About

I am an Assistant Professor at Maastricht University and an affiliate of the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin. Before joining Maastricht, I held positions at the London School of Economics and Political Science, the University of Glasgow, and the University of Potsdam.

My research examines how international institutions govern the global economy through people—their staff, experts, and leaders—and how those individuals’ knowledge, backgrounds, and representation shape the effectiveness and distributional outcomes of global governance.

I focus particularly on international financial institutions and global health, two domains where international organisations are tasked with solving urgent cooperation problems. In the area of international financial institutions, I study how inequalities in staff representation, including gender imbalances and the underrepresentation of professionals from the Global South, affect policy design and implementation. My work has shown, for example, how individual expertise within the World Bank influences project implementation, gender mainstreaming, and procurement decisions.

My research on global health investigates how expertise and representation shape the capacity of international organisations to address the global burden of disease. I examine how the composition of expert bodies and bureaucratic staff influences which issues rise to the top of the agenda and which remain marginal. This perspective informs my work on the politics of the World Health Assembly, the international governance of antimicrobial resistance, and the uneven global response to COVID-19.

Methodologically, I use quantitative approaches that move beyond country-level analysis to focus on individuals. I draw on biographical datasets as well as survey and field experiments to capture how individuals exercise authority, navigate institutional constraints, and shape decision-making in International Political Economy.

My research has appeared in journals including American Political Science Review, British Journal of Political Science, Journal of Politics, and International Organization.