PSIRU Staff

David Hall is director of PSIRU, responsible for its work. He specialises in water, energy and healthcare, and the design and maintenance of the PSIRU datanbase and website. Before joining PSIRU he worked at the Public Services Privatisation Research Unit, which developed a database on privatisation for the UK trade unions. He had previously worked for trade union research units, and as a lecturer in higher education. He has written books on public expenditure and labour law. Contact:

Jane Lethbridge joined PSIRU in August 2001 and has lead responsibility for developing research into the liberalisation and privatisation of healthcare worldwide. She has worked on public health issues in the UK and internationally for over 15 years. More recently she has been part of a UN Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD) research programme 'Commercialisation of healthcare' where she examined the strategies of multinational healthcare companies. Her other research interests include trade union responses to the liberalisation of public services and the policy and practice of social dialogue.

Emanuele Lobina joined PSIRU in 1998. Emanuele specialises in water and has contributed to most of PSIRU's work in this sector. His interests include water pricing and provision to the poor, PPPs and risk management, decision making on water reform and institutional development under public operations. Before joining PSIRU, Emanuele studied political science and international trade law at the universities of Florence and Turin, Italy. He also collaborated with IDHEAP, University of Lausanne, Switzerland. Contact:

Robin de la Motte joined PSIRU in January 2003. His work includes involvement in WaterTime, an EU-funded project on decision-making in the water sector in Europe. Robin studied economics at Cambridge, focussing on international development, social capital and corruption issues. Before joining PSIRU, he worked at the European Commission in Brussels. Contact:

Steve Thomas joined PSIRU in February 2001. He specialises in the energy sector, particularly in energy restructuring, privatisation and regulation; nuclear energy; and environmental issues. He is currently writing a book on the UK and Brazilian experiences with electricity privatisation. Before joining PSIRU he worked for 22 years at the Science Policy Research Unit (SPRU) at Sussex University, where he carried out many international energy projects.

Vladimir Popov joined PSIRU in 2000. He graduated from St. Petersburg State University, the Central European University and the European University at St. Petersburg. Vladimir specializes in social network analysis, has contributed to most of PSIRU`s work in this field. He is an expert on the Russian multinationals (Gazprom in particular) and privatization in Russia. He is also interested in corruption and organized crime research. Contact:

Bobet Corral is a PSIRU researcher based in the Philippines.

Previous PSIRU staff

Kate Bayliss' main research interests are in privatisation and development and she has written critically on the role of the World Bank in promoting privatisation world-wide. Kate has worked on short-term missions in several developing countries. Her doctoral field-work was carried out in Ghana. At PSIRU she has expanded the organisation’s information base on water and energy sectors in developing countries and has developed a resource manual for privatisation training. Kate worked in consultancy and academia as an economist before joining PSIRU in May 2000.

Steve Davies works in the school of social sciences at Cardiff University. He has worked for PSIRU 1998-2004, and specialises in the waste management sector and industrial relations practices of multinationals. Steve has created the website covering all trade unions in the world, the World Trade Union Directory. Before joining PSIRU Steve worked as a researcher for the UK civil service trade unions.

Kirsty Drew runs the UNICORN anticorruption project, which aims to mobilise workers to share information and coordinate action to combat international bribery. UNICORN is located within Cardiff University's School of Social Sciences. Prior to joining PSIRU in June 2001, Kirstine worked as a free-lance consultant undertaking UK-based and international socio-economic research projects. Kirstine formerly spent 7 years in Brussels, working in European consultancy.