Diana Peel has a PhD in criminology from Simon Fraser University, and a masters in criminological research from the University of Cambridge. Her doctoral research explored the retention and promotion of forced recruits within the rebel group, Lord’s Resistance Army. Diana lived in Uganda for eight years, and, in 2023, was awarded the Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation’s Distinguished Scholar Award for a mixed methods project examining gender discrimination in sentencing for domestic homicides.

Diana joined the Vulnerability and Policing Futures Research Centre in 2025. She is working on the Minimum Policing Standard project, which looks at what the public think the core functions of the police are, what they want from the police and what they think police should do. She is also part of the Modern Slavery project, which investigates how preventative approaches could reduce demand on police services.