Team
TPH Team
The Trade Policy Hub team, led by Dr Elitsa Garnizova, brings together expertise across core trade policy, trade and sustainability, digital trade and digital policies, as well as industrial policy and economic security.
Dr Elitsa Garnizova is Associate Director of the Trade Policy Hub at LSE. She is responsible for strategy, business development, project management, and research on international trade policy, particularly looking at the interaction of trade, sustainability, and industrial policies. She specialises in the use of qualitative methods, including interviews, questionnaires, focus groups, and discourse analysis. Elitsa is an Associate at the International Trade Policy Unit of LSE and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. Parallel to her work at TPH, she received a PhD in international political economy from LSE. She teaches courses in Global Political Economy; Trade, Development, Environment; and Europe Trade Policy.
Experts | Core Trade Policy
Our experts examine fundamental aspects of international trade and its impact on global economies. We focus on the interplay between trade policies, productivity, and strategic economic initiatives.
Dr Stephen Woolcock has taught the political economy of international trade at LSE for more than 20 years. He has contributed to policy-related research on trade for a range of governments, international organisations, and EU institutions, covering areas on multilateral, regional/preferential trade, and national/European Union trade policies. His work has covered the substance and issues relating to the full range of trade topics, from rules of origin and trade facilitation through technical barriers to trade, public procurement and trade remedies, to digital services trade and investment agreements.
Dr Nikhil Datta is an Assistant Professor at the University of Warwick and a Visiting Fellow at the Centre for Economic Performance (CEP) at LSE. He has done extensive policy work on Brexit and used quasi-experimental methods and large micro datasets to answer policy-relevant questions. Nikhil has also led numerous econometric analysis and simple cost analysis with TPH for the UK government.
Dr Christine Côté is an Associate Professor of International Business in the Department of Management at LSE and has worked as an international trade negotiator with the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada on bilateral trade and investment agreements. She also specialises on international trade, international investment agreements and investment arbitration, globalisation and its impact on national regulation, foreign direct investment, and the internationalisation strategies of firms.
Andreas Freytag is Professor of Economics at the Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena where he founded the Jena Africa Study Group and is a Senior Research Fellow at ECIPE. He is a specialist in international relations, development policy and monetary policy. He has published a number of books and articles on international monetary policy, international trade and competition policy, development economics and international policy coordination.
Sangeeta Khorana is a Professor in International Trade Policy in the Department of Entrepreneurship, Finance and Economics at Aston Business School and was on secondment to HMG Department for Business and Trade to support with trade negotiations. She works at the intersection of WTO trade policy and bilateral agreements, focusing on free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations and has established an international reputation on FTA negotiations through economic modelling and impact assessment expertise and provided evidence to the UK, EU and Scottish Parliaments, and the Welsh Assembly.
Dr Thomas Sampson is an Associate Professor at the Department of Economics at LSE. His research areas are on the impact of trade on wage inequality, dynamic gains from trade, import protection, and the effects of Brexit on UK trade and firms. He has provided policy advice to organisations like the Bank of England and the World Bank on trade and investment issues.
Dr Oksana Levkovych is a Fellow in International Political Economy in the Department of International Relations at LSE. Her primary research interests include international trade, systemic power transitions, and history of political and economic thought. In her research, she highlights key actors, local policy choices, and economic ideas in debates about how hegemonic leadership dynamics influence international trade and the global political economy.
Dennis Novy is Professor of Economics at the University of Warwick. He is a Research Fellow at the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) and an Associate at the Centre for Economic Performance (CEP) at LSE. Dennis has been a member of the Economic Advisory Council of the British Chambers of Commerce since 2023 and was the Specialist Adviser to the House of Lords on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) in 2013/14.
Experts | Trade and Sustainability
Our experts explore the integration of sustainability principles into international trade agreements and policies. We assess the environmental, social, human rights, and economic impacts of trade arrangements on participating countries and regions.
Dr Jean-Baptiste Velut is an Associate Professor at Sorbonne Nouvelle University of Paris, with his research focusing on US and European trade policies, trade agreements and globalisation. He has various publications related to trade policies and linkages and gained considerable experience interviewing civil society, business and government officials. He has contributed to social and environmental analyses in multiple studies commissioned for DG Trade.
Dr Stefania Lovo is an Associate Professor in Economics at the University of Reading, conducting research that lies at the intersection of development economics and environmental economics, focusing on policy impact evaluations. She has contributed to the environmental analysis in various Sustainability Impact Assessments in support of EU trade negotiations with Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico and Mercosur.
David is a Professor in Practice and Strategic Director of Firoz Lalji Institute for Africa at LSE. His research interests are in the areas of trade in development; trade and inclusion; and trade and sustainability. Specialising in African trade policy and trade negotiations, David has decades of experience in policy advisory services, managing and catalysing research, building partnerships, training and capacity development for private sector and government, covering trade, fiscal and industrial policies as well as illicit financial flows.
Ken Shadlen is a Professor of Development Studies in the Department of International Development at LSE. He works on the comparative and international political economy of development, focusing on the variation in national policy responses to changing global rules. He also works on the political economy of health and pharmaceutical policies, the dynamics of “North-South” trade agreements, and changing patterns of government-business relations and democratisation.
Dr Asha Herten-Crabb is a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of International Relations at LSE. Asha’s research covers international trade, health policy, and gender equality - and their intersections – with an emphasis on how inequalities in global governance structures shape policy making and its outcomes at the national, regional (EU, MERCOSUR), and international levels (WHO, WTO).
Experts | Digital Trade and Digital Policies
Our experts investigate the rapidly evolving landscape of digital commerce and its implications for global trade. We address emerging technologies, digital innovation, and the challenges of implementing and regulating digital trade processes across borders.
Hosuk Lee-Makiyama is the director of the European Centre for International Political Economy (ECIPE) and recurring advisor to the UK and other G7 governments on economic security, trade analysis and digital infrastructure. During his government service, he has negotiated WTO services, TRIMS, IPR, and other issues, chaired related working committees in Geneva.
Dr Robert Basedow is an Associate Professor in International Political Economy at LSE. His research focuses on international trade and investment policy, international dispute settlement mechanisms and regulatory cooperation. His research expertise covers areas across international trade, international investment agreements, dispute settlement mechanisms, and judicial politics.
Dr Marta Soprana is a researcher and trade policy advisor who has consulted for various international organisations, including the WTO, ITC, UNCTAD, UNESCAP, FAO, and the World Bank. With an interdisciplinary background in the field of political science and law, she specialises in interdisciplinary research. Her main areas of expertise are trade in services, digital trade, political economy of trade and the regulation of emerging technologies, with a focus on artificial intelligence (AI).
Experts | Industrial Policy and Economic Security
Our experts analyse the intersection of trade policies, industrial strategies, and economic security concerns. We examine issues related to strategic industries, market dynamics, and the role of targeted policies in shaping economic resilience and competitiveness.
Riccardo Crescenzi is a Professor of Economic Geography and Deputy Head of Department (Research) at LSE. He has advised several organisations, including the European Investment Bank, European Parliament, European Commission, Inter-American Development Bank, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, OECD, and World Bank. He has a long track record of teaching and research in regional economic development, innovation, FDI and GVCs, and in the analysis and evaluation of public policies.
Stephanie Rickard is Professor of Political Science at LSE with expertise at the intersection of politics and international economics. For over 15 years, she has researched issues related to the international political economy, including trade agreements, industrial policy and international financial rescues. She also comments in the media on current events in the global economy, including tariffs, industrial policy, Brexit, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Trade Organization.
Neil Lee is Professor of Economic Geography at LSE. His current projects include work on industrial policy for the digital economy, the role of Sovereign Wealth Funds in stimulating industrial diversification, and spatial inequality. His research has been funded by international and private sector organisations, including the World Bank, OECD, the EIB, and Barclays Bank, and cited in key government documents such as the UK Levelling Up White Paper.
Vassilis Monastiriotis is Professor of Political Economy at the European Institute, LSE. His research focuses on economic policy and performance at the regional, national and supra-national levels, with emphasis on labour markets, industrial policy and economic development. He authored various policy reports for the European Commission and collaborated in projects by the UNDP, the Regional Cooperation Council, and the UK and Greek governments.
