Graduate Student Directory

Jessie Gomberg is a PhD student at Allard Law working under the supervision of Dr. Cristie Ford. Jessie’s PhD research focuses on professional regulation of lawyers in Canada. She takes a critical view of the disciplinary systems regulating lawyers whose conduct is considered “unbecoming” due to alcohol and drug addiction. Jessie’s research performs a critical analysis of contemporary lawyer discipline employing feminist legal theory and proposing alternative dispute resolution to advocate for discipline reform.

Maira Hassan is a doctoral candidate at the Peter A. Allard School of Law. Her current research centres critical race feminism, investigating the challenges marginalized and racialized complainants might face in sexual assault law in Canada. She is a recipient of the Joseph-Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarships-Doctoral (SSHRC) and the Four Year Doctoral Fellowship (4YF).

Chinenye Helen Eze is a Ph.D student at the Peter Allard School of Law, where she completed her LLM in 2022. She has a passion for intellectual property and social justice. Her research examines the effect of human gene patents on medical research in the United States of America and Nigeria. Chinenye seeks to examine this issue through Critical Intellectual Property lens and a qualitative and comparative methodological approach.

Kirtika Kattel is a PhD student at Peter A. Allard School of Law, whose research focuses on the study of structural human rights violations in South Asia, particularly, the practice of caste-based discrimination. Her research explores the intersection of law and society, the impact of culture and religion in law, and their implications for justice and equality in society. She holds an LLM (hons.) from the University of Melbourne and has over three years of experience working in various non-profit non-governmental organizations in Nepal.

Kirthana is a doctoral student at the Peter A. Allard School of Law, specializing in comparative corporate law, corporate governance, and securities law. Her research explores the intersections of technology, sustainability, and global corporate governance practices. She has published on various issues related to the enforcement of shareholders’ rights and directors’ duties.

Melanie McPhail is a doctoral student at the Peter A. Allard School of Law. Her research investigates the regulation of innovative health technologies, including novel regulatory authorization and reimbursement approaches.

Reina Magistro Nadler is a doctoral candidate at the Peter A. Allard School of Law. Her dissertation research evaluates the uptake of neuroscientific knowledge and techniques into legal processes and institutions, with special attention to the implications of this neuro-technocratic turn for the democratic character of society. Reina’s studies have been supported by a Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship and by the Donald N. Byers Memorial Prize for Killam Doctoral Scholars. She has recently acquired an additional specialization in the intersection of neuroethics and trans studies.

Vitus is a doctoral student at the Peter A. Allard School of Law, and an Allard Scholar Graduate Fellowship Awardee. His research interests are Comparative constitutional law, Constitutionalism, Natural resources governance and sustainability, and Global governance and transnational law. His doctoral research examines the efficiency of parliamentary oversight over natural resource contracts in sub-Saharan Africa within the context of the theories of good governance and institutionalism.