Maria Angeli, Research Associate
Maria Angeli is an associate researcher at the Mediterranean Institute of Gender Studies. She holds a BA degree in Sociology from Panteion University in Athens and a MA degree in Gender and Media from Sussex University in the UK.  Her master’s dissertation was based on intimate relations and whether they are becoming more equal and democratic or not.  As part of her internship she has worked for the Greek Foundation in the Genealogy department.  Her research interests include: gender media representation, media audiences, gender and politics and intimate relations.

Josie Christodoulou, Policy Coordinator
Josie Christodoulou joined the Mediterranean Institute of Gender Studies as a Project Officer 2004. She is currently the policy coordinator at MIGS as well as coordinator of various projects related to gender and migration, integration, and trafficking in women for the purpose of sexual and labour exploitation. She monitors migration and integration legislation as well as legislation and actions to combat Trafficking in Human Beings on both national and EU levels and works to influence these from a feminist perspective. Josie served as a member of the Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (GRETA) of the Council of Europe from 2009- May 2011, and is currently a member of the of the Group of Experts on Trafficking in Human Beings of the Euoprean Commission. Josie is also the Country Coordinator for Cyprus for the European Website for Integration of the Migration Policy Group, and a member of the Sub- committee on Trafficking in Women of the National Machinery for Women’s Rights.

Josie Christodoulou holds an undergraduate degree in Psychology from the University of Indianapolis in the U.S.A and a graduate degree on Racial Equality Studies and Youth Justice Probation and Criminology from Middlesex University in the U.K.

Her research interests include issues of gender and migration/integration; and trafficking in women for the purpose of sexual and labour exploitation.
Email: josie@medinstgenderstudies.org
Project Involvement in: Integration of Female Migrant Domestic Workers / Mapping the Realities of Trafficking Women in Cyprus

Georgina Christou, Project Coordinator
Georgina holds a BA in Law from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and a Masters in Human Rights from the University of Malta (scholarship by the European Commission) as well as a Masters in European Society from University College London (UCL). Her area of specialization during her MA at UCL has been social/cultural anthropology especially in relation to issues of memory and nationalism in the Balkans and the Mediterranean basin. During her studies she conducted research at the Irish Center for Human Rights and has also worked on issues concerning gender stereotyping, religion and mourning in the Balkan region. Her research interests include cultural constructions of gender roles and national identity in the Mediterranean, politico-historical use of religious narratives, forms of preservation of social memory as well as the expression of the above through popular culture.
Email: georgina@medinstgenderstudies.org
Project Involvement in: Daphne II-Secondary Education Schools and Education in Values, Daphne III – Perspective, Young Migrant Women in Secondary Education, Youth Alert

Miranda Christou, Senior Research Associate
Miranda Christou is a Lecturer in Sociology of Education (Department of Education, University of Cyprus) and holds a doctorate in Education (Harvard University, Ed.D. 2002). She is also a board member of the Mediterranean Institute for Gender Studies and her research interests include the political role of memory and history, the construction of knowledge on youth and youth cultures and the representations of young people through the discourses of globalization. Miranda is also interested in how schools and educational institutions in general shape the construction of sexuality and gender and has also worked as a research advisor for the projects “Gender Equality: Responsibility of Both Sexes” and “Facilitating Equality through Education” where she facilitated training for teachers on gender stereotypes in education.
Project Involvement in: Daphne II-Secondary Education Schools and Education in Values

Zelia Gregoriou, Senior Research Associate
Zelia Gregoriou holds a PhD in Philosophy of Education from University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign. In the past she has tought at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, at Georgia Southern University and at Intercollege, Nicosia (Director of the Educational Studies Program). She is currently teaching at the University of Cyprus. The focus of her research and writing has been on poststructuralist philosophers of ethics and subjectivity (Derrida, Levinas, Foucault, Irigaray). In particular, she intertwines the reading of these philosophers with multiculturalism’s questions on identity, recognition, cultural narratives, memory and otherness, trying to expand the philosophical range of these questions. Her latest work focuses on trauma, mourning and educational processes of memorialisation.
Project Involvement in: Integration of Female Migrant Domestic Workers, Young Migrant Women in Secondary Education

Christina Kaili, Project Coordinator
Christina Kaili holds a B.A. in Sociology with academic distinction and a Minor Degree in Political Science from the Department of Social and Political Sciences from the University of Cyprus. She also holds an M.A. in Human Rights from the University College London (UCL). She is an active member of local and European NGOs and networks on  human rights issues, gender equality, violence against women, sexual and reproductive health and rights. Since 2005, she has been an active member of the Cyprus Family Planning Association (CFPA) participating in the Coordinating Committee of the group “Youth for Youth” and later as a Board Member. Since 2008 Christina is employed by MIGS as a project coordinator, doing a combination of research, advocacy, lobbying, coordination and implementation of European projects on gender equality and women’s rights. She is also an active member of the Working Group on Gender Equality and Women’s Rights of the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network, contributing in the continuous efforts to promote the central role of women in the movements against oppressive regimes. Christina is a PhD candidate at the Sociology program of the Department of Social and Political Sciences, at the University of Cyprus. Email: christina@medinstgenderstudies.org
Project involvement in: FGM European Campaign, Youth Alert, Combating Honour Related Violence and Forced Marriages Flying Team against Violence

Christiana Kouta Nikolaou, Senior Research Associate
Christiana Kouta Nikolaou is a Lecturer in the School of Health Sciences at the Cyprus Technological University. She teaches Health Promotion, Community Nursing, Transcultural Nursing and History of Nursing. Her main research interests include health promotion/education, community health, youth, sexuality, culture and gender. She has been an active member of the Family Planning Association for more than a decade and a member of the Board of Directors for 7 years. Christiana for the past two years has been the President of the Cyprus Family Planning Association. She has also been selected to be on the Bioethics Committee since 2005. Christiana is a member of the Management Committee of the COST action: “Health and Social Care for Migrants and Ethnic Minorities in Europe”. She has experience in designing and implementing research and health promotion programmes for young people and professionals in health and education.
Project involvement in: Daphne II-Date Rape Cases Among Young Women

Stalo Lesta, Research Associate
Stalo Lesta holds a B.A. degree in Statistics (with emphasis in Mathematics and Psychology) from the University of California at Davis. She is also a trained Psychotherapist in the ‘Person-Centered / Rogerian Approach’. Stalo has an extensive experience in Market Research, both in qualitative and quantitative studies across various industries and fields, i.e. Sex Education, Volunteer Involvement, Sexual Health, Healthcare, Pharmaceuticals, Retail, FMCGs , Telecommunications and the Media.
Project involvement in: Poverty and Social Exclusion of Women Vicitms of Domestic Violence; Perspective Project

Alexia Panayiotou, Senior Research Associate
Alexia Panayiotou has undergraduate and graduate degrees in Political Science and Economics from Stanford University, a Master’s in Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and a doctorate in Human Development and Psychology from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She is also a board member of the Mediterranean Institute for Gender Studies, is a currently a Lecturer at the University of Cyprus and a member of the editorial board of Equal Opportunities International, (established in 1982, Emerald Press). Her research interests include feminist theory; the production of discourse in/by organizations; emotionality of work; feminist analysis of organizations; gender issues in the workplace; and organizational space and symbolism. Alexia has been active in several women´s organizations over the last fifteen years, both in the US and in Cyprus. She is a core member of Women Waging Peace and has been trained both as a rape crisis counsellor and as a domestic violence hotline counsellor.

Susana Elisa Pavlou, Director
Susana Elisa Pavlou holds a BA in Political Science from the State University of New York at Stony Brook and an MSc in International Politics with an area concentration in the Middle East from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), London University. She has previously worked as a project coordinator and student advisor at the Cyprus International Institute of Management (CIIM). Susana has held a central and key role at MIGS since 2005 and is currently Director of the Institute.   Susana is a Member of the Advisory Committee for the Prevention and Combating of Family Violence, National Expert for the Network of Experts in Gender Equality, Social Inclusion, Health and Long-term Care (EGGSI), and National Expert at the EWL Observatory on Violence against Women.  She is also serving a third term as Board Member of the European Women’s Lobby and is also serving on the Executive Committee.  Susana is more specifically interested towards issues of gender and social policy, and violence against women.
Email: susana@medinstgenderstudies.org

Anna Zobnina, Research Associate
Anna has studied English Literature in Russia at St-Petersburg state university. She consequently came to Cyprus with her family, where she completed a Hotel and Tourism Management diploma as well as an English Language and Literature BA at the University of Nicosia. After working at MIGS she has become increasingly interested in the issue of trafficking in women for sexual exploitation. Anna’s interests also include linguistics, discourse analysis, anthropology, intercultural and interpersonal communication, NGO work and of course her 2 daughters!