Dr Gabriella D'Avino

Dr Gabriella D’Avino is a social policy researcher specialising in refugee resettlement, community sponsorship, and complementary pathways. Her work explores how social networks and legal frameworks shape refugee integration, access to rights, and policy innovation across Europe. She is currently an ESRC Postdoctoral Fellow at The Open University’s Faculty of Business and Law, where her project examines the governance and legal infrastructures of refugee sponsorship schemes in the UK.

Gabriella holds a PhD in Social Policy from the University of Birmingham (awarded with no corrections, 2024), where she developed an original mixed-method approach to participatory social network analysis (SNA). Her doctoral research revealed the centrality of emotional support and everyday relationships in shaping integration outcomes for refugees resettled through the UK’s sponsorship programmes.

Her work has been published in leading journals including the Journal of Refugee Studies, Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, Critical Social Policy, and Journal of International Migration and Integration. She has contributed to multiple policy briefs for the Home Office, the European Commission, and the International Catholic Migration Commission, influencing resettlement practice and public engagement with refugee protection.