RESEARCH NETWORK
Our Researchers
Our Theme and Stream leads have expertise across the life, medical, and social sciences, humanities and law and are leaders in their respective fields. They oversee the the direction and strategy of the IGI Gender Equality work. Scroll down to find out more about them and members of our wider network.
Theme Co-Lead
Professor Arri Coomarasamy
Arri leads the Maternal Health workstream and oversees research teams trying to understand and stop miscarriages and deaths during childbirth. Arri is Director of the Tommy’s National Centre for Miscarriage Research, and the WHO Collaborating Centre for Global Women’s Health .
Arri is working to improve miscarriage care and runs EMOTIVE, a global clinical trial to prevent deaths in childbirth caused by excessive bleeding (post-partum haemorrhage).
Barriers Within and Into Work
Dr Christian Kweku Darko
Christian leads our workstream on Barriers Within and Into Work. His research mainly considers employment outcomes, educational mismatch, firm productivity, and health and wellbeing in developing countries. His research also looks at intergenerational transmission of inequality, and gender effects on human capital development. Christian is contributing to a new project to explore minority ethnic doctors' career transitions in medicine across the life course.
Maternal Health
Dr Adam Devall
Adam has recently become co-lead for our Maternal Health work stream and is a Lecturer of Maternal Health Clinical Trials, Deputy Director of the Tommy’s National Centre for Miscarriage Research (Birmingham) and part of the WHO Collaborating Centre for Global Women’s Health. Adam works on a range of conditions, but focusses on miscarriage and is campaigning for changes in women’s care. You can also follow the work of the Tommy’s Centre on Twitter.
Reproductive Health and Rights
Dr Louise Jackson
Louise recently joined the theme as joint lead for the Sexual and Reproductive Rights work stream. She is an expert in economic evaluation and methodological research and is particularly interested in research which focuses on sexual health, public health and women’s health. Louise is based in the Institute of Applied Health Research and works across a range of projects that address issues including STIs, sexual assault referral centres, and smoking cessation during pregnancy.
Reproductive Health and Rights
Dr Atina Krajewska
Atina works on human rights law in health and biomedicine and co-leads the Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights workstream. She is interested in how the international community manages health challenges and scientific progress. Her gender inequality work focuses on assisted reproduction and abortion, particularly the notion of invisible subjects, acquiring visibility through law, and the socio-legal factors contributing to the process of visibilisation.
Qualitative Approaches to Gender
Professor James Rockey
James joined as the lead for our workstream on Qualitative Approaches to Understanding Gender Inequality in 2022 and is interested in using forensic economics methodologies to explore "hard to see" aspects of gender inequality. For example, using large, global datasets to estimate the vast impact of un and under employment of women. James has also been involved in projects on sexual violence during COVID-19 social restrictions and global gender pay inequality.
Our Collaborators and Friends
Our network includes a wide range of collaborators and supporters from across academia, charities and the third sector, civil society, healthcare, NGOs, not-for-profits and more.
Gender Equality Programme Manager
Dr Leah Fitzsimmons
Leah manages the portfolio of research and related activities across the IGI Gender Equality theme. She provides guidance, advice and support across the network and is always keen to hear from anyone keen to get involved. Her background is in research management, public engagement, patient involvement and knowledge exchange.
Wangu Kanja Foundation
Lady Wangu Kanja
Wangu Kanja Foundation is a non-governmental, non-political, not-for-profit organization whose vision is a society free of sexual violence. The foundation was born from challenges that the founder, Wangu Kanja, went through after she was raped in 2002. Her experience at the hands of the rapist, family, friends and the public led to her realization that she needed to take action to address sexual violence.
CEO, ABANTU For Development
Dr Rose Mensah-Kutin
Rose is Director of the West African Regional Office of ABANTU for Development, one of our key partners.
ABANTU hosts the Women’s Manifesto Coalition, which drafted the Women’s Manifesto for Ghana, which addresses the under-representation of women in politics, policy and decision-making at all levels. In 2018, Rose received a Martin Luther King Jr Award for Peace and Social Justice.
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