Isabella is a DPhil in International Relations candidate at Merton College, supervised by Professor Patricia Owens. Her research explores how gender informs the creation of expertise as a source of power in international relations by examining the lives and work of five historic nurses between 1850 and 1950. This work is an expansion of her MPhil thesis, which analysed the pioneering work of early 20th-century nurse and social reformer Lillian Wald. She is grateful for the support of the Clarendon Scholarship and Merton College for funding this research.
In her previous academic and professional work, Isabella has explored the significance of trust in pandemic preparedness; the successes, failures, and trade-offs of the US COVID-19 response; and the legal status of emergency declarations in response to disease spread. Isabella has also studied the international relations of the Arctic, particularly the securitisation of rapidly changing environments and its potential knock-on effects for human health.
Before beginning her graduate work, Isabella worked as a research associate for global health, economics, and development at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) in Washington, DC. Prior to joining CFR, she conducted and published research with the Center for Global Health Science and Security, the Bansal Lab, and as a Fellow with the Global Irish Studies Initiative.
Isabella received her MPhil in International Relations from Oxford, supported by the Rhodes Scholarship. She graduated with a bachelor's degree in Science, Technology, and International Affairs with a Certificate in Diplomatic Studies from the Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. She has co-authored publications in the Lancet, Fire Ecology, and Brain & Behavioral Sciences, and has also written for Think Global Health and CFR.org.
