Deena Sharuk is a doctoral candidate at the Dickson Poon School of Law. Her research at King's is funded by the Yeoh Tiong Lay (YTL) PhD Studentship (2025-2029). Deena's research broadly studies the bi-directional relationship between law and values specifically in the subjects of migration, human rights, international law, national security, and ethics. Her article, No Sleep for the Wicked, studying imposed sleep deprivation as a form of torture was published in the Maryland Law Review in 2022.

Before joining King's College London, Deena co-taught the Asylum Law Clinic at Georgetown University Law Center as a Clinical Teaching Fellow at the Center for Applied Legal Studies (CALS). She also served as a Lecturer and Clinic Supervisor at the University of Virginia School of Law, where she led the Immigration Law Clinic and taught Refugee and Asylum Law. Deena has worked extensively in migration and migrant rights, having served as a Senior Legal Advisor to the American Bar Association’s Commission on Immigration, and as an immigration attorney in both private practice and legal aid in the United States of America. She is a member of the bar in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (active) and the Commonwealth of Virginia (inactive). Deena received her Bachelor of Arts (BA) in International Relations from Wellesley College, her Juris Doctorate (JD) from Northeastern University School of Law, and Master of Laws (LLM) from Georgetown University Law Center.

PhD Thesis

Deena's PhD thesis studies the ethics of Alternatives to Detention (ATD) for migrants.

Supervisory Team

Dr. Elise Woodard 

Professor Octavio Ferraz

Research Interests

• Migration
• Human Rights and International Law
• National Security
• Moral philosophy and Ethics