Meredith Dank, PhD, is a Research Professor and directs the Human Exploitation and Resilience initiative of the NYU Marron Institute of Urban Management. She is a nationally recognized expert on human trafficking. She has served as principal investigator for nearly two dozen human trafficking studies, funded by both federal agencies (including the Department of Justice, US Department of State, Department of Health and Human Services, among others) and private foundations. She has an extensive and nuanced understanding of sex and labor trafficking and has numerous current projects focused on this topic, both in the United States and overseas, that range in focus from law enforcement response to sector-specific issues. Experienced with a range of analytic methodologies, Dr. Dank has conducted research in more than a dozen countries, including India, Nepal, Vietnam, Uganda, Belize, Cambodia, Brazil and the Philippines.  She has also participated in a number of federal-level stakeholder meetings on trafficking, including a White House stakeholder meeting on victim services for survivors. She holds a Ph.D. in criminal justice from John Jay College. She is the author of numerous peer-reviewed articles as well as The Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (LFB Publishing, 2011).