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" Mac Skelton
About
Dr. Mac Skelton is Executive Director of the Institute of Regional and International Studies (IRIS) and a Visiting Senior Research Fellow in the Faculty of Life Sciences & Medicine at King's College London. His research has explored the long-term impacts of conflict on health and the environment in Iraq and the broader Middle East. He serves as a Commissioner on the Lancet Oncology Commission for the Human Crisis of Cancer. He holds a Ph.D. in Sociocultural Anthropology from Johns Hopkins University.
Peer Reviewed
- The human crisis in cancer: a Lancet Oncology Commission. The Lancet Oncology. November 2025.
- Therapeutic geographies of cancer in conflict: cancer care in Iraq. The Lancet Oncology. June 2025.
- The weight of air: a Commission on palliative care integration in serious respiratory illness. The Lancet Respiratory Medicine. 13,(4): 300-302. April 2025.
- Therapeutic Geographies of Cancer in Conflict Settings." Cancer Systems and Control for Health Professionals". Skelton, Mac, Omar Dewachi. pp. 19-23. February 2025.
- Establishing a Lancet Oncology Commission on the humanitarian crisis of cancer. The Lancet Oncology 24, no. 8 (2023): 835-837. August 2023.
- War and Oncology: cancer care in five Iraqi provinces impacted by the ISIL conflict. Frontiers in Oncology. Vol. 13. May 2023.
- High-Cost Cancer Treatment Across Borders in Conflict Zones: Experience of Iraqi Patients in Lebanon. Journal of Global Oncology, 6, 59-66. January 2020.
- "Iraqis’ Cancer Itineraries: War, Therapeutic Geographies, and Displacement" in War & Health: The Medical Consequences of the Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. eds. Catherine Lutz and Andrea Mazzarino. NYU Press. November 2019.
- Analysis of social science research into cancer care in low-and middle-income countries: improving global cancer control through greater interdisciplinary research. Journal of global oncology, 4, 1-9.
- Oncology in Iraq’s Kurdish Region: Navigating War, Displacement and Cancer. Journal of Global Oncology. April 2017.
- Changing Therapeutic Geographies of the Iraq and Syrian Wars, The Lancet, February 2014.
Policy Publications
- Iraq’s Water Crisis: Climate Adaptation in Conflict Settings. IRIS. November 2024.
- Climate Adaption Key to Iraq’s Stability and Economic Development. United States Institute of Peace. November 2023.
- Iraq’s Climate Change Agenda Must Prioritize Health—for Humans, Animals, and Plants. The Century Foundation. August 2023.
- Competing over the Tigris: The Politics of Water Governance in Iraq. IRIS. November 2022.
- Medicine Under Fire: How Corruption Erodes Healthcare in Iraq. KAS. December 2021.
- Living Among the Hashd: Relations Between Citizens and Security Actors in Five Iraqi Provinces. IRIS. July 2021.
- Displacement and Iraq's Political Marketplace: Addressing Political Barriers to IDP Return. IRIS. February 2021.
- The Long Shadow of Iraq’s Cancer Epidemic and COVID-19. MERIP 2020
- Assessing Iraqi Kurdistan's Stability: How Patronage Shapes Conflict. London School of Economics. Middle East Centre and Conflict Research Programme. July 2020.
- Iraq's Political Marketplace at the Subnational Level: The Struggle for Power in Three Provinces. Conflict Research Programme, London School of Economics and Political Science. June 2020.
- COVID-19: Assessing Vulnerabilities and Impact on Iraq. The Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House). April 2020.
- Why Iraq’s Protestors Won’t Go Home: 10 Voices from the Movement. London School of Economics. Middle East Centre. March 2020.
- The US Presence in Iraq: Emerging Positions of Iraqi Political Parties. London School of Economics. Middle East Centre. January 2020.
- Protests and Power: Lessons from Iraqi Kurdistan's Opposition Movement. London School of Economics. Middle East Centre. November 2019.
- The Kurdish Duopoly: The Political Economy of Two-Party Rule. London School of Economics. Middle East Centre. September 2019.
- Iraq’s Disputed Internal Boundaries after Daesh: Heterogenous Actors Vying for Influence. London School of Economics. Middle East Centre. February. 2019
- The Bishop and the Prime Minister: Mediating Conflict in the Nineveh Plains. London School of Economics. Middle East Centre blog. January 2019.
- Email: [email protected]
Zmkan Ali Saleem
- Jan 13th, 2020
Saya A. Raheem
- Oct 8th, 2024


