TORONTO, ON, February 27, 2026: The Zoryan Institute is pleased to present the February edition of its Alumni Spotlight, a monthly feature highlighting the achievements of alumni from the Genocide and Human Rights University Program (GHRUP) hosted annually at the University of Toronto. Each month, the Institute showcases alumni who have applied their GHRUP training to advancing human rights, scholarship, education, public policy, and community engagement globally.

This month’s spotlight features three distinguished Zoryan alumni whose work spans academia, law, and journalism across Canada, Brazil, and Iran.

Ana Cristina Villegas (Class of 2025)
Nationality: Canadian

Ana Cristina Villegas (she/her) is a heritage professional based in Ottawa whose work is grounded in the power of storytelling and the ways communities create meaning. She holds a B.A. (Honours) in History (2021) and a Master of Museum Studies with a collaborative specialization in Jewish Studies (2023). She currently serves as Executive Assistant at the Centre for Holocaust Education and Scholarship in Ottawa. Read more 

Dr. Flávio de Leão Bastos Pereira (Class of 2014)
Nationality: Brazilian

Dr. Flávio de Leão Bastos Pereira is a postdoctoral fellow in New Technologies and Law – Mediterranea International Centre for Human Rights Research (Dipartimento DiGiES Università Mediterranea di Reggio Calabria, Italy). He received his PhD and Master’s degree in Political and Economic Law from Mackenzie Presbyterian University, where he has subsequently served as Adjunct Coordinator of the Faculty of Law and Professor of Human Rights, Constitutional Law, and Electoral Law. Read more

Dr. Nasim Basiri (Class of 2016)
Nationality: Iranian

Dr. Nasim Basiri is a Visiting Assistant Professor of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at the University of Connecticut. Dr. Basiri has previously served as a Graduate Teaching Assistant and Online Graduate Instructor in Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, and as a columnist for The Independent UK (Persian edition), where she contributed critical commentary on gender, culture, and politics. Read more

The GHRUP alumni community has been growing for 23 years and now forms a strong academic network spanning more than 70 countries. GHRUP gathers an incredible community of scholars to the Institute, all dedicated to serving scholarship and, through it, humanity. To learn more about the program, please visit genocidestudies.org.