IPPNW Central Office Staff
George Cani
Director of Finance
George joined IPPNW on November 2011 as part time Director of Finance. He brings to IPPNW many years of nonprofit financial experience. For over 18 years he has been the Director of Finance for another Boston nonprofit organization that offers legal, wellness and education services, and provides learning exchange programs with Ireland.
Michael Christ
Executive Director
Michael first joined the IPPNW staff in 1988. He served in a variety of roles, including as director of IPPNW’s World Court Project on the legality of nuclear weapons and as program director, before being appointed executive director in 1998. Michael owes his longevity at IPPNW to his deeply held conviction that a focus on the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of nuclear war is the key to eliminating the threat they pose to civilization. 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.” He credits his grade school teacher Betty Jean Padley (1935-2017) for instilling in him a reverence for nature, an appreciation of Quaker values, and an awareness of the injustices inflicted on the first stewards of the land. Michael earned a bachelor of science in environmental economics from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst amidst the dangers of the cold war, further shaping his interest in peace and social justice.
Charles K. Johnson
Policy Director
Chuck has four decades’ experience as an activist, writer, and fundraiser. As IPPNW’s nuclear program director, he is responsible for coordinating the federation’s work educating world leaders and the public on the medical and humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons. He is an alternate for IPPNW to the International Steering Group of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) – the lead NGO in support of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons – having served as their administrative co-chair in 2020-21. Before IPPNW, Chuck was a leader in US regional coalitions successfully opposing the development of nuclear energy and supporting the Nuclear Weapons Freeze campaign. He worked for IPPNW’s US affiliate, Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR), in Washington, DC, as a regional coordinator from 1987-1990, serving again, from 2012-2017 as director of Oregon and Washington PSR’s nuclear power task force. From 1990-1996, he was executive director of Nuclear Free America, serving as UN representative for the International Nuclear Free Zone Local Authorities.
John Loretz
Senior Consultant
John was IPPNW’s Program Director from 2000-2017. His career as a peace and environmental activist has spanned more than 40 years as a writer, editor, speaker, policy analyst, campaign coordinator, and lobbyist. John represented IPPNW on the International Steering Group of ICAN, the 2017 Nobel Peace Laureate. He was part of the civil society delegation to the negotiations for the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, and was at the UN for the historic vote when the ban treaty was adopted. John was Executive Editor of the journal Medicine & Global Survival from 1994-2002. He was Communications Director at IPPNW’s US affiliate, Physicians for Social Responsibility, from 1987-1991. Since his retirement in 2017, John has continued to advise the staff and board on nuclear weapons issues. He edits the IPPNW Peace and Health Blog, and provides ongoing staff support as a volunteer. He is also a North American editor and book reviewer for IPPNW’s designated journal Medicine, Conflict and Survival.
Molly McGinty
Program Director
Molly is the Program Director with the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW), where she coordinates the federation’s initiatives on the humanitarian and environmental impacts of nuclear weapons and advocates for their total abolition, primarily through the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). A strong believer in the power of grassroots movements, Molly works closely with IPPNW’s global affiliate network and partners, including the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) and Youth for TPNW, to build a groundswell of support for nuclear disarmament. She was on the founding Steering Committee of Youth for TPNW, currently represents IPPNW on ICAN’s International Steering Group, and is a Board Member of the Nuclear Truth Project. Molly holds a Bachelor of Science in Social Work and Gender & Sexuality Studies from Salisbury University.
Maria Valenti
Aiming For Prevention Liaison
Maria now acts as the affiliate liaison to IPPNW’s Aiming for Prevention program after serving for 17 years as its half-time director, during which she helped to develop, implement and monitor research, education and policy-engagement programs on armed violence prevention. She has written and presented worldwide on public health approaches to armed violence and on related policy issues. She assists affiliates in such areas as communications, conferences, campaign materials, research, publishing, and other avenues to support their local to international efforts. She represents IPPNW at forums such as the United Nations, and in international coalitions and networks including the World Health Organization’s Violence Prevention Alliance. She also provides a range of general organizational support activities including in communications and social media. She continues to work in the field of environmental health, which intersects with the public health issue of violence prevention. She previously served in leadership positions for 18 years with Greater Boston Physicians for Social Responsibility, a founding chapter of IPPNW’s US affiliate, PSR.
Anduin DeVos
Communications Consultant
Anduin joined the team in September 2025 as Communications Consultant for the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, where they support the communications, website, and outreach work. Anduin has been working as a nuclear disarmament and environmental activist since graduating from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, in 2023. Anduin previously served as Campaign Director of NuclearBan.US and the Treaty Alignment Campaign, where they facilitated the work of the Massachusetts and National Warheads to Windmills Coalitions. Along with their work for IPPNW, they continue their supportive role of Warheads to Windmills, as well as acting as Outreach Coordinator for the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation.
IPPNW 2025-2028 Board of Directors
Co-Presidents
Inga Blum
IPPNW Co-President
Germany
Dr. Inga Blum is a neurologist and general practitioner from Hamburg, Germany with a background in cancer research.
In her view the abolition of nuclear weapons is not only an urgent necessity because of the acute danger nuclear weapons pose, but likewise a chance to shift international security policies from being based on nuclear deterrence to a security system that is based on real human needs and cooperation.
She believes in the power of dialogue and has played a central role in lobbying the German government to make first steps towards the nuclear ban treaty. Presenting the scientific evidence about the humanitarian effects of nuclear weapons to political-decisionmakers and to the public is in her opinion as urgent as ever.
Another focus of her work is to educate the new generation about nuclear weapons. For this purpose she has developed training methods and educational materials and helped to organize IPPNW protest Camps at the NATO nuclear weapons base in Büchel, Rhineland-Palatinate for many years.
Having witnessed the failure of disarmament conferences again and again, she has initiated a study on attitudes towards nuclear weapons among political decision-makers in 2009. Currently she is working on a new IPPNW project that aims to bring movement into the debate about nuclear deterrence by integrating findings from socio-psychology and neuroscience.
She served on the board of the German section of IPPNW from 2013 to 2021. From 2021 to 2025 she was an At-Large Board member at the international level. At the IPPNW World Congress in Nagasaki in October 2025 Inga Blum was elected as IPPNW Co-President.
Having witnessed the constant failure of disarmament conferences as a member of IPPNW Delegations she initiated a study on attitudes towards nuclear weapons among political decision-makers at the University of Hamburg.
She has conducted numerous workshops and delivered speeches with a special focus on motivating the next generation to get active for nuclear disarmament and is active in promoting the Ban Treaty in Germany.
She served on the board of the German section of IPPNW from 2013 to 2021 and has started the annual IPPNW Summer Camp to protest against the stationing of NATO nuclear weapons in Büchel, Rhineland-Palatinate.
Kati Juva
IPPNW Co-President
Finland
Dr. Juva is a specialist in Neurology and University lecturer in Helsinki University Central Hospital, Division of Psychiatry. Her main topics are memory disorders and neuropsychiatry. She has made research on risk factors and epidemiology on dementia. She has also written and edited textbooks on these fields.
Dr. Juva has been a member of PSR-Finland since its beginning in 1982, has served as the chairperson for 12 years and is currently the chair of its peace group. She is the other coordinator of ICAN Finland network. She has written articles and blogs about NATO, nuclear weapons and Finland’s position as a new member of the Nuclear Alliance and articles about deterrence and its unsteadiness, and about the war in Ukraine. She has also written a book about her grandfather, who was a surgeon during WWII and organiser of services for war invalids in Finland.
Dr. Juva is a deputy city counsellor (Green party) in the city of Helsinki and member of the social welfare-, health- and rescue-committee of Helsinki. Her hobbies are reading fiction and picking mushrooms.
Dr. Juva lives in Helsinki and she has two children (now adults) adopted from Ethiopia.
Olga Trushina (Mironova)
IPPNW Co-President
Russia
Olga Trushina (ex. Mironova), MD, PhD, is cardiologist, whose major research interests are myocardial infarction, intensive care 6 acute kidney injury and multidisciplinary approach to the treatment of patients with inflammatory bowel diseases, psoriasis, periodontitis and several others, professor of the chair of Faculty Therapy #1 in Sechenov University since 2022, member of Council of mentors of young scientists of the Department of Medical Sceinces of the Russian Academy of Sciences. She has been working as a cardiologist in the acute cardiac care department in Russian Cardiology Research and Production Complex, founded by her grandfather, Eugene Chazov, for many years. Olga Trushina is a the President of Moscow Scientific Society of Cardiology and speaks English, French, Spanish and Russian languages. Past Russia/CIS Regional Vice-president.
The major scope of work now is to find opportunity for friendly and open dialog between countries by means of scientific diplomacy and especially showing, how it can be done to the students and young doctors promoting peace, healthy lifestyle, well-being, gender equality and effective partnership in achieving these goals. Dr. Trushina is teaching students from Russia and all over the world both in Russian and in English.
International Student Representatives
Namkhai Bayasgalan
International Student Representative
Mongolia
Namkhai Bayasgalan joined the IPPNW student movement in 2019 and has served as the student representative of the Mongolian Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (MPPNW). Over the years, he has organized and participated in national and international projects, including CRANE, NEUTRON, and collaborative activities with student affiliates in Japan, the Philippines, and Hong Kong.
He is currently pursuing a PhD at Hiroshima University in the Phoenix Leader Education Program for Radiation Disaster Medicine, where he studies the biological effects of radiation and the role of physicians in responding to radiation disaster response. Living and studying in Hiroshima has strengthened his personal commitment to peace and nuclear disarmament.
As International Student Representative, Namkhai aims to build stronger bridges between national affiliates, amplify regional voices, and connect scientific perspectives with advocacy for a world free of nuclear weapons.
Anna Khouri
International Student Representative
Germany
Anna Khouri, a 6th-year medical student and MD candidate based in Berlin with Syrian roots, has been appointed as one of the new International Student Representatives (ISR) for the IPPNW.
Anna’s journey with IPPNW began in 2022, sparked by the Peace Academy in Germany and the student group at her university. Since then, she has quickly become a deeply engaged member of the IPPNW community. She served for two years as the German Student Representative and attended two European Regional Meetings, culminating in her election as a Regional Representative at the latest meeting in Geneva.
Anna has actively worked on a diverse range of critical issues: from addressing deportations from hospitals in Germany and advocating for climate justice and nuclear disarmament, to focusing on the challenges facing the Palestinian healthcare system. Furthermore, she was instrumental in organizing the annual German student meeting and in strengthening connections between student groups across Germany and Europe. Her commitment also included participation in IPPNW Germany’s “Practice and Engage” program, which involved working with an NGO and a two-month stay in Greece in 2023.
The World Congress in Nagasaki in 2025 was her first global IPPNW event, a moving experience that solidified her sense of belonging to this international community of peacemakers. As an ISR, Anna aims to enhance communication and mentorship among the international chapters and with other student-led movements and organizations, helping students navigate their challenges and maximize their growth.
“I have been deeply moved and inspired by the global community of medical students. Listening to their visions, hopes, and efforts for peace has ignited my desire to represent them. I am incredibly honored to serve and learn from you all.”
Regional Vice Presidents
Dennis Opondo
Regional Vice President (Africa)
<Deputy Board Chair
Kenya
Dr Dennis Opondo is a medical doctor and public health specialist shaping the future of humanitarian health delivery in Kenya. He works as a Health Manager at the Kenya Red Cross Society’s Kalobeyei Refugee Operation, where he leads transformative, community-centred health interventions for over 80,000 forcibly displaced persons from Sudan, South Sudan, the DRC, Burundi, Somalia, and other countries, as well as the marginalized host community of Turkana in Northern Kenya. He has previously worked in HIV programs targeting key populations living with HIV in Nairobi and Kajiado County, Kenya, with a successful presentation on the impacts of climate change and conflict on HIV care and treatment at the International AIDS Society conference and other forums.
Dennis joined IPPNW in his second year of medical school after successfully participating in Medical Peace Work, later serving as Deputy Chair of the Medical Student for Social Responsibility. He has also attended the IPPNW Global Health Summer School in Berlin. He is the immediate former president of the Association of Physicians for Social Responsibility (APMSR) in Kenya. He has represented IPPNW at the UN Climate Conferences (COP29) and the 2024 UN Civil Society Conference. He is an inaugural member of the IPPNW’s International Council and Climate Working Group and has contributed to IPPNW articles and blogs.
Dennis also serves as an emerging leader of the Pegasus Institute of Peace, Global Health & Sustainability. He is passionate about mentoring students and young professionals through local, regional, and international forums, including IFMSA, Medical Peace Work (MPW), the Horn of Africa Institute of Peace and Security, the Pegasus Institute, McGill’s Summer Institute of Global Health, and the Global Health Summer School Berlin. He sits on the boards of various grassroots organizations and believes in building resilient health systems that thrive—even in times of crisis.
Connect with me: www.linkedin.com/in/otieno-opondo-md-060284bb
Michael Keem
Regional Vice President (East Asia Pacific)
Australia
Associate Professor Michael Keem is a psychiatrist currently based in Melbourne, Australia. He became involved in humanitarian and peace advocacy during his university studies and has been an active member of Medical Association for Prevention of War (MAPW), Australia’s IPPNW affiliate, since joining as a medical student in 2014. Michael has been actively involved in medical education and teaching since 2010, and is currently an adjunct associate professor at Monash University. He is a state coordinator and the national secretary of MAPW, and was appointed co-regional vice-president for the East Asia Pacific region, IPPNW since 2021. He currently works in neuropsychiatry and psychogeriatrics. His clinical and research interests further include the neurosciences, public mental health, and the psychotherapies.
Satoshi Tashiro
Regional Vice President (East Asia Pacific)
Japan
Dr. Tashiro is Professor and Director of Research Institute for Radiation Biology and Medicine (RIRBM), Hiroshima University.
He had been to Fukushima just after the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident as a member of the radiation emergency medicine team dispatched from Hiroshima University. He took part in the operation to measure the radioactivity of the thyroid in children there.
Dr. Tashiro graduated from Hiroshima University Medical School and majored in pediatrics. He obtained his Ph.D from Hiroshima University. His main research interests in radiation biology are the mechanisms of chromosome abnormalities including those observed in A-bomb survivors. He is serving as a Vice President of the Japan Radiation Research Society.
He has been a member of JPPNW since 2011 and Secretary General of JPPNW since 2020. He was appointed Regional Vice President (East Asia Pacific Region) of IPPNW and Board Member in 2021.
Marianne Begemann
Regional Vice President (Europe)
Netherlands
My career started in the seventies as a veterinarian (University of Utrecht) working for the World Food and Agriculture Organization. I started working in public health care and specialized in Youth Health Care and vaccination programs.
In 1989 I started to work for the Medical Examination Group (MOG) of Amnesty International Netherlands. I conducted research on the Dutch government’s procedures for requests of Asylum Seekers, and advised the government about the acceptability of the cultural and gender aspects in the Dutch approach. We developed special new methods of how to examine an asylum seeker as a counterbalance against the procedures of the official Dutch immigration office based on medical research and examination facts and tests. I became Chair of the Medical Profession Group of Amnesty International Netherlands.
In 1992, I was a Board member of the JWS foundation, an affiliate of the IFHHRO. I specialized in Health and Human Rights through educations programs by the first UN Rapporteur on the Right to the Highest Attainable Standard of health, Paul Hunt(University of Essex). Setting up education programs on the Right to Health, giving lectures on the Universities about Human rights and global Health, setting up research partner projects ( a.o. doctors without borders) on peace building missions, fact finding reports about the immigration procedures of the government.
In 2012, I became a Board member of NVMP (secretary), setting up education programs for medical schools, global health summer school, and now focusing together with Angelika Claussen, how to involve young people in the IPPNW work to create a new ‘European’ generation who will continue the important work of IPPNW. Our current and future key focuses are;
1) Peace building diplomacy for Ukraine, no first use principle.
2) Promoting the participating of medical students as well from within as outside Europe to the global health summer school in Berlin. And to look for chances to create a broader network of IPPNW European medical students and young doctors and health care students. We work close together with the European students representatives and support them to build up their networks and activities .
3) As former NVMP co-founder , partner and co-author of the Medical Peace Work project (MPW)(Leonardo da Vinci foundation from 2004-2008 and the Erasmus foundation 2008-2012, we as RVP’s Europe will work together with the German IPPNW affiliate, the GLO and hopefully some European affiliates, to update the MPW and to disseminate the MPW courses in other institutions.
Angelika Claussen
Regional Vice President (Europe)
Germany
Dr. Angelika Claussen is a specialist in psychiatry and psychotherapy, and has a Masters degree in Peace Studies. Angelika has been active in IPPNW-Germany since 1981, and was a board member of the German affiliate from 1997-2011. Since 2023 she holds the positon of being the Co-chair of the German affiliate of IPPNW. She has been European regional vice-president of IPPNW since 2014. Since 2019 she represents IPPNW Germany in the newly built German coalition “Rethinking security: from military to civil security towards 2040”, where she implements the link between the two major threats of the 21st century: nuclear weapons and climate change.
As part of her IPPNW work, Angelika specializes in radiation health effects and low-level radiation effects. She is the co-author of IPPNW reports on “The health effects of uranium weapons,” “30 years living with Chernobyl—5 years living with Fukushima,” and ”Nuclear power powers the bomb” (papers available on the IPPNW-Europe website). Angelika has also made medical peace work a priority, and is the author of “Peace through health as a modern approach of constructive pacifism.” She has been active in human rights work with refugees from war regions, especially in Iraq and Turkey, and has traveled to Iraq, Kurdistan, and Turkey, monitoring trials of medical human rights defenders, visiting refugee camps, and providing trauma therapy for torture victims and war refugees.
Jorge Landetta
Regional Vice President (Latin America)
Mexico
Dr. Landetta-Garcia Jorge graduated from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). He specialized in General Surgery and subspecialty in advanced laparoscopy from UNAM. He has 2 master’s degrees in administration of hospitals and health institutions from the Universidad de La Salle and the Universidad del Valle de México. Professor of Surgery in the UNAM, Faculty of Medicine undergraduate course.
Active member of several Medical societies, including a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons and other General Surgery associations in Mexico.
Currently working as a surgeon in charge and General Director of the GEMSI private medicine hospital.
He has been a member of the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW Nobel Peace Prize 1995) since 1993 helping to organize the congress in Mexico. He attended the congress in India in 2008, participating with the region. Currently participating uninterruptedly since 2008. His areas of interest are education, research, health and prevention.
Robert Gould
Regional Vice President (North America)
United States of America
Robert M. Gould, MD graduated from Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and from 1981 until 2012 worked as a Pathologist at Kaiser Hospital in San Jose. Since 2012 Bob has served as an Associate Adjunct Professor in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences at the UCSF School of Medicine, working within the UCSF Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment (PRHE). Bob served on the National Board of IPPNW’s US affiliate, Physicians for Social Responsibility from 1993-2023, and served two terms as President, in 2003 and 2014. Bob has also been President of the San Francisco Bay Area Chapter of PSR since 1989. Since 1986, Bob has been a leader of the Peace Caucus of the American Public Health Association, and, in 2009, received the APHA’s prestigious Sidel-Levy Peace Award. Bob is an expert on the environmental and public health impacts of nuclear weapons and contributed to chapters on the health impacts of nuclear weapons and nuclear terrorism in “War and Public Health” (2008) and “Terrorism and Public Health” (2011) published by Oxford University Press.
Tim Takaro
Regional Vice President (North America)
Canada
Dr. Takaro is a physician-scientist trained in internal medicine, occupational and environmental medicine, public health and toxicology. He has been a member of IPPNW since 1983, first in US and now Canada. His research has focused on the links between human exposures and disease, and determining effective public health based preventive solutions to such risks. As an emeritus professor at Simon Fraser University, this includes the planetary health impacts of resource extraction and future conflict. With immense gratitude to the First Peoples, he is beginning to use Indigenous knowledge to relearn environmental health as he tests different interventions for climate action and planet protection. This collaboration and the failure to stop Canada’s Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project using the standard academic public health approaches of education and advocacy, Dr. Takaro led the direct-action group, Protect the Planet into the trees to block construction, resulting in his incarceration in June 2022. He continues to fight new fossil and nuclear energy projects.
Kirill Zykov
Regional Vice President (Russia/CIS)
Russia
Picture and bio coming soon.
Asoka Hetiarachchi
Regional Vice President (South Asia)
Sri Lanka
Dr. Asoka Hettiarachchi, MBBS (Sri Lanka), Dip. in Psychiatry (PGIM-Colombo), is a highly respected Psychiatrist specializing in Alcohol and Substance Addiction. His deep commitment to public health is evidenced by his role as the former Specialist Medical Officer in charge of the first Alcohol Rehabilitation Centre established under the Ministry of Health, Sri Lanka.
International Advocacy and Leadership:
A dedicated activist since his university days, Dr. Hettiarachchi has channeled his passion for civil society into international advocacy. He currently serves as the South Asian Regional Vice President of the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW).
His involvement with IPPNW began in 2002 after attending a regional conference in New Delhi, following an invitation from Dr. Arun Mitra of the Indian Doctors for Peace and Development (IDPD). Dr. Hettiarachchi was instrumental in forming the IPPNW affiliate in Sri Lanka in 2002, known as the Sri Lankan Doctors for Peace and Development (SDPD).
Regional Collaboration:
Demonstrating strong regional leadership, he successfully organized a South Asian Regional Conference in Kandy, Sri Lanka, in 2005, bringing together delegates from India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, and Sri Lanka to collaborate on critical issues.
Since 2002, Dr. Hettiarachchi has been actively involved in campaigning, lobbying, and education to raise awareness of the devastating Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons, including their climatic and social consequences should they be detonated, whether accidentally or intentionally.
At-Large Members
Ira Helfand
United States of America
Dr. Ira Helfand is a member of the International Steering Group of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapon (ICAN) and is a co-Founder and Past President of Physicians for Social Responsibility, IPPNW’s US affiliate.
He represented ICAN at historic intergovernmental meetings to address the humanitarian impacts of nuclear war and at key United Nations assemblies that led to the successful negotiation of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
The recipient of numerous leadership awards, Dr. Helfand has published studies on the medical consequences of nuclear war in the New England Journal of Medicine, the British Medical Journal, the Lancet and the World Medical Journal, and has delivered countless lectures around the world on the health effects of nuclear weapons. He represented PSR and IPPNW at the Nobel ceremonies in Oslo in December 2009, honoring President Obama, and presented their new report, Nuclear Famine: One Billion People at Risk, at the Nobel Peace Laureates Summit in Chicago in April of 2012. A second edition was released in December of 2013.
Dr. Helfand was educated at Harvard College and the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. He is a former chairman of the Department of Emergency Medicine and President of the Medical Staff at Cooley Dickinson Hospital, and is a retired internist and urgent care physician at Family Care Medical Center in Western Massachusetts.
Tatyana Katkova
Russia
She has authored scientific articles on anesthesia in patients with complicated medical histories and is a long-standing member of the Moscow Society of Anesthesiologists and Resuscitators. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she devoted considerable time to working in intensive care units, focusing on protective artificial ventilation and respiratory support. Currently, she specializes in trauma patients, providing anesthesia for acute heart attacks and strokes, and is working on a patent in regional anesthesia and a PhD dissertation.
She is raising three children. She believes that fostering responsibility, respect, and love for the world around us, as well as nature, is the primary goal of every parent. She believes that the path to an open global dialogue on disarmament and compassion, art in small steps, and fostering responsibility and humanity in childhood is crucial. “After all, if each of us knew how much harm a nuclear war could cause, there would be no one to press the red button.”
Bimal Khadka
United Kingdom / Nepal
Dr. Bimal Khadka is Registrar in Accident and Emergency Medicine in the UK and pursuing M.Sc. in Climate change and Planetary Health from London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, combining frontline clinical expertise with global advocacy for planetary health and nuclear disarmament. He graduated with a partial scholarship as a doctor from B P Koirala Institute of Health Sciences, in Eastern Nepal and was an Oxford scholarship recipient for Clinical Neuroscience.
Dr Khadka joined Physician for Social Responsibility Nepal in his 1st week of medical school, aged 17, as an Activities Coordinator, organized rescue and funds collection during the earthquake in Nepal 2015.
Dr. Khadka was elected as an International IPPNW Student Representative (ISR) in 2014-2017 during 21st IPPNW Congress in Astana, Kazakhstan. During his tenure, he expanded IPPNW student movement with different projects- 1st Pan Asia Youth IPPNW Conference, Nuclear weapons Inheritance Project, Break the chain- Aiming for Prevention, grass root activism in global south, discussion with dialogue makers and collaboration among north and south youth activist. In 2017, he also coordinated IPPNW Students congress at York, UK which was preceded by IPPNW Bike Tour from Faslane to York 550 km.
He has also served as Deputy Board Chair (2020-2023), At large member (2023- 2025). He is bridging gap between inter- generational work, global north and south; collaborating with various partners; and exploring on developing consensus on revival and recruitment of IPPNW junior doctors and students movement by creating the roles in a non-partisan federation of national medical groups in over 54 countries, representing tens of thousands of doctors, medical students, other health workers, and concerned citizens who share the common goal of creating a more peaceful and secure world freed from the threat of nuclear annihilation, climate change and armed violence.
Dr. Khadka is also Editorial Board member of Medicine, Conflict and Survival, Medact Journal since 2017 and member at Medact Nuclear Weapons Group.
Connect with Bimal on Twitter: @drbimalkhadka
Ruth Mitchell
Board Chair
Australia
Dr. Ruth Mitchell is a neurosurgeon and cancer researcher based in Sydney, Australia. She joined IPPNW in her first year of medical school in 2004, and has previously served as International Student Representative, Regional Vice President for South East Asia Pacific, and as Deputy Chair of the Board of IPPNW. As a medical student she participated in the Nuclear Weapons Inheritance Project, including dialogues in China, Russia and the United Kingdom.
Dr. Mitchell has been an active member of the Medical Association of the Prevention of War (Australia) since 2004, and has served as Student Representative and Vice President of that IPPNW affiliate.
She has been involved in the work of the International Campaign for the Prevention of Nuclear War (ICAN) since its inception, and is currently Co-Chair of the Board of ICAN Australia.
Ruth is passionate about strengthening the peace movement around the world and ensuring our work is intentionally anti-racist, feminist, decolonising, and environmentally sustainable.
As an activist doctor, Ruth believes in the power of bearing witness and listening carefully to the stories from the bedside. Centering and amplifying the voices of survivors of both nuclear weapons and small arms is of paramount importance to her.
Connect with Ruth on Twitter: @drruthmitchell
Masiku Phiri
Zambia
Medical Doctor and Transfusion Medicine Physician with over a decade of experience in Zambia’s national blood system. Currently serving as Regional Head in Zambia National Blood Transfusion Service (ZNBTS). Holds a BSc HB, MBChB, and a postgraduate qualification in Management in Transfusion Medicine (Netherlands).
Recognized for strong leadership in health policy, governance, and professional representation.
President of the Zambia Medical Association, with prior service as Secretary General and Chairperson of its Medical Education & Research Board. Actively engaged in research, academia, and health system strengthening.
Key strengths include strategic leadership, policy influence, team building, health systems development, and transfusion medicine expertise.
Shakeel ur Rahman
India
After completing my medical graduation, I earned a Master’s degree in Medical Radio Diagnosis from Patna Medical College Hospital. Based in Patna, a city in eastern India, I have been associated with a not-for-profit clinic for over four decades, providing medical care to more than one million poor and underserved patients.
My association with IPPNW began nearly forty years ago, when I served as Organising Secretary of the founding conference of the Indian chapter. That early experience inspired my enduring belief that doctors and health professionals united for peace can truly shape history.
As General Secretary of the Indian Doctors for Peace and Development (IDPD), IPPNW’s Indian affiliate, I have led campaigns and research on the health and humanitarian impacts of war, violence, and environmental hazards. I directed a study on the adverse health effects of uranium mining on indigenous communities near the Jadugoda mines in eastern India, which was presented at the Royal College of Physicians, London, and the World Uranium Congress in Quebec City, Canada.
As a Board Member-at-Large, I aim to strengthen collaboration among IPPNW affiliates, engage young doctors and students in peace and health initiatives, and amplify voices from the Global South in global disarmament and planetary health dialogues. My commitment remains to advancing IPPNW’s vision of “medicine for peace” through evidence-based advocacy and compassionate action.
Tilman Ruff
Australia
Dr. Tilman Ruff AO is an infectious diseases and public health physician. He is Honorary Principal Fellow in the School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne. Dr. Ruff was a Co-President of IPPNW from 2012 to 2023. He has been active in the Medical Association for Prevention of War (Australia) since 1982 and a past national President; and was South-east Asia Pacific vice-president of IPPNW from 1989-93 and 2010-12. He was a co-founder and founding chair of the governing bodies of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) in Australia and internationally. Dr. Ruff was director of travel medicine at Royal Melbourne Hospital, worked on hepatitis B control, immunisation and maternal and child health in Indonesia and Pacific island countries; and documented the link between nuclear testing and outbreaks of ciguatera fish poisoning in the Pacific. He was Australian Red Cross international medical advisor 1996- 2019 and founding member of the WHO Western Pacific Expert Resource Panel on Hepatitis B Control. In 2012, he was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia “for service to the promotion of peace as an advocate for the abolition of nuclear weapons, and to public health through the promotion of immunisation programs in the South-East Asia – Pacific region” This national honour was upgraded in 2019.
Connect with Tilman on Twitter: @tilmanaruff
Knut Mork Skagen
Norway
Knut Mork Skagen is a child and adolescent psychiatrist based in Trondheim, Norway. His clinical interests are in psychotherapy and the social determinants of mental health, and he serves on the committee for social psychiatry under the Norwegian Psychiatric Association.
Dr. Skagen has been chair of the Norwegian affiliate of IPPNW since 2023, and in 2020 he co-founded the Norwegian Physicians’ Campaign against Climate Change. He works to mobilize the health care community to speak out and act on social and political issues. As a child psychiatrist he is particularly concerned with the impacts of violence, war and climate change on the mental health of young people, and on issues of transgenerational responsibility and justice. Children and adolescents are often among those who suffer most during conflict and crisis, and a crucial part of peace work is creating opportunities for their voices to be heard.
Stella Ziegler
Deputy Board Chair
Germany
Stella Ziegler is a final year medical student and MD Candidate at her University of Charité in Berlin, Germany.
Over the past years, she has gained valuable experience in her recent term as International Student Representative (2023-2025), and previously as the German student representative (2022-2024). Participation in the World Congress in Kenya (2023), the Meetings of States Parties at the UNHQ in New York (2023 + 2025), the World Health Assembly (2024), and other international forums has further motivated her to stay engaged and active in both local and global activism.
Stella has been an activist in several projects concerning human rights, refugee situations, climate crisis/protection and health. Bridging these intersectional dimensions of nuclear war and disarmament has been a core motivation for her work. For IPPNW, Stella has been organising activities with her local group in Berlin, such as podium talks, protests and charity events. A big part of her recent work as ISR has been intergenerational dialogue, as she is passionate about amplifying youth voices from across the globe and collaborating with youth movements whose energy and creativity inspire new pathways for change.
As Board Member, Stella is committed to strengthening IPPNW’s role as a global advocate for peace, justice, and health, while supporting a new generation of leadership to carry this work forward.
Ex-Officio Members
Jans Fromow
Speaker of the International Council
Mexico
Dr. Fromow-Guerra graduated “Summa Cum Laude” from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). He specialized in Ophthalmology and Fellowship in Retina & Vitreous Surgery in the Association for The Prevention of Blindness in Mexico (APEC) and UNAM. Master and Doctor Degree in Medical Sciences and Clinical Research at UNAM. Diploma of Higher Education on Strategic Administration & Business – Iberoamerican University.
Active member of various Mexican ophthalmological and retinal Societies, American Academy of Ophthalmology, Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, European Vitreoretinal Society, Pan-American Association of Ophthalmology, and the American Society of Retina Specialists from which has received an Honor Award en 2006 and Senior Honor Award en 2008.
Dr Fromow-Guerra has published more than 75 published original scientific papers and book chapters. He is currently Chief of the Retina Department and President of the Research Committee at APEC.
He has been an active member of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW Nobel Peace Prize 1985) since 1991 when he started collaborating as a student. Co-Organizer of the first IPPNW world congress in a developing country. He has served as student representative at the Board of Directors (1993-1995) and since 2000 he is an International Councilor of the organization representing the Mexican affiliate. He was elected Vice-president of IPPNW for Latin-American for the 2008-2009 term. His main areas of interest are the effect of arm spent on health and development, small arm injuries and peace education.
Victor Chelashow
Deputy Speaker of the International Council
Kenya
Picture and bio coming soon.
Michael Christ
Executive Director
United States of America
Michael first joined the IPPNW staff in 1988. He served in a variety of roles, including as director of IPPNW’s World Court Project on the legality of nuclear weapons and as program director, before being appointed executive director in 1998. Michael owes his longevity at IPPNW to his deeply held conviction that a focus on the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of nuclear war is the key to eliminating the threat they pose to civilization. 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.” He credits his grade school teacher Betty Jean Padley (1935-2017) for instilling in him a reverence for nature, an appreciation of Quaker values, and an awareness of the injustices inflicted on the first stewards of the land. Michael earned a bachelor of science in environmental economics from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst amidst the dangers of the cold war, further shaping his interest in peace and social justice.