The Heller School for Social Policy and Management
The Center for Global Development and Sustainability

Core Faculty and Researchers

Senior Research Fellow, Non-Resident

Vinya Ariyaratne

Senior Research Fellow, Non-Resident

Professor Vinya Ariyaratne, MD, MPH, MSc., is Senior Research Fellow, Non-Resident. Dr. Ariyaratne is General Secretary, Sarvodaya Shramadana Movement, and Community Medicine Faculty of Medical Sciences University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Sri Lanka. He also serves as the Director General of the Sarvodaya Institute of Higher Learning. Dr. Ariyaratne leads the Sarvodaya/GDS partnership on Re-imagining Sri Lanka's Social Protection Mechanisms, a research consultation with Sri Lankan civil society and community stakeholders.

News April 1, 2025: Dr. Ariyaratne has been named to the Lancet Commission on Faith, Trust, and Health coordinated by the Georgetown University Global Health Institute. More detail on the GDS NEWS page.

Mei-Ling Ellerman

Research and Advocacy Fellow, Domestic Violence and Coercive Control

Ricardo Godoy, Professor of International Development

Ricardo Godoy

Professor of International Development

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Nader Habibi

Henry J. Leir Professor of the Economics of the Middle East

Susan Holcombe, Professor Emerita

Susan Holcombe

Professor Emerita of International Development

Marion Howard, MA'04, Professor Emerita

Marion Howard

Professor Emerita of International Development (Biosphere reserve management)


Karla Vanessa Rubio Jovel

Affiliated Researcher

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Hadi Kahalzadeh, PhD student in the Global Development and Sustainability Concentration

Hadi Kahalzadeh

Affiliated Researcher

Hadi Kahalzadeh received his doctorate in the Global Development and Sustainability concentration of the PhD Program at the Heller School at Brandeis. Hadi's dissertation, Economic Sanctions, Poverty, Inequality, and Vulnerability in Iran, has received significant interest from policymakers and was highlighted by Fareed Zakaria on his CNN program. Hadi has an MA in Sustainable International Development from the Heller School at Brandeis, an MA in Energy Economics from the Islamic Azad University, and a BA in Economics from Allameh Tabatabai University in Tehran. Prior to joining Brandeis, Hadi worked as an economist for Iran’s Social Security Organization for eight years, where he researched aging, health, social protection, pension funds, and labor policies. 
Prakash Kashwan

Prakash Kashwan

Associate Professor of Environmental Studies

Ravi Lakshmikanthan, Lecturer

Ravi Lakshmikanthan

Associate Dean, Global and Strategic Initiatives

Alain Lempereur

Alain Lempereur

Alan B. Slifka Professor of Coexistence and Conflict

Lisa Lynch

Maurice B. Hexter Professor of Social and Economic Policy

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Eric Olson, Senior Lecturer

Eric Olson

Affiliated Researcher, Ecosystems

Dan Perlman, Professor of Biology and Environmental Studies

Dan Perlman

Professor of Biology and Environmental Studies

Virgilio Reyes

Director, FLACSO in Guatemala

Affiliated Researcher

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Donald Shepard, Professor

Donald Shepard

Professor of Health Economics

Sangeeta Tyagi

Affiliated Researcher

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Sabine von Mering, Professor of German and Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies, and Director of the Center for German and European Studies

Sabine von Mering

Professor of German and Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies, and Director of the Center for German and European Studies