Research on displaced people is often reduced to the vocabularies and imaginaries of the nation-state and multilateral and international humanitarian organisations. This research seeks to open up new perspectives in studying displaced people by moving beyond institutionalised (and fragmented) definitions and instead probing deeper into their differentiated experiences under differentiated regimes. The need for new perspectives becomes urgent as conflicts multiply and displacements of various communities are prolonged while simultaneously, the scope of asylum becomes narrower. Given this socio-political background, the project seeks to foreground a specific cadre of displaced people: those carrying out (in)formal roles in humanitarian organisations. Their mobilisation will be examined through the lens of brokerage to uncover how they are not just intermediaries or by-products of a volatile situation but rather disruptive and (re)constructive forces in a field that is in flux. To do so, a mixed methods approach that combines participant observation with elite interviews and focus groups will be applied in the case of Afghan and Syrian ‘displaced brokers’ in Turkey. This study will make three key contributions: (1) through a detailed study of the dynamic between ‘displaced brokers’ and humanitarian organisations, it will produce new data on contemporary mechanisms of exclusion and inclusion of displaced people under the differentiated protection regimes in Turkey, (2) it will make a theoretical contribution to knowledge about the transformative capacity of brokerage by linking the distinctive attributes of the contemporary Turkish refugee governance and global humanitarian mechanisms to the context of different groups emerging from different conflict contexts (3) it will provide policy-relevant analysis to reveal the role of displaced brokers as aid agents, prompting policy acknowledgement to streamline their brokering within humanitarian processes.

Globally, 15 million people suffer a stroke every year, causing 6 million deaths and leaving another 5 million permanently disabled, which makes stroke the second leading cause of disability. In the Europe, it is the most common cause of morbidity and long-term disability, and has significant socioeconomic consequences for patients, their partners and society. Thus far, upper limb weakness remains the biggest and most challenging disability, due to the complexity of movement required in daily living and its generally slower and less complete recovery. More than 50% of stroke survivors still have upper extremity hemiparesis one year after stroke. Neuro rehabilitation is the main approach to improve upper extremity motor outcome, and previous studies have demonstrated that patients can regain considerable motor functions after intensive training. With the number of people surviving a stroke soaring, more and more rehabilitation programs are delivered with minimal involvement of a physiotherapist due to limited resource available, and the success of this approach depends on the accurate assessment of stroke patients’ movement impairment. In collaboration with with the National Demonstration Centre in Rehabilitation Medicine, Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, my vision is therefore to establish a comprehensive, quantitative, objective and personalised Motor Impairment Index (MII), via benchmarking the impaired arm movement to healthy arm mirrored exercise to quantify the motor impairment. This approach will increase the likelihood of successful rehabilitation leading to improved quality of life for millions of people affected by stroke. This application focuses on developing innovative healthcare technologies for stroke patients; but it could also potentially benefit millions of people with conditions such as multiple sclerosis, brain tumours and spinal cord injury, as well as people with musculoskeletal conditions or trauma.

The proposal introduces a novel technique, which has been developed by the fellow, Dr Miguel Torres (MT), in Portugal, to prototype pro-internationalization policy using a streamlined and innovative combination design of top-down and bottom-up approaches. The prototypes to improve policy design efficiency and coherence (PDEC) within each of the European countries, and in the European Union as a whole, will be realised through understanding the decision-making function relationships between companies and policy makers. The approach will employ questionnaires to policy makers, which have designed past incentives towards internationalization; and firms, which have used these same incentives. The insights gained will be used to generate models to explain the behaviour of both managers and policy makers in their actions and to arrive at set of principles of action for PEC. The work plan will be executed at the University of Leeds at a time when there is an EU policy (Lisbon Treaty) highlights the need of coordination of policies, the coherence in external relations, and the consistency with the potential complementarities between trade and FDI within EU members and considering third countries. "

Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) affects 0.2% of the population in developed countries. Current therapy is restricted to drugs that suppress the body‘s immune system. These are not curative, may cause severe side effects and are likely to be needed for long periods. There is therefore a need for more targeted controlled forms of therapy. Various protein molecules have been identified as potential therapeutic factors for IBD. Due to their inherent instability and potential toxicity these factors can not be given to patients by conventional means. Recently developed genetically modified (GM) bacteria to produce and secrete various factors locally, which when administered to mouse models of IBD was as effective as steroids in preventing and treating IBD. The limitation of current bacterial delivery systems, however is that the production and release of the heterologous protein by the bacteria cannot be controlled; this is an important safety concern. Therefore, a novel approach proposed to develop a second generation of GM bacteria. This involves engineering a non pathogenic commensal bacterium to produce growth factor under the control of a naturally occurring plant product which can be included in a normal diet. We propose that the delivery of these proteins inside the bowel by GM bacteria would be safe and effective in preventing and treating IBD