Lelys Dinarte is a research economist in the Human development Team of the World Bank's Development Research Group and an affiliate at IZA Network, CESifo Research Network, and Households in Conflict Network (HiCN). Her primary research fields are development economics and economics of education, with a focus on violence and crime.

Combining experimental and non-experimental approaches, one strand of her research agenda studies how educational interventions implemented in developing countries can modify at-risk youth performance, including socio-emotional skills, mental health, violent behaviors, and labor market outcomes.
She also empirically analyzes the interaction between crime and welfare, noting how criminal organizations usually harm countries' economic growth paths. Lelys has research projects in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Jamaica, Peru, Mozambique, South Sudan, and Ukraine. She obtained her Ph.D. and Master in Economics from Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile and her B.A. (Summa Cum Laude) in Economics from ESEN in El Salvador, the country where she was born and raised.

Lelys Dinarte joined IZA as a Research Affiliate in April 2023.