Alena’s work investigates how informal and hybrid governance actors collaborate and conflict with state institutions in response to the shifting dynamics of global migration policies. Focusing on the intersections of health, migration, political economy, and governance, her research explores how NGOs and healthcare providers partner with local communities along Central American transit routes, and how these interactions politically, economically, and socially transform local institutions and actors. Her projects, which employ both qualitative and quantitative methods, are conducted in close collaboration with global academics, community members, and NGOs, contributing to broader understandings of border externalization, transit migration, and the long-term implications of humanitarian care provision.
