UKRI Future Leaders Fellow at the School of Government and School of Social Policy, and Associate Professor at the International Development Department (IDD) and the Institute for Research into International Migration and Superdiversity (IRiS) at the University of Birmingham. She is also a Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Conflict and Humanitarian Studies (CHS). She was previously Lecturer at the Institute for Global Health and Development, Queen Margaret University, and Teaching Fellow (POLSIS) and
ESRC Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Birmingham.
Sandra specialises in the intersection of gender, violence, religion, forced migration and humanitarianism. Her research integrates the intersectional and ecological approaches to improve outcomes for displaced populations. She has led a number of studies across the Middle East, Africa and Europe, including the "
Ukrainian Refugees at Risk" and "
Protecting Forcibly Displaced Women and Girls in the Muslim World"projects. She currently leads an interdisciplinary and policy-oriented, £1.3m UKRI-funded research initiative, "
Making Aid Work for Displaced Women", which focuses on integrating Islamic philanthropy into the international humanitarian system and developing innovative solutions to global forced displacement.
She is an interdisciplinary researcher and social development specialist with over a decade of experience in humanitarian, development, and migration settings. Bridging research, policy, and practice, she has consulted for international and governmental organisations, including the European Commission, GIZ, the Home Office, and Islamic Development Bank. She has also collaborated with various organisations, such as the UNHCR, OIC and IFRC. Before joining the University of Birmingham, Sandra was a Senior Policy Adviser on Gender at a leading humanitarian agency.
She has published articles on gender, religion and forced migration in leading journals and co- authored the monograph, 'On the Significance of Religion in Violence Against Women and Girls' (Routledge). Her new monograph, 'Violence against Women, Religion and Forced Displacement: Experiences and Humanitarian Responses', is underway.
