Meet the driving forces of the Horizons Institute: researchers, project managers, professional service staff, and technicians, dedicated to research culture change and responding to global challenges collaboratively beyond disciplinary boundaries.
Professor Garrett Brown
Garrett joined POLIS in 2017 from the Department of Politics at the University of Sheffield. Prior to that, Garrett worked on the project for Global Institutional Design (GID) in the Centre for Global Governance at the London School of Economics. Garrett is currently collaborating and delivering policy relevant research with the Ministry of Health Zimbabwe, the National Institute of Health Research Zimbabwe, EQUINET Africa, the Training and Research Support Centre, and the Ministry of Health Mozambique. Garrett is also currently involved in a three year Medical Research Council grant project on results-based health fi nancing and African health systems strengthening. Garrett is a Co-Lead for the University of Leeds Health Theme and Chief Editor of the Oxford Dictionary of Politics and International Relations.
Visit Garrett’s University of Leeds profile
Dr Laura Carter
Laura is an Associate Professor in Soil and Environmental Chemistry at the University of Leeds. Laura’s research focuses on understanding the risks of emerging contaminants in the natural environment, with particular interests in chemical fate in soil-plant systems, the role of the environment in the development of antimicrobial resistance, and sub-lethal effects of pollutants on soil and plant health. Laura has secured grant income > £3 million and includes a prestigious UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship to investigate the risks of pharmaceuticals in agricultural systems, following land application of sludges and wastewater. Laura has recently been appointed to the Hazardous Substances Advisory Committee (HSAC) to advise Defra on how to protect the environment, and human health via then environment, from potentially hazardous substances.
Visit Laura’s University of Leeds profile
Dr Jill Dickinson
Jill is an Associate Professor in Law. A former solicitor who specialised in commercial property, Jill’s roles in academia have included course leadership, doctoral supervision, external examiner, and associate editor. Jill particularly enjoys working on collaborative opportunities, with examples including the Freshfields Stephen Lawrence Scholarship Scheme. Jill has also been involved in panels for Inspirational Teaching and Outstanding Student Support Awards, the Yorkshire Legal Awards, and the Advance HE Global Teaching Excellence Awards. Her work has been recognised through the Law Works & Attorney General Pro Bono Awards and the Emerald Literati Awards. Jill’s research focuses on place-making and professional development. Current projects include Pracademia, Learning Landscapes, and Belonging in Green Spaces.
Visit Jill’s LinkedIn and Jill’s University of Leeds profile
Dr Elizabeth Duncan
After completing a PhD in 2007 at Otago University (New Zealand), Elizabeth did a post-doctoral fellowship examining the evolution of an early developmental pathway found in the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster and became enamoured with invertebrate biology, in particular reproduction and development. As a research fellow, Elizabeth continued working in these areas and was also successful in obtaining my own funding to work in the area of phenotypic plasticity. Using insect models including the honeybee and the pea aphid, Elizabeth has been working to understand how the environment interacts with the genome of animals these animals to give rise to phenotypic plasticity. In October 2015, Elizabeth moved to the University of Leeds as a Lecturer to establish their own laboratory focussed on phenotypic plasticity and the evolution of eusociality.
Visit Elizabeth’s University of Leeds profile
Shareefa Fadhel
Shareefa Fadhel is the Research Culture Strategy Project Manager at the University of Leeds. She has a PhD in Sociology and Social Policy from the University of Leeds specialising in the political economy of development and gender politics. Shareefa is an accomplished entrepreneur, visionary, and creative leader with a history of pioneering new programs and opportunities among women in the Middle East and Africa. She was the Co-Founder and CEO of the non-profit, Roudha Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (RC), founding partner for Trade+Impact, and several other small enterprises promoting women's leadership and equality. She works directly with organizations advocating for women and women’s economic development. She also works with cutting-edge companies providing consulting, marketing, and business development for their women's product groups.
Visit Shareefa’s LinkedIn and Shareefa’s University of Leeds profile
Dr Chris Hassall
Dr Chris Hassall is an ecologist working on the interface between human and natural systems. His research focuses on a range of anthropogenic stressors – particularly climate change, agricultural expansion, and urbanisation – and their consequences for nature. Chris also studies the reverse: how nature impacts on the attitudes, perceptions, and wellbeing of people. These projects are carried out using a combination of traditional ecological techniques, emerging technologies (radar, bioacoustics, AI), and qualitative methods. Chris’ research goals are to generate novel and transdisciplinary insights into environmental change to create a more sustainable world.
Visit Chris’s personal website
Dr Omar Huerta
Omar is a creative leader with more than 15 years of experience working in the fields of product design and design-driven innovation for the most influential companies within the FMCG industry. He’s work has helped global companies to go beyond common products and to get them rediscovered through disruptive innovation, design thinking and human-centred design. His work has been influential and recognized with global accolades. He’s actively involved in initiatives to improve people’s lives through human-centred design and design-driven Innovation strategies within the Product Design department at the School Mechanical Engineering in the University of Leeds, UK.
Visit Omar’s personal website and Omar’s University of Leeds profile
Dr Jessica Mitchell
Jessica is a zoologist with a PhD in behavioural ecology. Jess's research broadly addresses themes which impact on the health of humans, animals, and the environment (One Health) including and human-animal conflict. Jess is particularly interested in the relationship between antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and other global challenges such as the climate crisis, biodiversity loss and zoonoses. Jess's work uses community-generated data to better understand these relationships and develop appropriate and locally meaningful solutions. Jess teaches across the One Health theme within the Nuffield Centre of International Health and Development, Faculty of Medicine.
Visit Jessica’s University of Leeds profile and Jessica’s Google Scholar profile
Professor Gehan Selim
Gehan is the Hoffman Wood Chair in Architecture at the University of Leeds. She is the Deputy Director at Leeds Social Sciences Institute (LSSI) and was Fellow of The Senator George Mitchell Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice (2017/18). She is leading the Architecture and Urbanism Research Group at the University of Leeds with her research covering interdisciplinary methods bridging between Architecture, Urbanism and Digital Heritage. Professor Selim has developed a sustained record of over 60 high-quality publications cited by scholars in Architecture and other fields. She led and coordinated over 20 research projects, leading international teams in the global south. Her research received multiple national/international awards such as The Newton Fund Prize for Outstanding Impact (2020); Best Practice Project Award by the International Council of Museums, ICOM (2017); and the Women of Achievements Awards (2021) in recognition of excellence and outstanding performance in interdisciplinary research.
Visit Gehan’s University of Leeds profile
Dr Jasjit Singh
Jasjit is an Associate Professor at the University of Leeds. His research examines processes of religious transmission among Sikhs in diaspora, including their representations in policy, media, and the digital sphere. Jasjit has a strong track record in academic and non-academic engagement and regularly engages with policy makers, national and international media and community organisations, on contemporary issues relating to religion in society. Through his research, he has developed innovative methods of engaging ‘hardly reached’ communities with academic research and is passionate about university/community engagement.
Visit Jasjit’s University of Leeds profile
Professor Fiona Smith
Fiona is Professor of International Economic Law and N8 Chair of Agri Food Regulation at the School of Law, University of Leeds. Fiona is also Associate Director of the University of Leeds Global Institute for Food and the Environment, where she directs multidisciplinary research into International AgriFood Supply Chains. Fiona joined the Law School in 2017, having previously held positions at University of Warwick and UCL. Her published research focuses on international trade law in the World Trade Organization (WTO), and she has a specialist interest in international agrifood trade. She has spoken about her research around the world and been visiting Professor at several law schools in the USA, including University of Minnesota, University of Michigan, and Boston College Law School. She is also a member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of International Economic Law. In 2021, Fiona was appointed as Special Adviser to the UK House of Commons International Trade Committee for that Committee’s scrutiny of UK Trade Agreements and to the UK Department of International Trade Expert Steering Group on the G7, G20 and the WTO.
Visit Fiona’s University of Leeds profile
Dr Muhammad Tausif
Muhammad is an Associate Professor in Sustainable Textile Manufacturing and Programme Leader for MSc Textile Sustainability and Innovation. Muhammad completed their PhD at School of Design, the University of Leeds UK in the characterisation of complex fibrous assemblies. Prior to that, they completed a BSc Textile Engineering (with specialisation in Yarn Manufacturing) from National Textile University, Pakistan. Before joining the University of Leeds, Muhammad served as a faculty member at one of Pakistan's premier engineering university. His key research interests include various aspects of textile science and technology including fibre spinning, yarn manufacturing, structure-property modelling of fi brous assemblies, development of sustainable and eco-friendly textile structures, textile reinforced composites, and microplastic pollution from textiles and its mitigation.