2018- Senior Lecturer in Globalisation and Political Economy, Global Development Institute, University of Manchester.

2016- 2019 ESRC Future Research Leader

2016-2018 Lecturer in Globalisation and Political Economy, Global Development Institute, University of Manchester.

2015-2018 Hallsworth Research Fellow, University of Manchester.

2013-2015 Lecturer in Globalisation, Trade and Industry (fixed-term), Institute for Development Policy and Management, University of Manchester.

I am currently a Senior Lecturer in Globalisation and Political Economy in the Global Development Institute (GDI). I joined the Institute for Development Policy and Management (as GDI was then known) in September 2013, following a B.A. (Economics and Geography) from Trinity College Dublin and M.A. and PhD (both Geography) from Clark University.

My research focuses on 3 main themes:

• Pharmaceuticals - the political economy of the pharmaceutical industry and development, drawing on fieldwork in Ghana, Ethiopia, India, Kenya, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda. I have a long-standing research focus on the political economy of India’s pharmaceutical industry as both a major industry and supplier of generic medicines to the world. I have also examined prospects for local pharmaceutical production in sub-Saharan Africa.
• Globalisation and global value chains (GVCs) - my work has examined the changing geographies of globalisation, including the rise of South-South value chains and the role of the state in GVCs
• Global Development - understanding the nature and potential of a shift towards global development as a new paradigm for development studies

My research has been published in leading journals including World Development, Development and Change, Journal of Economic Geography, Journal of International Business Policy, Global Networks, and Progress in Human Geography. I have received funding from the Economic and Social Research Council (UK), the British Academy, the US National Science Foundation, and the Regional Studies Association.

I have also been interviewed/quoted/written in the media, including in: BBC News Mundo, China.org.cn (China), El País (Spain), NBC News (USA), Nikkei Asia (Japan), The Indian Express, The Straits Times (Singapore), The Telegraph, The Wire (online), Politico (Online), NPR (US, radio) and France 24 (television).

The service and leadership roles I have held at GDI include:

• Research Director, Global Development Institute, 2020-2023
• Deputy Programme Director, MSc International Development, 2020-2022
• Convenor, Global Production Networks, Trade and Labour Research group, 2015-2020
• Alumni champion, 2016-2021
• Programme Director, MSc Industry, Trade and Development, University of Manchester, September 2013-August 2015.
• Programme Director, MSc Globalisation and Development, University of Manchester, September 2013-August 2015

  The external service roles I have held include:

• Co-Convenor, Network O (Global Value Chains), Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economics (SASE), 2019-2023
• Co-chair, Development Studies Association Annual Conference, 2018.
• Co-Convenor, Rising Powers Study Group, Development Studies Association 2017-2023.

I have convened a number of course units at GDI (and IDPM), including:

• MGDI 60411 Development Fundamentals
• MGDI 60502 Development Fieldwork
• MGDI 60271 Globalisation, Trade and Development
• MGDI 60002 Industrial Competitiveness
• IDPM 60300 Research Skills for Economic Development II: Qualitative Methods

I also contribute guest lectures across various course units.

I am interested in advising highly-motivated PhD students whose interests broadly, or ideally closely, fit with the following:

• Political economy of pharmaceuticals and development - trade, intellectual property rights, industrial development, and public health implications 
• South-South trade and rising powers
• Global value chains and production networks

Current and former PhD students:

Karrar Karrar, A path to self-sufficiency? Vaccine manufacturing in Africa (co-supervised with Shamel Azmeh)

Faiq, The role of the state in greening global value chains: The case of Indonesian state-owned enterprises in electric vehicle value chains (Co-supervised with Shamel Azmeh)

Beletchei Ebia, Traders in global value chains: The case of Togolese female traders and African print textiles (Awarded 2023, co-supervised with Tanja Bastia and Stephanie Barrientos)

Rachel Alexander, Governance for sustainability in the extended supplier networks of cotton garments (Awarded 2016, co-supervised with Khalid Nadvi and Stephanie Barrientos)