Research topic

Armed conflicts and family formation: fertility and marital dynamics in Azebaijan and Tajikistan

I am PhD candidate in Demography/Population studies at the LSE. Using quantitative methods, my research seeks to understand the effects of armed conflict and violence on family formation dynamics and domestic violence in post-Soviet countries of Central Asia and the Caucasus. Originally from Italy, I lived in the US, Lebanon and France and moved to London in 2012. I hold a BA in Political Economy from King’s College London, a MSc in Health Population and Society and a MSc in Social Research Methods from the LSE. In 2016, I was awarded the Brian Abel-Smith Prize for outstanding performance and for the best MSc dissertation from the LSE. In 2018-2019, I attended the European Doctoral School of Demography as an associate of the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research and the University of Southern Denmark.

Prior to joining the LSE, I worked in Syrian refugee camps in Lebanon as a researcher and held advisory roles for a political risk consulting company. I have also worked as a Research Assistant at the LSE Middle East Centre.

Research interests:

I am currently working on post-Soviet Azerbaijan and Tajikistan, with a particular focus on the relationship between exposure to armed violence and family formation dynamics (fertility, nuptiality and relationship quality). I am broadly interested in the demographic and health effects of crises, violence and socio-political turmoil and in quantitative demography.

Supervisors: Dr Arjan Gjonca, Dr Berkay Özcan