Naz focuses on dilemmas of international humanitarian law, human rights law, and humanitarian action in situations of armed conflict. Her most recent research and policy work focuses on the relationship between domestic and international counterterrorism regimes and humanitarian access and assistance.

Naz K. Modirzadeh is the founding Director of the Harvard Law School Program on International Law and Armed Conflict (PILAC). She was appointed Lecturer on Law at HLS for the Fall 2014 term, when she taught International Humanitarian Law/Laws of War.

At PILAC, Modirzadeh is responsible for overall direction of the Program, collaboration with the Faculty Director and other affiliated faculty, development of research initiatives, and engagement with key decision-makers in the armed forces, humanitarian organizations, government, and intergovernmental organizations.

Modirzadeh regularly advises and briefs international humanitarian organizations, UN agencies, and governments on issues related to international humanitarian law, human rights, and counterterrorism regulations relating to humanitarian assistance. For more than a decade, she has carried out legal research and policy work concerning a number of armed conflict situations. Her scholarship and research focus on intersections between the fields of international humanitarian law, international human rights law, and Islamic law. She frequently contributes to academic and professional initiatives in the areas of humanitarian action, counterterrorism, and the laws of war.

In addition to taking part in several expert advisory groups for UN research initiatives, Modirzadeh is a non-resident Research Fellow at the Stockton Center for the Study of International Law at the Naval War College and is on the Board of Directors of the Center for Civilians in Conflict, on the Advisory Council of Geneva Call, and on the Interim Advisory Group of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Integrated Regional Information Networks. She received her undergraduate degree from the University of California, Berkeley and her J.D. from Harvard Law School.

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