Mac is Director of the Institute of Regional and International Studies (IRIS) based at the American University of Iraq, Sulaimani. While at IRIS he has overseen donor funded projects on conflict and politics in Iraq, including two projects in collaboration with the LSE Middle East Centre entitled Conflict Drivers within the Kurdistan Region of Iraq: The Role of Patronage Networks (2019–20) and Public Authority and Iraq’s Disputed Territories (2018–19). Other donor-funded projects at IRIS have included Reinforcing Peace and Stability in the Disputed Territories funded by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI) and Iraq’s New Government during a time of Popular Revolt in collaboration with the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung. Prior to joining IRIS, Skelton’s research focused on the impacts of war on healthcare institutions and care-seeking practices in the MENA region. He has published in the Lancet and the Journal of Global Oncology. He holds a PhD in Anthropology from Johns Hopkins University, where he specialised in medical anthropology. 

At the LSE Middle East Centre, Skelton is researching his book project entitled Post-invasion Cancer Care in Iraq: Emerging Networks, Markets, and Improvisations.