RESEARCHERS
The Modern Slavery Research Project is comprised of a team of researchers and scholars dedicated to realizing the end of human trafficking.
LAURA T. MURPHY, Director and Lead Researcher
Laura T. Murphy is Professor of Human Rights and Contemporary Slavery at the Helena Kennedy Centre for International Justice at Sheffield Hallam University (UK). Her research specialty is human trafficking and modern slavery.
Murphy is an internationally recognized trainer and public speaker who has educated and motivated thousands of community activists, students, law enforcement officers, service providers, and medical professionals to employ a trauma-informed response to serve the needs of survivors of trafficking and contemporary slavery. As a consultant, she provides stakeholders assistance with community-based research, curriculum design, prevention programs, evaluations, and awareness projects in the field of modern slavery, human trafficking, and other social justice issues. She is the recipient of several awards for her research, including the National Endowment for the Humanities Public Scholar award, a British Academy visiting fellowship, and a National Humanities Center fellowship.
Murphy has consulted for the World Health Organization, the U.S. National Human Trafficking Training and Technical Assistance Center, Covenant House International, the Los Angeles Regional Human Trafficking Task Force, the Asian Pacific Islander Human Trafficking Task Force, the Greater New Orleans Human Trafficking Task Force, the Louisiana Commission for Legal Education, and the Louisiana Governor’s Office. She serves as a subject matter expert in the field of human trafficking for the U.S. Office of Victims of Crime and the Administration of Children and Families. For the Office of Victims of Crime, she has presented community trainings that help stakeholders prevent and respond to trafficking through multi-disciplinary programs. For the Administration of Children and Families, she has created sex and labor trafficking trainings, webinars, e-learning programs, guidance, and toolkits for Runaway and Homeless Youth Providers. Murphy is also the chair of the research committee of HEAL, an organization dedicated to providing a public health lens to the field of human trafficking.
She is the author of The New Slave Narrative: The Battle over Representations of Contemporary Slavery (Columbia University Press, 2019) and editor of Survivors of Slavery: Modern-Day Slave Narratives (Columbia University Press, 2014). She is currently working on a book about a 2000 slave revolt in India for Columbia Global Reports.
Dr. Christian Bolden, Department of Criminal Justice
Dr. Christian Bolden earned his Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Central Florida and Masters in Applied Sociology from Texas State University-San Marcos. His current research interests include reconciling interpretations of gang behaviors and processes with viewpoints of actual gang members, examining the social network dynamics of deviant populations, investigating the future of criminal innovation, navigating racial/ethnic dynamics in criminology, and human trafficking. Dr. Bolden was recently selected as the “Futurist in Residence” for the FBI’s Behavioral Science Unit Futures Working Group. His recent work can be found in Criminal Justice Review, Deviant Behavior, and the Encyclopedia of Theoretical Criminology.
Dr. Rae Taylor, Department of Criminal Justice
Dr. Rae Taylor joined the Loyola University New Orleans faculty in the fall of 2009 after completing her Ph.D. at the University of Central Florida. Her doctoral dissertation involved examining pregnancy as a risk factor for lethal and non-lethal intimate partner violence. During her tenure as a doctoral student, she was the recipient of several teaching and research awards, including the prestigious University Award for Excellence in Graduate Student Teaching in 2008.
Dr. Taylor’s research and teaching interests include intimate partner violence and other violent crimes, societal and organizational responses to violent crime, and social inequalities. She has published research articles in Violence Against Women and Homicide Studies. Dr. Taylor has worked as a data analyst and policy consultant for CourtWatch Florida, a non-profit court monitoring and advocacy organization, and has been involved with several community based research projects pertaining to homelessness and other areas.
Dr. Taylor has worked in the criminal justice system as a victim advocate, and continues her training in victim services and crisis response. In addition to her academic degrees, Dr. Taylor holds a graduate level certification in domestic violence and has been inducted into the Alpha Kappa Delta National Honor Society and the Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society. She is a member of several professional organizations including the American Society of Criminology, the Homicide Research Working Group, and the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences, where she regularly presents her research.
Catherine Dunn, survivor expert
Catherine Dunn provides thought leadership and research support to MSRP and other anti-trafficking organizations. She is an engaging public speaker, who educates audiences about the risks of human trafficking in the United States as well as the dangers of sensationalized portrayals of it. Her specialty is working with those in communities with which she most identifies, namely youth, LGBTQ+-identified people, and those affected by the juvenile justice system. She is a graduate of Eden House in New Orleans, a long-term residential program for survivors of human trafficking. She collaborates with Eden House as part of their GROW program, a trafficking awareness and education initiative. She is currently working with MSRP to develop a survivor quality of life survey, which is designed to better understand the long-term well-being of survivors of human trafficking.
LAUREN CUTULI, ASSOCIATE
Lauren Cutuli is an Associate for the Modern Slavery Research Project. She supports the internal and external communication efforts to drive the team's research initiatives, including critically analyzing evidence and communicating research findings into reports. Lauren graduated from Loyola University New Orleans with a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications and focus in Journalism, along with a minor in African and African-American studies. Following graduation, Lauren was a project manager and managed teams with non-profit and social impact organizations in Connecticut and New York.
Ariel Hall, Research Intern
Ariel Hall is a senior at Loyola University New Orleans majoring in Pre-Health Biophysics with minors in mathematics and chemistry. She is a research assistant to Dr. Laura Murphy, and her passion for working with MSRP comes from a life-long commitment to serve the most vulnerable populations in society. She intends to go to medical school and become a physician, using skills gained from working at MSRP to be compassionate and trauma-informed.