Dr Ana Laura Aiello

Profile

I joined the School of Law in June 2019. At Leeds I work closely to Professor Luke Clements (Chair in Law and Social Justice) on the Cerebra Legal Entitlements Research Project. We work in collaboration with Cerebra (a charity supporting families where a child has a brain condition). The Project’s core aim is to empower families with disabled children to access their statutory entitlements, such as health support. In seeking to achieve this aim, I provide support for the following two programmes:

• A student led thematic research programme where up to 60 student volunteers undertake research concerning a specific service / organisation with which families with disabled children have encountered difficulties;
• A joint research programme with the Cerebra ‘In-House’ research unit which seeks to improve the ability of parents with disabled children to access (and help others to access) the health, education and social care entitlements relevant to their family’s needs.

Before taking on this exciting post, I studied law at the University of Buenos Aires (Argentina), finished a Human Rights Master at the University Carlos III of Madrid (Spain), and completed my PhD at the University of Leeds (School of Law). Employing socio-legal research empirical methods, my thesis explores the potential of strategic litigation for tackling human rights violations happening in institutional residential settings for people with learning disabilities in Europe.

Since 2001 I have been working internationally, based in Spain and afterwards in the United Kingdom. I have worked on various research projects on disability and human rights including with Amnesty International, Disability Rights International and CHANGE. I am passionate about bridging the gap between theory and practice. I have solid experience of applying creative methodologies for making the human rights of disabled people a reality. Also I have rich experience co-producing research with people with learning disabilities and working inclusively with them (for example, employing accessible -Easy Read- information).

I also develop international consultancy regarding the human rights of disabled people, and I am a well-known published author. For example, currently I am working together with REDES, a foundation from Argentina that aims to promote human rights enforcement, justice and social inclusion from a gender perspective. My last publications were published by Oxford University Press and Cambridge University Press. I have co-authored a book, and published numerous research reports, book chapters and journal articles. In addition, I have worked as a peer reviewer for the Utrecht Journal of International and European Law.

Responsibilities

• Research Assistant to Professor Luke Clements.

Research interests

I am interested in research that contributes to making it possible for people to overcome barriers and be able to take actual ownership of their rights.

My current research is focused on developing effective mechanisms to enable families with disabled children to access their statutory entitlements to health, social care and education support.

• Legal Entitlements and Problem-Solving (LEaP)

Qualifications

• PhD, University of Leeds, 2016.
• Masters in Human Rights, University Carlos III of Madrid, 2002.
• Law degree, University of Buenos Aires, 1999.

Student education

I contribute to supervising students who take part in the Cerebra Pro Bono Research Project.