Sherif Azer is a former TIMEP Nonresident Fellow focusing on freedoms and human rights. An Egyptian human rights activist and defender, Mr. Azer is the Assistant Secretary-General of the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights, where he has worked in a number of capacities since 2003. He has also served as the Middle East and North Africa Protection Coordinator of Front Line Defenders, an international organization based in Dublin with the specific aim of protecting human rights defenders, and the MENA Coordinator for the International Network for Freedom of Expression. Mr. Azer is currently pursuing his Ph.D. at the Center for Applied Human Rights at the University of York, where his research focuses on the role of Egyptian cyberactivists in vernacularizing human rights. Mr. Azer received his B.A. in political science and an M.A. in international human rights law, both from the American University in Cairo. His thesis studied cyberactivism in Egypt from a human rights and sociological perspective. Mr. Azer has produced a number of publications, including a guide to blogging and a book, Cyberactivism in Egypt: A New Social Movement, published in 2012, reporting on the results of his research.