Marina Lorenzini

At Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, Marina is responsible for the Middle East Initiative (MEI)'s research programs, which include several fellowship cohorts, faculty and student research awards, and MEI policy reports and private roundtables. With a nearly 50 member annual research cohort, Marina oversees fellows' recruitment, onboarding, institutional infrastructure, and visa sponsorship. Further, she works with fellows to craft advanced seminars and publications to enhance the intellectual ecosystem of the Harvard Kennedy School and bring their expertise to the general public through book manuscripts, op-eds and articles, and media outlet appearances. For her efforts, she was a recipient of Dean Jeremy Weinstein's 2024-2025 staff award for outstanding contributions to the Harvard Kennedy School.

Her own research portfolio focuses on energy security, the global nuclear energy export market, multilateral finance and public sector investment, and sanctions exposure risks across the Mediterranean and Persian Gulf regions. She has published articles with the Atlantic Council, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, and Lawfare, as well as had her analysis featured in media and industry outlets, such as MEES, NBC, and the Wall Street Journal. Alongside State Department veteran Sahar Nowrouzzadeh, Marina led the Belfer Center's Iran Working Group from 2021 to 2023. She has also held roles with the Belfer Center's Project on Managing the Atom, Applied History Project, and as a Research Assistant for Senior Fellow Dan Poneman, former U.S. Deputy Secretary of Energy. Prior to joining the Belfer Center, Marina held roles with McLarty Associates, the Nuclear Threat Initiative, and the International Human Rights Clinic at Harvard Law School.

During her M.A. program in Law & Diplomacy at Tufts University's Fletcher School, she wrote her thesis on Turkey-Russian critical infrastructure and metal trade, with a focus on the two countries' cooperation in developing Turkey's civil nuclear program. Her coursework focused on US foreign policy towards EMEA as well as international banking, finance, and trade agreements.

Prior to graduate school, she held two roles focused on exchange between the U.S. and MENA Region. She has worked and/or studied in Egypt, Israel and the West Bank, Jordan, Morocco, Switzerland, and the United Arab Emirates, as well as brief engagements in Bahrain, Lebanon, and Saudi Arabia. She is an advanced speaker in Italian and Arabic, having used the languages extensively throughout her career, and has translation proficiency in Latin and Persian.