Ph.D. Students

Layla M. Hashemi 

Layla M. Hashemi is a Public Policy PhD Candidate at George Mason University’s Schar School and a graduate assistant at the George Mason University’s Terrorism, Transnational Crime and Corruption Center (TraCCC). Ms. Hashemi received her M.A. from New York University in International Relations and Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies. Her work experience includes positions at various governmental and non-governmental organizations including Forum 2000 (Prague, Czech Republic) and The Journal of Civil Society. She is currently an adjunct professor of Political Science at Montgomery College where she teaches a variety of courses including Comparative Politics, International Conflict Resolution and a course she helped develop on Global Human Rights. Her current research focuses on illicit trade, human trafficking and corruption in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. 

Chu Chuan (Julia) Jeng

Ph.D student. Her research focuses on analyzing illicit supply chains using data techniques. Other research interests include data mining, predictive modeling, optimization, and machine learning.

Currently, Ms. Julia is serving as a Graduate Research Assistant for TraCCC director, Dr. Louise Shelley, and TraCCC Affiliated Faculty, Dr. Edward Huang, and conducting on artificial intelligence (AI) in human trafficking research.