Saleena Saleem is an Associate Research Fellow at Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. She holds a MSc in Political Science from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Saleena previously worked as a Research Associate at the Centre for Asia and Globalization, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore. Her research interests include politics and religion; politics of multiculturalism and identity; and ethno-religious conflicts.