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)