Our people

Dr Phung Dao is Associate Professor in Second Language Education. His research focuses on the intersection of second language acquisition (SLA), educational technology, and language education.

Phung Dao is Associate Professor in Second Language Education at the Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge, where he teaches MPhil/MEd courses in Research in Second Language Education (RSLE) and supervises PhD students. Before joining the University of Cambridge, Phung was a senior Lecturer in TESOL and Applied Linguistics at Manchester Metropolitan University (2018-2022), teaching undergraduate/postgraduate courses and supervising PhD students in TESOL/Applied Linguistics. He also taught undergraduate/postgraduate courses in Applied Linguistics at University of Queensland (Australia), Concordia University (Canada) and An Giang University (Vietnam). His research interests focus on instructed second language acquisition (ISLA), technology for language teaching and learning, peer interaction, learner engagement, Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT), L2 pedagogy, and L2 teacher education. His publications appear in international peer-reviewed Applied Linguistic journals such as Modern Language Journal, TESOL Quarterly, Studies in Second Language Acquisition, Language Teaching, Computer Assisted Language Learning, Language Teaching Research, Applied Linguistics Review, TESOL Journal, System, Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching, Language Learning Journal, IRAL and among others.

His current research projects, funded by British Council and IELTS IDP Australia, investigate online English language teaching in Vietnamese public schools, IELTS impacts on stakeholders, and young learners’ engagement in L2 learning tasks in face-to-face and online classes.

Academic Profile 

Publications

• Dao, P. (2024). Learner Engagement in Online Second Language Classrooms. Palgrave Macmillan.
• Iwashita, N., Dao, P., & Nguyen, M. (2025). Understanding Interaction in the Second Language Classroom Context. Multilingual Matters.
• Dao, P., M. Nguyen, PT. Duong, V. Tran-Thanh. (2021) Learners’ Engagement in L2 Computer-Mediated Interaction: Chat Mode, Interlocutor Familiarity, and Text Quality. Modern Language Journal. https://doi.org/10.1111/modl.12737
• Dao, P., Bui, T. & Nguyen, XNCM (2024). Public primary school teachers’ perceptions and assessment of young learners’ engagement. Language Teaching Research. https://doi.org/10.1177/13621688241253546

Dr Fiona Costello is a Bye-Fellow at St Edmund's College.

She is interested in the global movement of persons, Brexit and the legacy of EU free movement to the UK, wider UK Immigration law and policy and access to justice pathways available to vulnerable and minoritised communities living in the UK and EU.

Dr Costello works on various research matters at the Faculty of Law, Cambridge examining immigration issues in the UK post Brexit (particularly for EU citizens in the UK) and access to justice pathways for marginalised communities. Her work is part of a programme called ‘The UK in a Changing Europe’ (http://ukandeu.ac.uk), which is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council.

Alongside her academic work, Fiona also works with a charity in Norfolk called GYROS (www.gyros.org.uk) supporting refugee, asylum seekers and other migrant communities. Fiona has written extensively on the topic of migration to the UK. Her work has been featured in The Independent, The Times, The Conversation and BBC News among others. She has given evidence to both the House of Lords, EU Affairs Committee, and the Equality and Social Justice Committee in the Senedd, as well as to Parliamentary Staff in the House of Commons and to the APPG on citizen’s rights. Her work has been cited in reports by both the UK House of Lords and the Welsh Parliament.  She also blogs on Brexit matters, mainly for the http://ukandeu.ac.uk/. Her 2024 co-authored monograph ‘Low-Paid EU Migrant workers, The House, The Street, The Town’ was shortlisted for the SLSA Hart Book Prize 2025.

Fiona’s full list of academic publications can be found here: https://www.law.cam.ac.uk/people/f-costello/78811

Dr Merav Rosenfeld-Hadad is both a Bye-Fellow and Associate Tutor at St Edmund's College.

She is an historian musicologist who specialises in the history, culture, religion, and music of Jews from the Arab-Muslim world. She leads a project on 20th-century Judaeo-Arabic culture in Baghdad and Aleppo, collaborating and lecturing internationally, and publishing widely in leading journals.

Dr Merav Rosenfeld-Hadad (PhD, University of Cambridge, St Edmund's College) is a leading scholar in Judaeo-Arabic studies based at the University of Cambridge, and a Bye-Fellow and Associate Tutor at St Edmund's College. She is a historian musicologist who specialises in the history, culture, religion, and music of Jews from the Arab-Muslim world, examining Arabic music across Jewish, Muslim, and Christian societies, with a particular focus on its role in identity and interfaith relations. She currently leads a research project on the religio-cultural life of Jews in Baghdad and Aleppo during the first half of the twentieth century. She also collaborates with the Universities of Tübingen, Heidelberg, Ben-Gurion and Bar-Ilan on research projects that examine the literary, musical, and religious life of Jewish communities from the Arab-Muslim world. Additionally, in partnership with Professor Geoffrey Khan at the University of Cambridge, Merav is working on a project that explores the Jewish oral reading traditions of Biblical Hebrew. Merav also sits as a Trustee on the Board of The Cambridge Junction where she promotes values of coexistence through the arts. Merav's work has been published by leading publishers in the UK, US, Germany, and Israel. She has received multiple awards, both in the UK and abroad, including ORS, BA, Wingate, and Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture, and she lectures internationally. Prior to her academic career, she worked in Israel as a senior economist in the investment banking and education sectors, and she is the author of music programmes for schoolchildren, designed to foster values of peace between Jews and Muslims in Israel.

Academic Profile 

Publications

• “The Bible in the Paraliturgical Song of Middle Eastern Jewry: The Making of Song as a Guardian of Jewish Faith and Identity.ˮ In Reworking the Sacred through Music and Poetry: The De/Sacralization of Texts, eds. Angelika Zirker, Matthias Bauer and Jan Stievermann, (LIT, 2025)
• “‘We Shall Sing Songs and Praise to the LORD Who Created Us Last in the World:’ Ḥakham Yosef Ḥayyim of Baghdad, Leadership with Poetry and Music.” In The Oxford Handbook of Jewish Music Studies, ed. Tina Fruhauf, 91-115 (Oxford University Press, 2023)
• Judaism and Islam One God One Music (Leiden: Brill Academic Publishers, 2019)
• “‘There on the Poplars [Arabs] We Hung Up [Rely On] Our Lyres [Jewish Music]’ Rabbi ‘Ovadyah Yosef’s Halakhic Rulings on Arabic Music.” In Muslim-Jewish Relations in Past and Present: A Kaleidoscopic View, ed. Yousef Meri, 172−205 (Leiden: Brill Academic Publishers, 2017)

• Director of Studies: History
• Director of Studies: History and Modern Languages
• Director of Studies: Foundation Year
• Associate Researcher at the Institut des mondes africains in Paris.

Dr Oliver Coates' research interests are in African history, with reference to Nigeria. His recent research has appeared in the International Journal of African Historical Studies, the Journal of Asian and African Studies, the Journal of African Military History, and Outre-Mers: Revue d’histoire, as well as contributions to the Oxford Research Encyclopaedia of African History, the Oxford Handbook of Nigerian HistoDr Oliver Coates is Director of Studies in History and Politics at St Edmund’s College. He is also Associate Researcher at the Institut des mondes africains at the C.N.R.S., Paris.ry, the Oxford Handbook of Nigerian Politics, and the Routledge Handbook of the Global History of Warfare.

Dr Coates is a committee member of the Lagos Studies Association, University of Lagos, Nigeria, and a member of the African Studies Association of the U.S.A.

• Director of Studies: Philosophy

Russell Re Manning is the Deputy Centre Administrator at CRASSH (Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities).

Russell joined CRASSH from Bath Spa University where he worked as Programme Leader and Reader in Religions, Philosophies and Ethics. He previously worked in various research and teaching roles at the Universities of Aberdeen and Cambridge and was a Fellow at St Edmund’s from 2004-2011.

Russell’s research interests are at the intersections of religion and culture, with a particular emphasis on the intellectual history of ‘natural theology’ and the work of Paul Tillich (1886-1965).

Russell holds an MA from the University of Oxford (Philosophy & Theology) and an MPhil and PhD (Philosophy of Religion) from the University of Cambridge, during which time he was a student at St Edmund’s (and one of the very first residents in the Richard Laws building!).

Dr Benjamin Woolf is a genetic epidemiologist who works on casual inference from observational data. His research focuses on using the inheritance of genetic variation to emulate randomised control trials, and thereby accelerate drug development.

Having failed to become a philosopher, Benji became a genetic epidemiologist. He currently works at the Medical Research Council Biostatistics and Integrative Epidemiology Units (at the Universities of Cambridge and Bristol respectively). His research leverages the random inheritance of genes to emulate clinical trials ('Mendelian randomization'), and thereby accelerate drug development for cardiovascular and respiratory conditions. His PhD research won the 2023 Cambridge Public Health Early Career Researcher award for developing a novel approach to assess the causal impact of intergenerational risk factors, such as familial second-hand smoke exposure.

In addition to being an Associate Tutor at St Edmunds, Benji is a tutor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and has been elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

Publications

Dr Saussan Khalil is both a Bye-Fellow and Director of Studies in Asian and Middle Eastern Studies at St Edmund's College.

Her research focuses on teaching Arabic as a foreign language and Arabic sociolinguistics, in particular the intersection between the standard and spoken forms of Arabic.

Dr Saussan Khalil has published research on teaching Arabic as a foreign language, and the interplay between Standard and Spoken forms of Arabic (particularly the Cairene dialect) in print and online.

Academic Profile 

Publications

• Khalil, S, Arabic Writing in the Digital Age, Routledge, https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003044321
• Oxford Arabic Dictionary, https://premium.oxforddictionaries.com/arabic/
• Kalamna Phonics Toolkit, https://kalamna.org/resources/

Awards and recognitions 

• Humanities Innovation Week Competition 2nd place prize, 2021
• Cambridge University Arts and Humanities Impact Fund, 2020
• Cambridgeshire Prestige Awards, 2020
• iStudy Guide Best in Arabic Language Courses, 2019-20
• Loveday Memorial Award, 2012

Gianmarco Contino is an Associate Professor of Cancer Genomic Medicine and Group Leader in the Department of Cancer and Genetic Sciences at the University of Birmingham Medical School. He also serves as an Upper GI Consultant at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, part of the University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Trust, and as the Translational Lead for Precision Health Technologies at the University of Birmingham. Additionally, he is the Director of the MSc in Clinical Oncology at the University of Birmingham and the Network Chair of the EORTC Pathobiology Group. Gianmarco is a Research Fellow at the Von Hügel Institute, University of Cambridge, where he explores topics in the epistemology of medicine and the implications of artificial intelligence.

Previously, Gianmarco was a Clinical Lecturer at the University of Cambridge and Addenbrooke’s Hospital. His training in surgical oncology and translational science included positions at the European Institute of Oncology (Milan), Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital (Boston), the University of Illinois at Chicago, and Imperial College London. He consulted for AI-driven biotech companies, including Cambridge Cancer Genomics (now part of Nvidia) and EpistemicAI.

Gianmarco's research focuses on functional genomics of aneuploidy and upper gastrointestinal cancers. As part of the International Cancer Genome Consortium, he worked on identifying structural variations driving oesophageal adenocarcinoma. His current research leverages functional genomics approaches to understand the molecular mechanisms behind chromosomal instability in oesophageal adenocarcinoma, with active studies involving Genomics England and UK Biobank.

Clinically, Gianmarco specializes in advanced endoscopy and endoscopic treatment for upper gastrointestinal cancers. He has published extensively on the genomics and molecular therapeutics of pancreatic and oesophageal adenocarcinoma, with contributions appearing in leading journals such as Science and Nature.

Gianmarco is passionate about training the next generation of clinician-scientists and volunteers with organisations that support students from disadvantaged backgrounds to enter STEM fields.

Dr Wojciech Szczerba's research explores contemporary challenges -migration crises, climate change, geopolitical tensions, and technological shifts - through the lens of philosophical theology. They examine these issues in relation to such concepts as Imago Dei, Deus Migrator, hospitality, and the theology of the Other.

Professor Wojciech Szczerba (PhD., habilitatus) is the Rector of the Evangelical School of Theology in Poland and a scholar specializing in the philosophy of religion, patristics, and ecumenism. His research explores themes of universal salvation, human dignity, and interreligious dialogue, engaging with historical and contemporary theological discourse. He has authored and co-authored multiple books and scholarly articles in these fields and has served as an editor for various academic publications on philosophy, theology, and religious studies. Professor Szczerba completed his undergraduate studies at the Christian Theological Academy in Warsaw (1996) and the Economic Academy in Wrocław (1997). He pursued theological studies in the Netherlands at the Theological Seminary in Amsterdam and in Belgium at the ETF in Leuven. In 2000, he earned his PhD. in Patristics from the University of Wrocław and a second PhD. (habilitation) in Ancient Philosophy from the same institution in 2009. His scholarly contributions include three books on universal salvation in Greek philosophy and Christian thought and numerous articles on Protestant theology, ancient philosophy, and religious traditions. In 2025, he published In Search of Dignity: Humanity in the Light of Formative Metaphors, a monograph exploring human identity's philosophical and theological dimensions.

Since 2002, Professor Szczerba has played a key role in theological education and leadership. He served as the Academic Dean of the Evangelical School of Theology before being appointed Rector in 2006. He is the editor-in-chief of Theologica Wratislaviensia and secretary of the Evangelical Union. His commitment to ecumenical dialogue and interreligious engagement is reflected in his involvement with numerous scholarly and practical initiatives. In 2021, he was nominated as chairman of the Foundation of Mutual Respect in Wrocław, Poland, an organization dedicated to fostering mutual understanding. Prof. Szczerba has held research and teaching affiliations with several institutions. Since 2016, he has been a member of the International Doctoral School at “Aurel Vlaicu” University in Arad, Romania. In 2019, he joined the Von Hügel Institute at St. Edmund’s College, University of Cambridge, as a Research and Senior Research Associate. In 2025, he was nominated as a Visiting Fellow at the Duke Center for Reconciliation at Duke University.

His current research analyses contemporary global challenges—including migration crises, climate change, geopolitical tensions, and the technological revolution—through philosophical theology. His work examines these issues within sociological and historical frameworks, engaging with theological concepts such as Imago Dei, Deus Migrator, Apocatastasis, hospitality, and the theology of the Other. In recognition of his contributions to preserving religious and cultural minority identities, Professor Szczerba was awarded the Silver Cross of Merit by the President of Poland in 2018.

Academic Profile

Publications

• W. Szczerba. 2025. „The Imago Dei Concept as a Symbol of Human Dignity?” Rocznik Teologiczny 67
• W. Szczerba. 2024. „Post-religious World and Religion: Jürgen Habermas”. Studia Religiologica 57 (1)
• W. Szczerba. 2023. „Knowing the Unknowable: Gregory of Nyssa”. Rocznik Teol. LXV (1)
• W. Szczerba. 2022. „The Concept of Apocatastasis - Human Equality and Inclusion”. Forum Phil. 27 (2)
• W. Szczerba. 2022. „There and back again: freedom in the Plato’s cave”. Forum Phil. 27 (1)

Awards & Recognitions

• 2018, the Polish president awarded Prof. Szczerba the Silver Cross of Merit.

Dr Joseph Millard is a Bye-Fellow at St Edmund's College.

His research focuses on the application of large-scale statistical models to understand the causes and consequences of biodiversity change. His current role is as Leverhulme Early Career Fellow at Cambridge, focusing on the role of novel AI and economic mechanisms in solving biodiversity change.

Dr Millard is currently a Leverhulme Early Career Fellow in the Department of Zoology at the University of Cambridge. He has published across a number of areas of the biodiversity sciences and the application and ethics of AI in research. In particular, he led in developing the largest models of future global crop pollination risk resulting from human land-use and climate change, and led in developing the first real-time index of human interest in biodiversity. For such work Dr Millard was nominated twice by the Royal Society as an outstanding early career researcher. Specifically, he was selected to talk at the Royal Society at an event commemorating Prof Dame Georgina Mace, and to attend the 2025 Royal Society UK-China Early Career meeting in Beijing on biodiversity and the climate.

Dr Millard has provided scientific advice to the government at a high level, including contributing to a No. 10 SAGE (Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies) Cabinet Briefing on the reintroduction of COVID-19 restrictions, advising Sir Patrick Vallance on the biodiversity modelling work of the Natural History Museum, contributing towards a trade data guide for the Ecuadorian government, and writing 12 species trade reviews for the European Commission. Dr Millard has also been an expert reviewer for Conservation Letters, Ecosystem Services, Ecography, Scientific Reports, Global Ecology and Biogeography, Communications Earth & Environment, PLOS ONE, Conservation Biology, Nature Ecology and Evolution, and the UK research council BBSRC.

Prior to his current role, Dr Millard was a postdoctoral researcher at the Natural History Museum in London, an honorary non-stipendiary research fellow of Nuffield College, an associate member of the Department of Sociology at the University of Oxford, and an employee of the Nature Publishing Group and UNEP-WCMC (UN Environment World Conservation Monitoring Centre). He completed his PhD in Ecology jointly between University College London, the RSPB, and the Zoological Society of London, and a BSc (Zoology) and MSc (Biodiversity and Conservation) at the University of Leeds.

Academic Profile

Dr Cristiano Longarini is a PDRA at St Edmund's College.

His research focuses on astrophysics, with a particular interest in planet formation. His is currently a Postdoctoral Associate at the Institute of Astronomy, and his work combines theoretical modelling, numerical simulations, and data analysis to explore the processes driving planet formation.

Dr. Cristiano Longarini is a postdoctoral associate at the Institute of Astronomy, specialising in planet formation and protoplanetary disc dynamics. His research explores the role of gravitational instabilities in shaping planetary systems, combining theoretical modelling, numerical simulations, and observational data analysis. He has contributed to large observational programs, and has expertise in interpreting high-resolution data from ALMA telescope.

My research interest focuses on optical sensors and sensing systems for non-destructive testing and structural health monitoring. I'm a a Marie Curie Fellow at the Future Roads Programme and my research topic is AI-assisted vehicle-mounted sensors based road surface condition monitoring system.

Dr Xiang Wang is a Marie Curie Fellow in the Automation and Robotics Group at the Future Roads project at the Department of Engineering at the University of Cambridge. His research interest lies in the field of advanced sensing and sensing systems for non-destructive testing and structural health monitoring, investigating the development and application of sensing and optical metrology systems for versatile monitoring purposes.

Academic Profile

Dr Sampad Sengupta is a Post Doctoral Research Associate at St Edmund's. His research bridges the gap between engineering and healthcare, focusing on translational aspects of engineering applications. His work involves using computational tools to model cardiovascular diseases and their treatment.

The overarching aim of Dr Sengupta's research is to carry out computational investigations of cardiovascular flow and to improve understanding of cardiac disease and its response to treatment. He aims to improve clinical outcomes by employing bioengineering principles using computational tools. His areas of expertise include fluid dynamics, structural mechanics, cardiovascular mechanics, and computational modelling. He has previously worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Manchester, having obtained his undergraduate degree from Queen Mary, University of London, and postgraduate degree and PhD from Imperial College London. He is also an Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (AFHEA).

Publications

• Sengupta, S., Yuan, X., Maga, L., Pirola, S., Nienaber, C. A., & Xu, X. Y. (2023). Aortic haemodynamics and wall stress analysis following arch aneurysm repair using a single-branched endograft. Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine, 10. https://doi.org/10.3389/fcvm.2023.1125110
• Sengupta S, Zhu Y, Hamady M, Yun Xu X. Evaluating the Haemodynamic Performance of Endografts for Complex Aortic Arch Repair. Bioengineering 2022, 9(10), 573. doi:10.3390/bioengineering9100573
• Sengupta S, Hamady M, Xu XY. Haemodynamic Analysis of Branched Endografts for Complex Aortic Arch Repair. Bioengineering. 2022;9(2). doi:10.3390/bioengineering9020045
• Bhute VJ, Sengupta S, Campbell J, Shah U v., Heng JYY, Brechtelsbauer C. Effectiveness of a large-scale implementation of hybrid labs for experiential learning at Imperial College London. Education for Chemical Engineers. 2022;39:58-66. doi:10.1016/J.ECE.2022.03.001

My research interests include transport resilience, transport reliability, transport robustness, transport management and optimization.

Dr Liu is a Marie Sklodowska-Curie Future Roads Fellow at the University of Cambridge. He earned his Ph.D. from Southwest Jiaotong University and was a Ph.D. visiting student at the University of Maryland. Prior to his research at the University of Cambridge, he served as an associate professor at Kunming University of Science and Technology. His project is aimed at evaluating the impacts of climate change on transport performance and developing effective models and methods to mitigate the negative impacts of various climatic events. He is involved as an investigator in several projects centered around transport resilience and reliability. He is the first or corresponding author of 25 peer-reviewed journal papers and 16 conference papers, with several selected as "Editor’s Choice" and best papers. He also serves as a reviewer for 13 international journals and is a member of the editorial board for two journals.

Academic Profile

Publications

• Liu J, Schonfeld P M, Peng Q, et al. Measures of travel reliability on an urban rail transit network[J]. Journal of Transportation Engineering, Part A: Systems, 2020, 146(6): 04020037.
• Liu J, He M, Schonfeld P M, et al. Measures of accessibility incorporating time reliability for an urban rail transit network: A case study in Wuhan, China[J]. Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, 2022, 165: 471-489.
• Liu J, Schonfeld P M, Zhan S, et al. The economic value of reserve capacity considering the reliability and robustness of a rail transit network[J]. Journal of Transportation Engineering, Part A: Systems, 2023, 149(6): 04023046.
• Liu J, Schonfeld P M, Zhan S, et al. Measuring and enhancing the connectivity reliability of a rail transit network[J]. Transportmetrica A: Transport Science, 2022, 18(3): 1699-1733.

My research holistically looks at modular and interoperable information architectures in complex networked systems, especially in industrial ecosystems.

Anand is a Senior Research Associate at the Institute for Manufacturing (IfM), University of Cambridge, a Senior Member of IEEE, and a Fellow of the Royal Statistical Society. His research focuses on modular and interoperable information architectures in complex networked systems. With over 13 years of R&D experience in IoT and automation, his expertise includes digital twins, IoT architectures, UAV networks, eHealth, and digital transformation. He serves as Vice Chair of IEEE P1954 Standards Committee, Area Expert in IEEE ComSoc SIG on IoT for e-Health, Editor for IET Digital Twins and Applications, and Associate Editor for Springer Nature PPNA. His accolades include the IEEE e-Health TC Best Paper Award (2022), Gandhian Young Technological Innovation Award (2018), and top-cited papers in IEEE Transactions. He is the author of two textbooks and over 70 scientific publications. Frequently delivering keynotes globally, he was listed among Elsevier's Top 2% Scientists in 2024.

Academic Profile

Dr Ani Avetisyan is a Post Doctoral Research Associate at St Edmund's College.

Her research focuses on Semitic Languages, Linguistics, Sociolinguistics, Arabic, Hebrew, Judaeo-Arabic, Judaeo-Arabic Manuscripts, Islamic Medicine, Jewish Medicine, Judaeo-Arabic Philosophy, Literature, Knowledge Transmission, Medieval and Early Modern Jewish History.

Dr Ani Avetisyan is a Rothschild Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Cambridge, FAMES and a Research Affiliate at the Woolf Institute. Her PhD research focused on Judaeo-Arabic manuscripts from 'Matenadaran', with a forthcoming monograph to be published by Brill. Ani holds degrees in Arabic Studies from Yerevan State University and Jewish Civilizations from Paideia – The European Institute for Jewish Studies in Stockholm, and Heidelberg University. She played a pivotal role in establishing the Centre for Hebrew Language and Culture at Brusov State University and taught Hebrew during her PhD studies. Ani serves as the co-chair of the division on Culture and Academia at the newly established Armenian Jewish Friendship Council. She is also a Board Member of the Yesai and Maria Mazmanian Foundation, overseeing outreach, development, and partnerships. Additionally, Ani is engaged in a project with Dr Aviad Moreno at MALI Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, exploring Armenian-Jewish repatriation dynamics in Egypt.

Beyond her academic pursuits, Ani is training to become a qualified Pilates instructor, blending her passion for fitness with her scholarly work. She also enjoys exploring new destinations, travelling almost every month, which fuels her enthusiasm for cultural and academic exchanges. Ani is dedicated to passing on her knowledge and experience to future scholars and generations, firmly believing that such exchanges are the cornerstone of transformative progress and meaningful development.

Academic Profile

I am a postdoctoral fellow at the Wellcome Sanger Institute, specialising in drug resistance and diagnostic development for parasitic worms. My research uses advanced genomic and transcriptomic approaches to address key challenges in parasitology and improve disease control.

Dr Mona Suleiman is a postdoctoral fellow at the Wellcome Sanger Institute, specialising in anthelmintic drug resistance and the development of diagnostic tools for parasitic helminths. Her research focuses on using experimental evolution models to investigate the genetic mechanisms underlying drug resistance in the nematode Strongyloides and identifying selection pressures in populations undergoing mass drug administration. Additionally, Mona is advancing molecular barcoding techniques to develop a high-throughput sequencing assay for human-infective helminths, which will enable more accurate diagnostics in resource-limited settings. Mona completed her PhD at the University of Bath, where she explored the role of small RNAs in parasitism, contributing to a deeper understanding of host-parasite interactions. Her research has been recognised with numerous awards, including the William C. Campbell Award from the Irish Society for Parasitology and multiple Best Oral Presentation prizes from the British Society for Parasitology and ISP.

Beyond research, Mona has extensive experience in global health collaborations, working with researchers in Kenya, Ghana, and Bangladesh to enhance diagnostic capabilities for parasitic infections. She is committed to interdisciplinary research and actively engages in mentorship and university initiatives to support the next generation of scientists.

Academic Profile

My research focuses on the relationships between religious diversity, education, and social cohesion. I explore how schools, universities and local communities can better navigate religious diversity, fostering respect and understanding across diverse religious and non-religious perspectives.

Dr Peacock's publications have contributed to understanding how education plays a role in creating inclusive societies, where diversity is seen as an asset rather than a challenge. Her research outputs have also influenced social practice and policy around religious inclusion and diversity.

Publications

• Peacock, L. and Guest, M. (2024) 'Worldviews, Religious Literacy and Interfaith Readiness: Bridging the Gap Between School and University'. Coventry University and Durham University
• Aune, K., Peacock, L., Guest, M. and Law, J. (2023) University Chaplaincy as Relational Presence: Navigating Understandings of Good and Effective Chaplaincy in UK Universities, Journal of College and Character 24(3), 197-216
• Peacock, L., Guest, M., Aune, K., Rockenbach, A. N., Staples, B. A. and Mayhew, M. J. (2023) 'Building Student Relationships Across Religion and Worldview Difference'. Coventry University, Durham University, North Carolina State University and The Ohio State University
• Peacock, L. (2021) 'Contact-based Interfaith Programmes in Schools and the Changing Religious Education Landscape: Negotiating a Worldviews Curriculum'. Journal of Beliefs & Values 44(1),1-15
• Peacock, L. (2021) 'Building Closer Communities: An Evaluation Report'. Coventry University

Dr Yi Wei is Director of Studies for Economics.

Emanuela is Director of Studies for Modern and Medieval Languages