PhD (Development Studies), Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex, UK | MA (Governance and Development), Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex, UK | BA (Hons) (Political Science and Economics), McGill University, Canada

Dr. Shandana Khan Mohmand is a social scientist with over two decades of research experience at the intersection of inequality, inclusive politics, and accountability, particularly in fragile and conflict-affected contexts. Her work focuses on how power, political participation, and trust are negotiated, especially where inequality is deeply embedded.
At the Institute of Development Studies (IDS), she leads the Governance research cluster and the IDS Pakistan Hub, where she works on comparative, interdisciplinary research across South Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, and the Western Balkans. She is the author of Crafty Oligarchs, Savvy Voters: Democracy Under Inequality in Rural Pakistan (Cambridge University Press, 2019), and has published widely in journals and edited volumes.

She serves on the Editorial Board of the Modern South Asia Series (Oxford University Press, New York); is a Fellow at the Mahbub ul Haq Research Centre at LUMS, and an Associate Fellow at IDEAS (Institute of Development and Economic Alternatives); and an Executive Council member of BASAS, where she also leads its annual book prize.

Beyond research, she has helped build research capacity globally through training programmes in Africa, Latin America, and the Western Balkans.