Lena Luisa Leisten has been a researcher at IFSH since May 2023. She works in the Berlin office in The CBW network for a comprehensive reinforcement of norms against chemical and biological weapons (CBWNet). Before joining IFSH, she worked from 2022 to 2023 in the German Parliament as a policy advisor for SPD Member of Parliament Dr. Ralf Stegner, mainly with a focus on the Subcommittee on Disarmament, Arms Control and Non-Proliferation as well as on peace and security policy issues. She also worked as a press and public relations officer for an NGO as well as a student assistant in the Communication Department of the Leibniz Association's Head Office, and published texts in media such as ZEIT / ZEIT online. Lena Luisa Leisten studied German Studies, Art History, Social Studies and Political Science at the Free University of Berlin.

At IFSH, Lena Luisa Leisten's research focuses on the proliferation and prohibition of chemical and biological weapons (CBW), in particular the development of international CBW prohibition regimes and their institutional basis. In addition, she is particularly interested in research on new confidence- and security-building measures in the context of arms control policy as well as peacebuilding in general.