Consortium
A Multi-Disciplinary Research Consortium
The Liminality Consortium comprises academic institutions, civil society, grassroots organizations, international bodies, UN agencies, and other humanitarian actors. Our consortium unites multidisciplinary researchers specializing in forced migration, gender studies, sexual and reproductive health, and public health. Committed to an intersectional feminist approach, we aim to redress power imbalances among researchers, civil society, and affected communities across countries. Through our research findings, we aspire to fuel activism, influence policy and practice, promote gender equality and health equity, and contribute to the pursuit of social justice. The Liminality Research Consortium is hosted and coordinate by the Gender Centre, Geneva Graduate Institute, Switzerland.
Our Core Research Team
Shirin Heidari
Principal Investigator and Coordinator
Senior Researcher, Gender Centre
Geneva Graduate Institute
Monica Adhiambo Onyango
Co-Investigator
Clinical Associate Professor, Global Health, Boston University, School of Public Health
Jinan Usta
Lead Investigator – Lebanon
Associate Professor, Family Medicine
American University of Beirut
Ryan Whitacre
Postdoctoral Researcher
Research Associate
Gender Centre, Geneva Graduate Institute
Thanasis Tyrovolas
Lead Investigator – Greece
Project Manager, Proposal Writer, and Bid Manager
KMOP Social Action and Innovation Centre
Rose Nelson
Research Assistant
Gender Centre, Geneva Graduate Institute
Sara Achik
Project Assistant
Geneva Graduate Institute
Aesha Rajan
Volunteer Research Assistant
Laurie Yousman
Fulbright Scholar
Research Fellow
Gender Centre, Geneva Graduate Institute
Maya Sopory
Gender Centre, Geneva Graduate Institute
Past Research Consortium Members: Aida Essaid, Hala Abu Taleb, Meriç Çağlar Chesley, Vinh-Kim Nguyen
Past Research and Project Assistants: Anja Natalina Haller, Atwa Jaber, Kailin Large, Melissa Cigdem Coyle, Shilan Masroor
Advisory Group
Suma Abdelsamie, Independent Expert and Interim Director, Transgender Europe
Thomas Abel, Professor for Public Health, ISPM, University of Bern
Artemis Akbary, Co-Founder and Executive Director, Afghan LGBTQ Organization
Eirene Chen, Independent Advisor on LGBTIQ+ Forced Displacement
Nadine Cornier, Head of the Response and Technical Support Unit (RTSU), Humanitarian Response Division, UNFPA
Berchtold von Fischer, Medical Doctor specializing in Gynecology and Obstetrics
Jakob Keel, Queer Amnesty
Alessandro Monsutti, Professor and researcher, Department of Sociology & Anthropology at the Geneva Graduate Institute
Kemal Ordek, Programme Analyst, Protection, United Nations Population Fund Türkiye, UN GLOBE Türkiye Co-coordinator
Catrin Schulte-Hillen, Specialist in Sexual and Reproductive Health in Emergencies (SRHiE)
Suma Abdelsamie, Independent expert with lived experience
Farah Abdi, Transgender EU
Rachael LeClear, Executive Director at Safe Place International
Angeliki Serafeim, Consultant on the Protection of Victims of Human Trafficking
Elina Karagiorgi, Vulnerability Officer, Ministry of Migration and Asylum Greece
Alison Phipps, UNESCO Chair for Refugee Integration through Languages and the Arts and Professor of Languages and Intercultural Studies at the University of Glasgow
Veloshnee Govender, PhD Scientist, World Health Organization (WHO)
Gerardo Zamora Monge, World Health Organization (WHO)