Michael Christ
Executive Director

As a father, Michael Christ is worried about the future of his children. As IPPNW's Executive Director, he is convinced that physicians and health workers worldwide have a major role to play in ensuring that coming generations are protected from the effects of war and the threat of nuclear destruction. Michael joined the organization in 1988 with a background in environmental economics and political activism. He describes his visits to Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1989, and to the downwind community of Karaul near the former Soviet nuclear test site in Kazakhstan in 1990, as "life changing." Michael led IPPNW's World Court Project to persuade the World Health Organization and the United Nations to challenge the legality of nuclear weapons at the International Court of Justice. As Director of Programs from 1996 to 1998, he was responsible for numerous projects and campaigns on nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament and helped to launch IPPNW's landmines campaign. Michael was appointed Executive Director in January 1998.

Douglas Kline
Director of Administration and Finance

Doug has dedicated his career to working for social justice and human rights organizations. Beginning in the 1970s, he worked as a neighborhood organizer and community activist, eventually gravitating to financial and administrative management positions in nonprofit advocacy organizations. Prior to coming to IPPNW, Doug served as the Director of Finance and Administration at Shelter, Inc. in Cambridge, MA, an organization that runs homeless shelters and transitional housing programs. For nine years before that, he served as Controller at the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee, an international human rights organization with grassroots development programs in Africa, South Asia, and Latin America. In 1997 he assumed the position of Director of Finance and Administration at IPPNW. Doug has a Master's in NGO Management from Lesley University.

John Loretz
Program Director

John has worked on behalf of peace, disarmament, and environment organizations for more than three decades. As IPPNW's Program Director, since 2000, he is responsible for coordinating the federation's work on the medical and humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons and the public health and environmental dangers of nuclear energy. He represents IPPNW on the core group of ICAN -- the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons. As a nuclear policy expert, he has joined physician delegations in Europe, Asia, and Africa, and coordinates IPPNW's participation at major UN-based meetings on nuclear weapons and disarmament. John has written and spoken extensively on nuclear issues, and is a regular contributor to IPPNW's Peace and Health Blog and other publications. A graduate of Boston College with an MA from the University of Virginia, John was Communications Director for Women's Action for Nuclear Disarmament (WAND) in the early 1980s and at IPPNW's US affiliate, Physicians for Social Responsibility, in Washington, DC, from 1986-1990. He was the Executive Editor of IPPNW's journal, Medicine & Global Survival, from 1995 until it ceased publication in 2002.

Maria Valenti
Campaign Coordinator, Aiming For Prevention

Maria has served since 2004 as the coordinator of IPPNW's armed violence prevention campaign, Aiming for Prevention. She helps develop, implement and monitor programs, publishes, presents and educates on issues relating to IPPNW’s public health approaches to armed violence, and provides a wide range of support to IPPNW affiliates addressing the public health consequences and human suffering of armed violence, particularly in the Global South. This support includes communications, conference organizing, fundraising, development of campaign materials, facilitation of research and publishing of findings, and other assistance to support affiliate efforts to research, educate, and advocate for health protective and promoting policies relating to armed violence.  She represents IPPNW in international coalitions and networks including the World Health Organization's Violence Prevention Alliance.  In addition to her work with IPPNW, she has worked extensively on environmental health issues, and served in leadership positions for 18 years with Greater Boston Physicians for Social Responsibility (GBPSR), a founding chapter of IPPNW's US affiliate PSR. Currently she serves as the coordinator of the national Collaborative on Health and the Environment’s Healthy Aging and the Environment initiative. Maria is a co-author of major publications on environmental health including Generations at Risk: Reproductive Health and the Environment (MIT Press 1999), In Harm's Way: Toxic Threats to Child Development (GBPSR 2000), and Environmental Threats to Healthy Aging (GBPSR/SEHN 2008), and has developed nationwide training programs for health professionals on environment and health topics.

Aki Morizono
Communications Associate

Aki coordinates the streams of communication (website, listservs, facebook, and twitter) essential to an international federation, and is also the editor and designer of IPPNW's international newsletter, Vital Signs.. Her intention is to increase affiliate members' access to information that will support them in leading lives of local and global engagement. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in East Asian Studies from Lewis and Clark College and studied graphic design at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.

Garrett R. FitzGerald
Development Associate

As the Development Associate for IPPNW, Garrett manages IPPNW’s fundraising efforts and serves as the liaison between IPPNW and its donors and supporters. Before joining IPPNW, Garrett’s work focused primarily on the relationship between religion, human rights, and social justice.  Garrett’s exploration of the fundamental connections between these fields has led him to locations ranging from the campo of rural Honduras to inner-city schools in California and North Carolina, and has helped foster involvement and creative partnerships with a variety of nonviolence education and community organization initiatives. Garrett holds a Master of Theological Studies from Harvard Divinity School focused in the area of Religion, Ethics, and Politics, and a BA in Peace & Conflict Studies and Religious Studies from Guilford College.