The Global Data Fellows Programme

Dr Kathryn Seigfried-Spellar, PhD, MA is a Professor in the cyberforensics program in the Department of Computer and Information Technology at Purdue University. She is a member of the Tippecanoe High Tech Crime Unit and has Special Deputy status for the Tippecanoe County Prosecutor’s Office. Dr. Seigfried-Spellar was a 2022-2023 U.S. Fulbright Scholar awardee for her research at the University of Valencia, as well as a Fellow and the Chair of the Digital and Multimedia Sciences section of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences.

Dr Anastasia Shuster is a neuroscientist and social psychologist based in London. As the Data and Research Manager for Child Helpline International, she oversees the collection and analysis of child helpline data, and its development into evidence-based advocacy and policymaking, promoting children’s rights and wellbeing.

Sandra is a Research Assistant Professor at the University of the Philippines Manila National Institutes of Health, undertaking research on child abuse and neglect. She is also a Child Protection Specialist at the Philippine General Hospital Child Protection Unit. 

Lakshmi Neelakantan is a Research Fellow at the University of Melbourne, researching prevention of violence against children and promoting youth mental health. With a PhD from University of Edinburgh and an MSc from University of Oxford (as a Chevening Scholar), her work spans global collaborations, tackling child maltreatment, co-designing mental health interventions, and evaluating community-based programs.

Dr Mazlina Che Mustafa is the Director of the National Child Development Research Centre and Senior Lecturer at Sultan Idris Education University, Malaysia. Actively involved in national committees on early childhood quality assurance and child well-being, she contributes to shaping policies and advancing early childhood education through her research and leadership roles.

Part of the UKRI AI Centre for Doctoral Training program in Responsible and Trustworthy Natural Language Processing (NLP) at the University of Edinburgh, Cyndie has a background in data science and machine learning with a specific focus on NLP and multimodal machine learning (MML). Cyndie spent several years working for technology and regulatory organisations in France, Sweden, the USA and the UK.

Martina is a MEAL Manager at SOS Children’s Villages UK. She holds a MA in Human Rights, and specialises in disability law and policy. Since 2017, she has been working in human rights and criminal justice sectors, focusing on securing the rights of vulnerable children and young people.

Sabrina Page is a PhD candidate at the University of Edinburgh, researching psychological harm in victims of online child sexual exploitation. With experience at UNICEF Innocenti, multiple London boroughs, and global research institutions, she specialises in gender-based violence, public health, and child protection. 

Sabrina is also the founder of GVR-CN, a platform advancing gender-based violence research, as well as a Global Data Fellow at Childlight. Skilled in research, policy analysis, and advocacy, she is committed to driving impactful change.

Police Brigadier General Lao Lin is the Deputy Director of the Anti-Human Trafficking and Juvenile Protection Department, General Commissariat of Cambodian National Police, Ministry of Interior. Having joined the police service in 1993, he has co-ordinated and supported investigations and arrested targets of numerous international operations targeting transnational child sex offenders, collaborating with law enforcement agencies across Europe, North America, East Asia and the Pacific Regions.

Kevin is a quantitative researcher based at the University of Los Andes in Colombia.

Andrea is an associate professor based at the Department of Behavioral Sciences within the University of the Philippines Manila

Jude has a decade of experience as an M&E practitioner in the development and humanitarian sectors. Currently, he is a MEAL Officer at AfriChild, where he is responsible for system design, data quality, learning, and adaptation. With a Bachelor's degree in Statistics and Economics, Jude is committed to leveraging evidence to enhance the well-being of children.