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Information on the members of the LGBTQ+ Equality Steering Group
Chairs of LESG
Kata Kyrölä
I’m an Associate Professor in Media Studies at the Department of Culture, Communication and Media, the IOE, and I lead the MA programme in Digital Media: Critical Studies. Before joining UCL in 2021 and moving to London, I worked in Gender Studies and Media and Cinema Studies in Finland and Sweden. My research focuses on queer, trans, feminist, and critical race studies of popular media, and I have studied issues such as body image and the media, fat and queer digital activism, trigger warnings online, pornography use, racialized politics of ‘bad feeling,’ and settler colonialism’s impact on imagining sexual and gender diversity. I am excited to work on LGBTQ+ justice and liberation at UCL. My pronouns are they/them, I am queer and non-binary, and I believe in solidarity and collaborative work: no-one is free until we are all free.
Simon Lock
I am Professor of Science, Politics and Culture in the Department of Science and Technology Studies (STS) at UCL and also Co-Director of qUCL, UCL’s research centre and network on gender and sexual diversity. My research and teaching is focused in the field of Queer STS which aims to unpick the heteronormative, gendered, racialised and ableist architectures within and around cultures of science and knowledge production. More broadly I focus on science and knowledge in public and research cultures, with a particular focus on social justice, inclusion, equity and power in science communication, community engagement and policy practices. I have been at UCL for over two decades and engaged in EDI work across the college for many of those years, sitting on LESG (LGBTQ+ Equality Steering Group) and formerly LEIG (LGBTQ+ Equality Implementation Group) and I was PI on a large research study on the experiences of LGBTQ+ staff at UCL. I am queer and my pronous are he/they.
Members of LESG
Edward Wild
Sponsor / Senior Champion
I’m a Professor of Neurology at the Institute of Neurology, Associate Director of the Huntington’s Disease Centre, and a Consultant Neurologist at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery. When I started university in 1996, the medical profession and academic medical research were both very hostile to gay or queer people. Thanks to successful and sustained campaigning, much has changed for the better in society over the past 25 years, and I am hugely fortunate have benefited from this progress to become a proud, openly gay senior academic and clinician. We cannot take anything for granted though, and our rights are constantly under attack. I particularly want to use my position and privilege to benefit others in the queer community who still need to be lifted up to true equality - especially people of colour and our trans siblings, whose representation and protection against hate speech clothed as "academic freedom" needs dramatic and urgent improvement.
Johanna Novales
Events Coordinator & Chair of Trans Network
Johanna Novales (they/them): I’ve worked at UCL since 2011; currently I am the Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion Coordinator at UCL Engineering and a co-chair of the UCL Trans Network. It’s more important than ever that inclusive, intersectional values are infused in all we do at UCL -- especially regarding the inclusion of trans and nonbinary people. I see sitting on LESG as part of those efforts. Several years ago I started the We Are Out@UCL project to bring more visibility to the wonderful LGBTQ+ people who work here; you can read my own profile if you want to know more about me!
Rebecca Jennings
Knowledge and learning coordinator
I’m a Professor in Modern Gender History in the History Department, where I have worked since joining UCL in 2016. I’ve been researching 20th century lesbian history for the last twenty five years, which I love and I’m also lucky to be able to teach the history of gender and sexuality. Having been at school through the early Section 28 years, I’m passionate about having LGBTQ+ experience recognised and visible in education and about the importance of UCL being an inclusive and welcoming place for everyone.
Riccardo Privolizzi
Communications Coordinator
I am a Senior Research Fellow in the Gene Therapy Accelerator Centre at the UCL Institute of Neurology. I'm also an Honorary Research Fellow and Visiting Lecturer in Gene Therapy at the UCL Institute for Women's Health, and an ECR Board member of the Bristish Society for Gene and Cell Therapy.
I am proud and honoured to serve the role of Communications Coordinator within the UCL LGBTQ+ Equality Steering Group. For years, I have been striving to be part of a community to give and receive support to/from my LGBTQ+ peers, as well as to bridge a generational gap in LGBTQ+ societal and historical perceptions. I moved to London from Italy in 2010 and I joined UCL as a student in 2013. Throughout my academic journey from student to staff at UCL, I have always been lucky to have a positive experience in terms of inclusion and safety. I am passionate about this becoming a reality for everyone at UCL and in our wider community.
Simon Liu
Events Coordinator
By profession, I am a specialist English language teacher who trains foreign students to meet the demands of their postgraduate studies at the Centre for Languages & International Education (CLIE) at UCL. I have been doing this from around the summer of 2019, however, since joining UCL full-time in 2020, I have been involved in EDI advocacy in pursuing the Athena Swan Silver Award for the IOE faculty, working as the LGBTQ+ Intersectional Lead. Since 2023, I have been appointed the IOE's first and only Faculty LGBTQ+ Equity Lead to date - which has given me even wider remit to improve LGBTQ+ advocacy. I am an openly gay and proud Scottish-born Chinese cisgender man. I am also proud to have been coordinating the IOE's first and only to date Trans-inclusivity Seminar Series to promote awareness of Trans-inclusive academic work.
Luciano Rila
Luciano Rila is an Associate Professor (Teaching) in the Department of Mathematics. I have been involved in Equality, Diversity and Inclusion work for several years. I led the departmental EDI committee and was a member of LEIG (LGBTQ+ Equality Implementation Group). I am currently the Deputy Vice-Dean for the MAPS Faculty and sit in the London Mathematical Society Committee for Women and Diversity. I am also a co-conspirator of the QED network, a community-led effort by UK mathematicians to connect and support LGBTQIA+ members of the UK mathematics community.
Dr. Haim Abraham
Dr. Haim Abraham is a Lecturer in Law at UCL Faculty of Laws, specializing in Tort Law and LGBTQ+ Rights. He is the author of Tort Liability in Warfare (Oxford University Press, 2024), as well as multiple publications in world-leading journals, professional and popular blogs, and a co-creator of the Civilian Harms Interactive Database. Dr Abraham is currently co-leading (with Dr. Eden Sarid, KCL) a project on Queering Private Law.
Ben Webb
I’m currently on secondment as Director of Operations for the Faculty of Life Sciences at UCL. Since joining UCL in 2010, I’ve taken a non-linear route through HR, finance, estates, and departmental management, using secondments and acting-up roles to gain a broad view of how the institution works. Over the years, I’ve led teams through complex change and growth, delivered operational improvements and made governance processes more transparent, and introduced practical ways of working that make life easier for staff. I’m passionate about inclusion, having championed EDI initiatives at departmental, faculty, and institutional level, and I’m proud to serve as Communications Coordinator on the LGBTQ+ Steering Group, working with fellow committee members to drive positive change. I’m also a strong advocate for professional services career pathways and creating opportunities for staff to develop and progress.
Tone Walford
Events Coordinator
Leah Lovett
Leah Lovett (she/her) is an artist and Senior Research Fellow in Connected Environments at The Bartlett, where she also serves as the faculty LGBTQIA+ Equity Lead. She explores the use of arts-led methods to bridge knowledge systems and engage people in interdisciplinary research aimed at spatial and environmental justice. Leah facilitates Bartlett‑wide community initiatives as an active member of B.Queer, and she co‑organises the Queer Arts Club with Simon and Kata to support creative connection and visibility across the wider UCL LGBTQIA+ community.
Members of the committee lead on specific areas. Please contact the most suitable individual/s however if you are unsure, please reach out to the Chair/s.