Derek’s research focuses on social and welfare policies for children, particularly the linkages between social protection and child malnutrition. His recent publications reviewed childhood stunting in Malaysia, universal school breakfast schemes, and cash transfer programmes from a social protection framework. Derek has worked on public policy at both the national and international level – developing policy responses to violent extremism in Malaysia, drafting the national private sector anti-corruption framework for the Bhutan Government, and assisting on land & constitutional reform initiatives in Myanmar. His work and comments have been featured by the likes of Financial Times, South China Morning Post, Malay Mail, and Astro Awani. Derek holds an LLB with first class honours from the University of Liverpool and graduated with distinction with an LLM in Transnational Law from King’s College London.