Core Faculty and Researchers

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.

vinya.ariyaratne@gmail.com

Man Bahadur Bishkawarma

Senior Research Fellow, Non-Resident

Dr. Man Bahadur Bishwakarma completed his postdoc research on food security as a Fulbright Visiting Scholar (2016/17) at the Center for Global Development and Sustainability at Brandeis University. In 2021 he was appointed the Secretary of the Government of Nepal (the most senior officer in Nepal’s Civil Service) and was the first person of Dalit background to rise this high in the Civil Service. Given his deep experience on conflict, peace and constitution building process, he led the Constitutional Dialogue Centre/UNDP during the Constitutional Assembly-I in Nepal. Earlier he earned his Ph.D. on Social Inclusion in Microfinance in 2012 from Tribhuvan University, Nepal. He received a postgraduate diploma in Social Studies from the ISS, Netherlands (2004), MA (Economics) in Rural and Cooperative Development (2000) and MBA (1991) in financial management from Tribhuvan University and a Diploma (1997) in Agro-Cooperative Management from Japan. He has long working experience with international development agencies including GiZ, Save the Children, UNICEF, CWS UK, UNDP.

manbdr.bk123@gmail.com

Mei-Ling Ellerman

Research and Advocacy Fellow, Domestic Violence and Coercive Control

mellerman@brandeis.edu

Ricardo Godoy

Professor of International Development

CV

rgodoy@brandeis.edu

Nader Habibi

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

nhabibi@brandeis.edu

Susan Holcombe

Professor Emerita of International Development

shholc@brandeis.edu

Marion Howard

Professor Emerita of International Development (Biosphere reserve management)

mwhoward@brandeis.edu

Karla Vanessa Rubio Jovel

Affiliated Researcher

CV

kvrubio@gmail.com

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.

kahal@brandeis.edu