Meet the Team

Before helping to establish Childlight, Paul spent over 30 years working as a senior law enforcement officer in the UK and overseas. As Regional Director for the UK’s National Crime Agency in Africa, and later as the Director for Interpol’s Global Organised Crime programme, 

Paul was responsible for developing a cohesive approach with heads of state, governments, agencies and key partners across the world to mitigate serious global criminality.  Paul sits on a number of strategic governance boards and has been responsible for establishing bespoke capability to tackle child sexual exploitation and abuse globally. 

Zoe comes from a background working with governments and agencies globally to improve public safety, specifically designing and building new multi-sector organisations. She is responsible for making sure that ChildLight meets our strategic vision and mission, becoming more impactful over time. 

As Professor of International Child Protection Research, Debi has over 20 years' experience developing data for change. She is passionate about using complex and disparate data sources to understand the magnitude, patterns and determinants of CSEA globally. 

Debi leads the data strategy at Childlight driving a vision of creating and curating rigorous and robust data to safeguard children now and preventing violence from ever occurring in the future.

Kelvin has significant experience in UK and international law enforcement. While with the UK National Crime Agency (NCA) in Kenya, Kelvin set up Africa’s first dedicated child exploitation and human trafficking units. 

Prior to this he was a Senior Investigating Officer within The Child Exploitation Online Protection Centre specialising in extra territorial prosecutions relating to child exploitation across the Globe. 

Jason has extensive experience of communications, including as an award-winning political and news journalist with national newspapers and with an MSc in Public Relations.

Jason has extensive experience of communications, including as an award-winning political and news journalist with national newspapers and with an MSc in Public Relations. For ten years he was an editor with The Sunday Times, one of the world’s biggest news brands, before moving full-time into strategic communications with a particular focus on supporting charities.

Inga’s background is in applied social research for public and third sector organisations and she is passionate about producing research that impacts policy, practice, and children’s lives. Her work covers quantitative and mixed methods research on child sexual exploitation and abuse as well as adverse childhood experiences more broadly. 

David is the Director of the Crimes against Children Research Center and Professor of Sociology at the University of New Hampshire.

David is the Director of the Crimes against Children Research Center and Professor of Sociology at the University of New Hampshire. His research interests include the epidemiology of child maltreatment, internet offences and adverse childhood experiences. 

Mengyao is a Research Fellow at Childlight and a member of the UK Young Academy's 2023 cohort. Mengyao’s research looks at sexual violence against children, particularly…

Dr. Fang is Professor of Health Economics at the College of Economic and Management, China Agricultural University. He also holds joint appointment in the School of Public Health at Georgia State University. Prior to his current position, Dr. Fang served as a Senior Health Economist with the Division of Violence Prevention at the U.S. CDC. 

Arturo is currently the Director of the IMAGINA research center and Associate Professor at the School of Government at the Universidad de los Andes, Colombia.  Arturo is interested in understanding the impact of adverse childhood experiences; designing and evaluating interventions that mitigate this impact, and identifying best-practices that improve health, education and child protection systems. 

Ethel is Professor of Forensic Clinical Psychology in the School of Health in Social Science at the University of Edinburgh. 

As a clinical psychologist Ethel has worked with both sex offenders and victims and for over 20 years has researched technology-mediated crimes against children, collaborating internationally with government and non-government agencies in the context of research, policy and practice. 

Konstantinos comes from a background in law, criminology, and criminal justice, and is registered as Attorney at Law with the Athens Bar Association. He is a course organiser for the course, Legislative Data for Children's Rights for the MSc in Child Protection Data Futures at the Edinburgh Futures Institute, University of Edinburgh. His research interests include technology-facilitated child sexual exploitation and abuse, human trafficking, asylum and immigration.  

Anna’s background is in health and applied psychology. She gained her PhD in Psychology at the University of Strathclyde. Her previous research was focused on healthy ageing, community-based interventions, and the psychosocial impact of living with chronic illness and acquired disability. Her expertise covers quantitative, qualitative and mixed-methods research. Anna’s current work is focused on the prevalence estimates and nature of online child sexual abuse and exploitation.

Asaad is a quantitative and applied researcher with training and experience in neuropsychology, statistics, public health, and epidemiology. He has broad research interests, including tackling health inequities in people with neurodegenerative and neurodevelopmental conditions. Asaad’s current work at Childlight is focused on taking a public health approach to child sexual exploitation and abuse using big data and machine learning approaches.

Maria is a research assistant intern while undertaking a PhD in psychology at Abertay University. Previously Maria worked to support vulnerable children and families. She is passionate about children’s development and every child’s right to a childhood free from harm. The focus of her PhD project is to improve children’s online knowledge and practice.

James comes from a child protection background, having worked in frontline child and family services for several years in Canada. He started work in addressing technology-facilitated CSEA at the Canadian Centre for Child Protection in 2022, and retains this focus at Childlight, working as a technology-facilitated CSEA Data Specialist as part of the research team. 

I am a dedicated research assistant with a background in medicine and public health. My work aims to understand the prevalence of child sexual abuse globally using administrative data. I am passionate about being part of a team that aims to protect children globally from sexual abuse.

Aya has a background in psychology and childhood education, specialising in child protection through data-driven research and analysis. With over five years of experience in program evaluation across Japan and international development projects, Aya has led impact evaluations on community policing initiatives using administrative data. She collaborates globally with criminal justice organisations to provide evidence-based insights that help policymakers create safer environments for children worldwide.

Ashleigh, a lecturer in child protection administrative data, was formerly a senior researcher at the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry and Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Queen’s University Belfast on the ESRC project, Apologies, Abuses and Dealing with the Past. Ashleigh’s research focuses on using administrative data to understand the nature and prevalence of child sex abuse. Her research interests include institutional abuse and looked after children, female perpetrators of harm and the victim-perpetrator paradigm.

Doug has significant experience in UK Law Enforcement. He has been in charge as Senior Investigating Officer of a number of high-profile child abuse operations and held the public protection portfolio. 

Doug sat on the National Executive Board for Family Liaison. He was formerly the Deputy National Co-ordinator at Operation Hydrant the UK response to non-recent child abuse.

Robin is the Global Data Fellows Programme Manager at Childlight, leading initiatives that advance research collaboration, network-building, and peer learning among child protection stakeholders globally. Before joining Childlight, Robin worked in the technology sector, managing a social impact programme that harnessed innovation to foster safer environments for children.

Mark has over 25 years experience working in data-driven environments, providing web and native solutions for a range of research. He works on the Searchlight and Into the Light Index products as well as a number of our data management systems for Childlight

Mark has over 25 years experience working in data-driven environments, providing web and native solutions for a range of research. He works on the Searchlight and Into the Light Index products  as well as a number of our data management systems for Childlight

Bringing over a decade of expertise in quality assurance, regulatory compliance, and data integrity across the education and healthcare sectors in the United Kingdom and Italy, Polly now serves as the Quality and Compliance Manager at Childlight. Having successfully led institutional accreditation processes, she has a strong background in managing data quality, ensuring regulatory adherence, and facilitating stakeholder collaboration. Polly is passionate about safeguarding and ensuring the highest standards of data integrity, supporting Childlight's mission to provide trusted insights that drive global child protection efforts.

Alan is the Finance Manager at Childlight, a qualified accountant with a degree in Management Studies from University of Aberdeen. Having spent 10 years working on capital oil and gas projects, then more recently contracting across charity and private sectors with a focus on Financial Planning and Analysis

Claire is a behaviour change communications specialist. She has more than a decade of experience working in the public health violence prevention field applying evidence-based behavioural science approaches to her communications and marketing work.

Claire is a behaviour change communications specialist. She has more than a decade of experience working in the public health violence prevention field applying evidence-based behavioural science approaches to her communications and marketing work. Prior to moving into public relations Claire was a political correspondent for ITN and STV covering both Westminster and the Scottish Parliament, as well as lecturing in journalism to masters programmes.

Gemma has worked within the operations team of the Scottish Child Abuse Inquiry and with international schools and agencies arranging English language education to groups of children aged 9-16.  Gemma brings enthusiasm, strong administration experience and excellent organisational skills that keep the office running smoothly.

A Biomedical Science graduate with a Postgraduate Certificate in Forensic Medicine & Science from The University of Edinburgh.

Maggie has over 17 years of administration experience with qualifications in H&S and GDPR.

She continues to follow her interests by studying various subjects including forensics, history, medicine, archaeology, art and architecture. She is also an avid reader and outdoor adventurer.

Paul is an accomplished law enforcement and child protection expert with over 26 years of dedicated service in combating human trafficking and child exploitation. His extensive experience spans various international and national roles in the corporate sector and law enforcement, including significant contributions to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in the East Horn of Africa.

Paul career reflects a deep commitment to protecting vulnerable populations and addressing the complex challenges of human trafficking and child exploitation. His work has led to significant advancements in law enforcement practices and victim support systems across multiple countries.

As Technical Advisory Program Manager, Lydia supports both the research and operational elements of Childlight. 

With a 20-year career in UK law enforcement, in varied policing areas including Director of Intelligence, criminal investigations, and child safeguarding, also leading offender management and criminal justice departments.

Prior to Childlight, Lydia worked in academia in the UAE, lecturing on child protection, ethics and investigative programs and publishing in academic journals on child protection.

Lydia was seconded to the UK Home Office and the National Crime Agency working on international development programs. With the NCA, she was operations lead for child protection projects across the British Overseas Territories and involved in the development of a Child Protection Unit in Kenya. Lydia was a Senior Policing Advisor for the Home Office International Directorate. 

Lydia has investigative and leadership certifications, underpinning commitment to public safety, education, and sustainable international capacity-building in child protection.

Technical Advisory Programme Manager

Nick is a highly experienced career detective, senior investigator and manager with over 30 years UK law enforcement experience, both nationally and internationally. He has led operations in relation to CSEA and organised immigration crime, along with other serious criminality, including murder, rape, kidnap, drugs and firearms trafficking. Nick has extensive Latin-America and West-Africa experience. 

Dr. John Climax co-founded ICON plc in 1990, serving as its Chief Executive Officer, and in 2002 became Chairman of its Board. In January 2010 he was made Emeritus Chairman and continues to serve as a non-executive director. He has over 40 years of experience in the clinical research industry.

John received his primary degree in pharmacy from the University of Singapore, his masters in applied pharmacology from the University of Wales and his Ph.D. in clinical pharmacology from the National University of Ireland. He has authored a significant number of papers and presentations and is named inventor on many patents. He currently holds an adjunct professorship in pharmaceutics at the Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland and an honorary chair in pharmacology and pharmacy at the National University of Singapore. He has been awarded a doctorate in science by Trinity College Dublin and is also an honorary fellow of St Hilda’s, University of Oxford.

In 2004 John founded Human Dignity Foundation to protect and promote children’s rights and safety and remains Chair of HDF’s Board. He is also currently Executive Chairman of DS Biopharma and CEO of Afimmune, both of which are private biotech companies.

Sir Peter Mathieson assumed the office of Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Edinburgh in February 2018. He was awarded a First Class Honours from the University of London in 1983 and after junior medical posts, obtained a research training fellowship from the Medical Research Council (MRC) to study at the University of Cambridge. He was awarded a PhD in 1992 and went on to become Director of Studies for Clinical Medicine at Christ’s College, Cambridge. After a further MRC fellowship he moved to Bristol in 1995 as the foundation Professor of Renal Medicine at the University of Bristol and Honorary Consultant Nephrologist, North Bristol NHS Trust. In April 2014, Peter assumed office as the 15th President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Hong Kong, a post he held until January 2018. Of the various prizes and academic awards that he has received, he is most proud of being voted “Teacher of the Year” by Cambridge medical students in 1992; the Milne-Muehrcke award from the Renal Association and the National Kidney Foundation of USA for “most promising young researcher” from UK in 1997; the UK Renal Association Lockwood Award (for contribution to academic renal medicine) in 2004; and being voted 'top teacher 2011-12' by Foundation doctors at University Hospitals Bristol.

Sophie, founder of Azadi, a survivor-led initiative in Kenya, is a survivor leader who has worked in the anti-trafficking area for more than a decade. Recipient of the US Trafficking in Persons Report Hero 2020 award, she was Chief Executive Officer of the Global Fund to End Modern Slavery (GFEMS) which made the difficult decision to end operations from December 2024. She previously worked as the Regional Operations Manager (Africa) at Liberty Shared and later as the Director of Consulting for Survivor Alliance. She also served as a member of the Board of Directors for GFEMS. Sophie has a Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.), Business Administration and German from Kenyatta University, Kenya.

Stephen is Secretary General of International Center for Missing and Exploited Children (ICMEC), which works for a world where children can grow up safe from exploitation, sexual abuse or risk of going missing. 

A highly distinguished police career saw him serve in senior roles with the Metropolitan Police, including as Deputy Assistant Commissioner for Specialist Operations, New Scotland Yard, where he worked closely with the UK Home Office and other security partner bodies to transform the delivery of the ‘Protect and Prepare’ counter terrorism strands for London. In 2013, he became Chief Constable of his home county, Essex.

In 2020, he was appointed Executive Director for Police Services at INTERPOL, in charge of the 4 Global Crime programmes: Cybercrime, Counter Terrorism, Organized and Emerging Crime and Financial Crime & Anti-Corruption. He was recognised as the second highest-ranking staff official, after the Secretary General.

In 2018, he was decorated with the Queen’s Policing Medal (QPM) for his distinguished service and contribution to policing in the United Kingdom, and also invited to become Visiting Professor at the Institute for Analytics and Data Science at the University of Essex. In 2019 he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Law from Anglia Ruskin University.

Brendan overseas global financial operations for HBX Group. He is a seasoned financial executive with over 18 years of experience in the financial sector, including strategic financial planning, risk management and corporate governance at a global level. A former CFO of ICON (Dublin), he is passionate about safeguarding children and wants to use his skills and experience to contribute to their safety.