional Justice Centre (Nigeria) and Advisor to the International Institute for Peace and Development Studies (Thailand).

Julie Chernov Hwang is an associate professor of political science and international relations at Goucher College and a Senior Research Fellow at the Soufan Center. She is a recipient of the Harry Frank Guggenheim Distinguished Scholar Award (2023-2024) for which she will examine the role of social networks and strong social ties in terror cell construction. She is an expert on terrorist behavior in Southeast Asia—from motivations for joining extremist groups, to the pathways into such groups, to commitment, role assignment, disengagement, reintegration, and deradicalization.  She is the author of Becoming Jihadis: Radicalization and Commitment in Southeast Asia (Oxford University Press, 2023); Why Terrorists Quit: The Disengagement of Indonesian Jihadists (Cornell University Press, 2018); Peaceful Islamist Mobilization in the Muslim World: What Went Right, (Palgrave Press, 2009); and the co-editor of Islamist Parties and Political Normalization in the Muslim World (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2014).  Her articles have been published in Political Psychology, Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, Terrorism and Political Violence, Asian Survey, Asian Security, Contemporary Southeast Asia, Soufan Center IntelBriefs, Asia-Pacific Issues, Southeast Asia Research,… Read more

Igor Cherstich holds a PhD in Social Anthropology from SOAS.  Fluent in Arabic he has conducted extensive ethnographic research in Libya, focusing on Tribalism, Sufism, Salafism, pre and post-Qaddafi politics, Immigration. He has been consulted as expert on Libyan affairs by Universities (University of Leiden – Van Vollenhoven Institute), Press Agencies (Agence France Press- AFP), Organisations (Human Rights Watch), Newspapers (Corriere della Sera), Radio (Radio Svizzera), and Television (ABC Australia, Channel Four).He has authored a series of expert reports dealing with Libyan asylum seekers.  

Andrea Chiovenda is an adjunct assistant professor of anthropology at Zayed University, Abu Dhabi, UAE. He received his PhD in anthropology from Boston University in 2015. His ethnographic fieldwork research was carried out in Afghanistan from 2009 until 2013, and again in 2016, and focused on the psychological impact of cultural norms of masculinity among Pashtun men. In 2020, Dr. Chiovenda published a book based on this research, entitled Crafting Masculine Selves: Culture, War and Psychodynamics in Afghanistan (Oxford University Press, 2020), which won the 2021 Boyer Prize for contributions to psychoanalytic anthropology, from the Society for Psychological Anthropology. Additionally, he published several articles and book chapters in peer-reviewed academic journals and edited volumes on conflict, violence, and gender relations in Afghanistan. Since 2016, Dr. Chiovenda has been carrying out original ethnographic research in Greece, investigating the psychological impact of the migratory experience among Afghan refugees in the country. 

A UK trained Barrister and a practicing lawyer working in the Supreme Court of Bangladesh. An avid political enthusiast and human rights activist with the history of academic teaching and research. Very updated with the prevailing human rights condition, political parties and political situation and judicial administration of Bangladesh and regularly providing expert opinion on these issues.

Specialist in political oppression, human rights, Expanding Communal Riot, Rule of Law, Freedom of Speech and Government Rulings, and Security and Justice with a particular expertise on social/ethnic/political groups at risk of persecution in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Myanmar. Experience in writing legal grounds and producing expert reports for asylum cases, persecution, gender inequality, Religious Extremists and vulnerable condition of women and children, etc

Expertise in the Laws of Immigration, Right of Immigrant, Human Rights under the purview of various Social and Political aspects of Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Myanmar.

Dr. Christian is a psychoanalytical anthropologist of violent ethnic & cultural conflict in Eurasia, South Asia, Middle East, Central and South America, West Africa, North Africa and the Horn of Africa with experience working in military, diplomatic, and humanitarian interventions in intra-state violent conflicts. 

Human rights lawyer with 30 years’ full-time work on human rights in Haiti, currently the Executive Director of the US-based Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti. Average 20 reports and 5 live testimonies per year, in immigration court, civil and criminal cases, appearing for immigration applicants, people facing sentencing and the government. Expertise includes political violence, gender-based violence, LGBQTI+ persecution, CAT claims.

Dr. Francesca Conti is a sociologist, academic, and researcher specializing in migration, identity, and resilience studies. She holds a PhD in Sociology from Sussex University, an MPhil from Cambridge University, and a BA from SOAS, University of London. Since 2012, she has been an adjunct professor and academic advisor at The American University of Rome, teaching courses in sociology, anthropology, and migration studies. Her research spans a broad range of interdisciplinary topics, including auto-ethnography, chronic pain management, and the intersection of sport and migration. In addition to her academic role, Dr. Conti has contributed to migration-related projects for different  international organizations. 

A distinguished legal expert and career diplomat with over 20 years of experience specializing in international law, foreign affairs, and strategic litigation. Throughout his career, he has served in senior leadership roles within Mexico’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, including as Head of Legal Affairs at the Consulate General of Mexico in Los Angeles, Strategic Litigation Research Director, and Head of Private International Law, Trade, and Foreign Investment. 

His expertise spans international litigation, diplomatic law, civil registry functions, human rights, private international law, extradition, treaty negotiations, and international cooperation. He has advised on the legal dimensions of complex international incidents, foreign investment risks, cross-border judicial cooperation, and major international advisory proceedings, including those related to climate change obligations. Earlier in his career, he clerked at the International Criminal Court and contributed to key legal frameworks within the Hague Conference on Private International Law. 

Recognized for his strategic foresight, negotiation skills, and legal acumen, he has played a critical role in safeguarding Mexico’s interests in international forums, strengthening legal cooperation… Read more

Cintia Cruz has extensive research experience, including one and a half years at the Gender and Race Department at UC Berkeley. They earned a PhD in Gender and Women’s Studies at the Federal University of Bahia, Brazil. Their thesis, defended in 2019, “Trails of Black Women,” centered on the comparative self-esteem of Black women in Oakland, California, and Salvador, Brazil. After receiving their doctorate, they served at the United Nations: Joint Program on the Eradication of Child Marriage and Early Unions in Latin America and the Caribbean (2021); The Project to Prevent Pregnancy among Teenagers at the Triple Border, Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay (2019). 

Dr. Cruz became broadly familiar with the numerous and varying structural impediments and cultural practices constraining girls’ mainly black and Indigenous, in the region. They hold a Master’s degree in Social Sciences and gather an academic trajectory strongly defined by the alignment of project management and research wo to enhance marginalized communities’ autonomy. In 2022, as a national consultant for UNICEF, they delivered the Brazilian report to the Summit Education at the United Nations General Assembly 2022, entitled The Map of Hope to Transform Education in Brazil. In 2020, Dr. Cruz was the… Read more