Speakers

Pierre Krähenbühl is Director-General of the International Committee
of the Red Cross (ICRC), a position he assumed in April 2024. As head of
the ICRC’s executive body, he is responsible for steering the
organisation’s global humanitarian activities and its 18,000 staff in more
than 100 countries, with a yearly budget of over USD 2.1 billion.
Mr Krähenbühl has dedicated more than 30 years to the humanitarian sector, including 25 years in
prominent roles at the ICRC in delegations and at headquarters. His previous leadership appointments
at the ICRC include director of operations (2002-2014) and personal adviser to the President of the
ICRC (2000-2002). Mr Krähenbühl also carried out various operational assignments in El Salvador, Peru,
Afghanistan, and Bosnia and Herzegovina (1991-1998); and as head of operations for Central and
South-Eastern Europe, based in Geneva (1998-2000).
Immediately prior to holding the Director-General position, Mr Krähenbühl was secretary-general to
the Assembly at the ICRC (2023-2024). He served as the personal envoy of the ICRC President to China
and head of regional delegation for East Asia (2021-2023). In 2014 he was appointed as
commissioner-general and under-secretary general of the United Nations at UNWRA (2014-2019).
He holds an MA in political science and international relations from the University of Geneva and
Graduate Institute of International Relations.

Anne Bergh assumed the position as Secretary General of the Norwegian Red Cross November 1^st, 2022. Prior to this, she held the position as Director for Global Health, at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, leading the institute’s cluster for global health. Bergh was during 2021 and 2022 also assigned to work in the international department at the Norwegian Ministry of Health and Care Services.

She has held leadership positions in global health at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health since 2007. She has an extensive background from international collaboration, public health and development issues, programme development, strategy formulation and leadership. Between 1997 and 2007 she held various positions in the Norwegian Red Cross and the Red Cross / Red Crescent Movement in Oslo and Geneva, including as adviser to the Standing Commission of the Red Cross and Red Crescent. She has also been engaged as Senior Advisor at the International Law and Policy Institute and had a one-year post as Director of the Armed Forces Museums in Norway. Bergh holds an MA (cand.phil.) in history of religion from the University of Oslo and has senior executive training from the Norwegian Defence University College.

Yasmine Praz Dessimoz is the incoming director of operations for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. She joined the ICRC in 1997 and has since held multiple roles in challenging and conflict-affected countries.
Ms Dessimoz’s career with the ICRC began with assignments as a delegate in Sri Lanka (1998–1999) and Ethiopia (1999–2000). She coordinated programmes for detained individuals in former Yugoslavia (1998–1999) and Ethiopia (2000–2003). She then served as the deputy head of delegation in Iraq (2003–2005) and led operations in Darfur, Sudan (2005–2007).
From 2008, Ms Dessimoz served as the deputy head of operations for western and central Africa and was later appointed as the political adviser to the Office of the Director of Operations. Between 2012 and 2016, she was the regional director for North and West Africa. Her responsibilities in these roles included context analysis, strategy shaping and action definition, priority setting, security and human resources management, and representing the ICRC to various stakeholders.
Following this, she became the director of social welfare at the Hospice Général, Geneva’s public assistance office.
She holds a bachelor’s degree in economic science and an executive master’s degree in international negotiation and policymaking from the Graduate Institute in Geneva.

Tonje Tingberg is an experienced public health professional with expertise in emergency health response, hospital capacity building, and humanitarian health interventions. She currently serves as the Hospital & Surgical Learning and Development Manager at the ICRC, focusing on surgical care in conflict settings. With over 20 years of field experience in over 20 countries, most recently in Syria. Tonje has supported emergency health programs, hospital management, and developed digital health tools for crisis response. Before joining the ICRC, she was the Public Health in Emergencies Coordinator for the Norwegian Red Cross, leading public health response development in collaboration with the IFRC. Tonje holds a master’s in public health from the Norwegian University of Life Sciences and a Master of Clinical Nursing from Flinders University of South Australia. She is committed to improving healthcare delivery in emergencies and strengthening the humanitarian sector’s response capacity.

Hospital Services Programme Coordinator
ICRC

Yves has been working for the ICRC since 2012. He was a hospital administrator and project manager in Afghanistan, Chad and the Democratic Republic of the Congo and a health country director in the Central African Republic, South Sudan, Israel, Palestine and Afghanistan. He is currently based in Geneva as the head of the global hospital programme. Prior to the ICRC, Yves was a member of the board of directors for a general hospital in Antwerp, Belgium, and held other executive positions in the health sector. He has lectured on hospital management at the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences at the University of Antwerp and was a research associate in the Faculty of Medicine at the Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium.

Yves has academic qualifications in medicine, social sciences and gerontology from the Free University in Brussels, Belgium, and in management & health-care policy from the Catholic University in Louvain. He studied public health at the University of Maastricht, the Netherlands, and is an alumnus of the European Health-care Leadership Programme at INSEAD, France.

As Executive Director of WHO’s Health Emergencies Programme, Dr Michael Ryan leads WHO’s response to disease outbreaks, humanitarian crises and other public health emergencies.

At the forefront of managing acute risks to global health for nearly 25 years, Dr Ryan first joined WHO in 1996, within a newly established unit responding to emerging and epidemic disease threats. He has worked in conflict-affected countries across the world and has led WHO’s operational responses to high impact events such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the SARS epidemic. In addition he served as a Senior Advisor on Polio Eradication for the Global Polio Eradication Initiative from 2013 to 2017, deploying to countries in the Middle East.

Dr Ryan is a founding member of the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN), which has aided the response to hundreds of disease outbreaks around the world.

Dr Ryan completed his medical training at the National University of Ireland, Galway, has a Master in Public Health from University College, Dublin, Ireland, and undertook specialist training in communicable disease control at the Health Protection Agency in London, United Kingdom and the European Programme for Intervention Epidemiology Training.

Chief Surgeon
ICRC

Rahul is the ICRC’s chief surgeon. He is a general surgeon with 35 years’ experience. He has been working for the ICRC since 2016, starting with assignments as a field surgeon and later as a regional surgeon for the Near and Middle East. Prior to the ICRC, he worked for nearly 30 years as a surgeon in the UK’s National Health Service in London, where his main areas of clinical and research interests were hepatobiliary surgery and liver transplantation. He is a fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh.

Christian Cardon is currently the Chief spokesperson of the ICRC. He has an extensive experience in humanitarian operations starting 2005 when he joined the movement as a delegate in Côte d’Ivoire. Since then, he alternated between the field and headquarters, holding various positions among which as a Head of Office in Gaza, Head of Mission in Jerusalem and deputy Regional Director for the Near/Middle East and Head of Protection.

 

Dr. Bhavna Chawla started her clinical career in the Indian Army Medical Corps as a medical officer in 2005. She did her post-graduation in General Surgery in the Army Hospital Research & Referral, New Delhi; to become a graded specialist. From being a military surgeon, she evolved into humanitarian contexts when she first started with Doctors Without Borders in 2015 and then with the International Committee of the Red Cross since 2019. She has done 17 deployments so far- 9 with MSF and 8 with the ICRC in various contexts such as South Sudan, Nigeria, Yemen, Syria, Papua New Guinea, Jordan and very recently in Gaza. Her academic interests are aligned with the surgical pathway of practice she has chosen- surgery in resource limited and fragile contexts. She is determined to amalgamate recent clinical advances with the reality of the field.

He is the medical director of the Provincial General Reference Hospital of Bukavu (HPGRB), one of the tertiary hospitals in the country. With over 8 years of experience managing HPGRB, he aims to transform the hospital into a hub of innovation and excellence in patient care and education. Dr. Mulinganya, an obstetrician-gynecologist, has led initiatives that improved operational efficiency, expanded access to specialized services, and integrated technology into clinical practice. Under his leadership, HPGRB has received notable recognition for excellence in healthcare delivery and training. A proponent of medical education, Dr. Mulinganya also teaches at the Faculty of Medicine at the Catholic University of Bukavu, promoting the training of future doctors and specialists.

As a Hospital Management Specialist with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). I am representing part of the hospital team entrusted with overseeing the operations of ICRC supported Hospitals that serve vulnerable populations in different contexts. With over a decade of hands-on experience in the healthcare sector, I have experience in hospital management, project leadership, and operational planning. My career has been dedicated to ensuring that healthcare services, particularly in challenging and resource-constrained environments, are delivered efficiently and effectively. My work spans in various hospital operations, from project management to medical logistics, where I am responsible for contributing towards the management of the essential medical supplies across ICRC-supported hospitals globally. I am passionate in implementing systems that ensure the supported hospitals are not only equipped but also staffed and run with evidence-based standards of care, compliance, and operational excellence. My passion for improving global healthcare systems and my commitment to humanitarian values drive my work, as I continuously strive to build efficient healthcare systems to improve patient outcomes and contribute to the overall betterment of health services in the regions served by the ICRC.

Johan Hornwall is operational manager of Emergo Train System Competence Center in Linköping and a teacher at the Center for Disaster Medicine and Traumatology in Region Östergötland. His background is in logistics and marketing.

Peter Berggren has a PhD and is an associate professor, both in Cognitive science. He is a research coordinator at the Center for Disaster Medicine and Traumatology in Region Östergötland and director of Emergo Train System Competence Center in Linköping. His background is in team cognition, decision-making, simulation, and global health partnerships.

 

Anesthesiologist and ICU intensivist Passionate about transmitting knowledge to serve as many people as possible. Founder of a global TOT (Training of Trainer) program in West Africa in ultrasound-guided Regional Anesthesia. Author of several teaching tools on the transmission of LRA in low-resource settings, and co-author of scientific publications. Involved in the development of tools for ethical and environmentally-friendly LRA practice. Working in partnership with ICRC, MSF, UNITAIR Board member of La Chaîne de l’espoir President of the ADRALE training center (Paris, France)

Senior Anesthesiologist and Consultant,

Dr. Majaliwa Shabani is an experienced anesthesiologist with expertise in anesthesia and intensive care.

Currently a senior anesthesiologist with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Dr. Shabani has held roles at CURE Children’s Hospital (Niger) and participated in humanitarian missions with Doctors Without Borders. His skills include ultrasound-guided regional anesthesia, pediatric anesthesia, point of care ultrasound, and advanced airway management.  Dr. Shabani is a member of the African Federation of societies of regional         anesthesia (AFSRA) and ADRALE. He also teaches regional anesthesia techniques in different African countries contributing to the development of future anesthesiologists.

After completing specialized nursing studies in intensive care and emergency medicine, I had the privilege of practicing in Belgium and Switzerland. In 2005, I redirected my career and joined Laerdal, where I have been working for the past 15 years. This journey allowed me to develop expertise in medical training and simulation by attending numerous courses and supporting projects across various European and African countries. Today, I am responsible for Eastern Europe and English-speaking Africa.

Engineer with 25 years of entrepreneural experience in simulation training software for emergency response. Before joining SimX, Martijn Boosman was founder of XVR incident command simulation software and involved in development of ISEE Hospital, a mass casualty training simulator based on EmergoTrain principles.

Dr. Micaela Serafini, recently elected President of MSF Switzerland, brings over 20 years of experience in global health and humanitarian response, with a career spanning leadership role across MSF and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). She served as Medical Director of MSF Switzerland until 2020 and, from early 2021, led the ICRC Health Unit, overseeing health services for populations affected by war and violence in over 80 countries. A specialist in internal medicine trained in Argentina, Dr. Serafini has committed more than a decade to fieldwork across Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East. Her work encompasses emergency responses, outbreak control, and health system strengthening, always with a focus on addressing health needs and adapting health policies to complex humanitarian settings.

Dr. Esperanza Martinez is a Professor of Practice and Head of Health and Human Security at the Australian National University. She is a medical doctor and general surgeon with a specialization in international public health. Dr. Martinez brings over two decades of experience in global health, humanitarian action, and crisis management, including more than 10 years of direct fieldwork in conflict zones. Her work focuses on translating evidence into practice and policy, with an emphasis on supporting populations facing conditions of vulnerability. She has led global health programs and responses to complex crises for the International Committee of the Red Cross, including the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine armed conflict.

Dr. Hyo-Jeong Kim brings over 20 years of extensive experience in global health leadership, focusing on emergency preparedness, disaster risk management, and health policy development with the World Health Organization (WHO). Since 2018, she has led WHO’s Attacks on Health Care initiative, implementing it in over 22 countries, advocating for protecting health care systems, personnel, and patients in complex humanitarian emergencies. Dr. Kim’s has a Doctorate in Public Health from the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health and Master of Science in Anthropology.

Patrick Youssef joined the ICRC in 2005 and completed different missions in Sudan, Chad,
Iraq and Guantanamo Bay. Between 2010 & 2013, he was the deputy head of operations for
the Near and Middle East covering Yemen, the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Gulf
Cooperation Council. Mr. Youssef was the Head of the delegation in Iraq for more than 2
years, before taking the role of Deputy Regional Director for Africa, where he managed ICRC
operations in the Maghreb, the Sahel region, the Lake Chad basin and West Africa. He is
currently the Regional Director for Africa.
In addition to his field experience, Mr. Youssef worked on specific topics related to the
respect of International Humanitarian Law such as the treatment and judicial guarantees of
persons deprived of freedom, the recruitment of children in armed forces and Transitional
Justice.
Born in 1978, Patrick Youssef has a bachelor’s degree in public law, a Master’s degree in
Diplomacy and Strategic Negotiations from Paris Sud XI, an LLM in International Law in
armed conflicts from Geneva University, a certificate of completion of an Executive Education
on Global Leadership and Public Policy from Harvard Kennedy School as well as a training
certificate from the Oxford Said Business School on ‘’Transformational Leadership’’

Born on December 9, 1978, in Bukavu, he completed his primary and secondary education in Bukavu before pursuing his academic studies at the Catholic University of Bukavu, where he earned a Doctor of Medicine degree. He specialized in Internal Medicine at the University of Kinshasa from 2007 to 2012, including a year (2009-2010) in Belgium at the Saint-Luc University Clinics. After returning to Bukavu, he took on teaching responsibilities in Medicine and developed the Nephrology Service by establishing a functional hemodialysis unit since 2020. In 2021, he obtained his Doctorate in Health Sciences (Nephrology) from the Catholic University of Louvain. By 2023, he was appointed Dean of the faculty at the Catholic University of Bukavu.

MBChB, BSc (Hons), FRCP Edin, Dip Child Health, FRCEM, FRGS

Roger is the ICRC’s adult and paediatric emergency medicine specialist, i.e. the reference person for hospital-based emergency care around the world. He has more than 25 years’ emergency medicine experience, including in humanitarian settings connected to conflict, infectious disease outbreaks and natural disasters. He also has experience building capacity in emergency care and preparedness. He has contributed to a number of WHO working groups, including on mass casualty burns, and is the co-chair of the Global Alliance for Care of the Injured (GACI) Education Working Group. He continues to work part-time in the UK National Health Service as an adult and paediatric emergency medicine specialist.

Sophie has been the ICRC’s chief anaesthetist since 2022. She studied medicine at the University of Basel, Switzerland, and earned a doctorate for her work in fundamental research on immunology. She specializes in both anaesthesiology and internal medicine, and also holds a degree in tropical medicine. Sophie has been working as an anaesthesiologist in Switzerland and France since 2007. Starting in 2017 she also began going on assignments for the ICRC. One of her areas of interest is developing ultrasound locoregional anaesthesia in the field.

Filippo has been working for the ICRC since 2013 in a variety of roles. He has vast experience in places affected by war, violence and other emergencies, such as in Afghanistan, Sierra Leone, Lebanon, South Sudan, Sudan, Nigeria and Latin America. He is known for his strong sense of ethics, reliability and calm in crisis. In October 2023 the ICRC sent him to Gaza to start a hospital project. Filippo is always enthusiastic about promoting education and staff development, including through group facilitation, educational seminars and working on multidisciplinary teams.

Omar is a psychologist with experience in delivering mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) in humanitarian contexts across various countries in the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. Over the years, he had been working with organizations such as Handicap International (HI), Médecins du Monde (MdM), and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). In his career, he has undertaken diverse MHPSS roles, including psychologist, advisor, delegate, program manager, and coordinator. Each position has enriched his understanding and expertise in addressing the MHPSS needs of individuals and communities affected by crises. Currently, Omar is the MHPSS Program Coordinator at the ICRC. In this capacity, he is coordinating the MHPSS programme globally, working closely with a diverse and dedicated team to enhance the quality and reach of ICRC MHPSS services to affected populations.

Catherine Savoy is the ICRC deputy head of health unit in Geneva since April 2023 and since October 2024, is Head of Health ad interim. Previous being in HQ, she completed a field assignment in Democratic of Congo and the Republic of Congo as health coordinator (2020-2023). Catherine joined the ICRC in 2002, and until 2008 she was on fixed-term contract and alternate mission with hospital work in Switzerland or with other organizations. She served many years as health delegate and other functions within the health unit before pursuing her career in coordination positions since 2008, mainly in Africa – CAR, Senegal with regional coverage and DRC.  At the ICRC Headquarters, she worked in the health unit as head of health sector for Africa region between 2016 to June 2020. Catherine was born in Switzerland and graduated in nursing care from Lausanne, with Tropical medicine specialization (Antwerpen). She is holding a master (MAS) on humanitarian action, and certificates (CAS) on humanitarium leadership from Swiss Universities. She completed as well a diploma (DAS) on quality and security of care from Geneva University.

Colonel (Col) Dominique Mayer is a medical doctor with extensive experience in military healthcare and administration. He graduated from the Goethe University of Frankfurt with a degree in Medicine and holds an MBA in Personnel and Organisational Development from the University of Applied Sciences of Ingolstadt and Deggendorf. He has held various roles within the Bundeswehr (German Armed forces), including as a medical officer, division surgeon in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and positions within the Ministry of Defence, the Joint Medical Service Headquarters, and the Bundeswehr Medical Academy. His expertise lies in personnel and organizational development and medical service capability and force development. He serves as the Section Head Medical and Medical Advisor to the International Military Staff at NATO Headquarters in Brussels.

Dr. Benjamin Ingram is a 1999 graduate of the Citadel, the military college of South Carolina. After graduation he worked for two years as a high school teacher and wrestling coach prior to attending the Medical University of South Carolina on military scholarship. He completed Family Medicine residency in 2008, deployed to Iraq in 2009, and then completed a Sports Medicine Fellowship in 2011. The sports medicine training opened the doors to a wide variety of assignments ranging from residency teaching faculty to Brigade Surgeon at West Point, where he also served as a football team physician. His next military assignment took him to Monterey, California where he served as the clinic chief medical officer with medical oversight over the Preservation of the Force and Family (POTFF ) activities in support of SOF attending the Naval Post Graduate School. He’s currently assigned to NATO SOFCOM in Mons, Belgium as the medical advisor, in a multinational multicultural work assignment, where he also serves as the Officer of Primary Responsibility for the Human Performance Program curriculum. He has special interest in return to learn after concussion.

I have been working with Norwegian Red Cross in my current role since 2010, in which my role has been and is to design and lead emergency responses where NorCross is in lead of an Emergency Hospital (Field Hospital). I am also responsible for training of delegates for emergency operations. I have a had number of deployments since 2010, such as Pakistan (floods), Philippines (tropical cyclone), Bangladesh (population movement) and latest Gaza. I have been working closely with ICRC in the process of making the Emergency Hospital fit for purpose for conflict contexts since 2018.

Claire has 30 years’ experience in private sector and humanitarian supply chain management, with proven capability in developing and steering operational and institutional strategic change. She has a successful track record of designing and implementing complex projects including the harmonization and integration of the Norwegian Red Cross Emergency Hospital into ICRC supply chain systems and infrastructure. She has deployed as a logistics coordinator to many of the crisis around the world including the Asian Tsunami, Haiti and Nepal earthquakes and Pakistan floods. Setting up and managing supply chains for the supply and distribution of goods and cash assistance.

Citizen of the D. R. Congo, Fredy ARUNI is an operating theatre (OT) nurse in the Africa regional surgical team based in Nairobi/ Kenya for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Fredy has been working with the ICRC since 2013 and has been deployed in various contexts affected by armed conflict & other situations of violence. He has carried out different missions as OT nurse, head nurse or hospital project manager. He has worked with the ICRC in DR Congo, Niger, Mali, South Sudan, Sudan, Chad, Ethiopia, ILOT/Gaza, and he currently covers Africa region as OT nurse. After his nursing studies, Fredy did also his PgD in acute medicine and he is certified master in humanitarian aid, project and program management, disaster medicine. He supports different courses within the ICRC, such as Basic Emergency care course, surgical team in War, Mass casualty and he is reference métier for OT nurses working with the ICRC.

Professor in Nursing Sciences and International Academic Coordinator at the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Stavanger. She is currently the project leader of the NORHED II project “Implementing simulation- based education in Malawi and Tanzania (2021- 2026). Since 1991 more than 20 assignments as a health professional in the Red Cross Movement mainly for the International Committee of the Red Cross in countries in Asia, Middle East and Africa. Tjoflåt is affiliated with the research centre SHARE (Centre for Resilience in Healthcare).

Susanne Serry, born in Germany in 1963. I did my Nursing Diploma and my specialized Diploma in Operating Theatre Nursing in Germany and holding within ICRC over several years first the Regional position for the NAME region and present the Global position as Operating Theatre Nurse based in Amman/ Jordan. I registered and did all the necessary courses to be a member of the Emergency Response Unit in the German Red Cross. Afterwards I was part of 3 ERU Missions (Sri Lanka, Haiti, Philippines) 2005 I went with the ICRC to my first mission and in parallel I worked as an OT Nurse in Germany and London. Since 2012 I am working full time with the ICRC. Over the years I have been in more then 20 countries in different roles ( Assessment, Teaching Nurse, OT Nurse, Course facilitator, Trainer….) and in my current role, as part of the Hospital Unit in GVA I am working on guidelines and strategies.

A UK based paediatric intensivist, with prior work in East Africa and the Middle East, most recently in Gaza. Co-led the development of a Paediatric Trauma Course based on the Paediatric Blast Injury Manual.

Kotey has worked the past 10 years in Emergency medicine. As a Specialist ER Physician, he has overseen the establishment and running of Emergency departments in two major private hospitals in Accra, Ghana. He has strong interests in Pre-hospital systems design, Humanitarian crisis response and Disaster Medicine and is a self-declared POCUS (Point-of-care ultrasonography) warrior.  He has deployed to the Rafah Field Hospital in Gaza with ICRC.

Plastic surgeon specialised in burns and trauma care. Recently retired Chief Surgeon at the ICRC, previous consultant plastic surgeon and professor of Global Burn Injury Policy and Research and Co Chair WHO EMT Working Group on Burns. Founder Interburns and led development of comprehensive integrated approach to burn care and prevention. Worked in humanitarian sector since 1990, initially with MSF then Interburns, Medical Aid for Palestinians, IDEALS and ICRC and has led training programmes on both Burns in Conflict and Fundamentals of War Surgery in multiple countries as well as direct clinical care of blast and gunshot injuries.

Dibeh’s journey with the ICRC started 2 decades ago in Iraq as an interpreter, then worked as a protection/detention delegate in Iraq and Tunisia. Between 2008 and 2016, she held several positions in communications in Sudan (Darfur), Iraq, Libya then Yemen and as communications head of sector for the NAME region at ICRC headquarters. Between 2016 and 2018, Dibeh was the Head of the Learning & Development unit in Amman covering the training needs of ICRC staff in NAME, EURASIA, Libya and parts of Americas. Dibeh was afterwards the Regional Communication Manager for the ICRC in Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos PDR. In addition, Dibeh was the Deputy Head of Delegation in charge of Operations for the 4 countries from August to December 2020. In January 2021, Dibeh held the position of Head of Movement & Operational Communications in Strategic Communications team at ICRC HQ in Geneva. She managed the comms heads of sectors, provided strategic communication advice to the Regional Management Teams and was the lead on crisis communications as well as on key operational files (Security, Communications for access and acceptance, com with Non-State armed groups, among others.) Dibeh actively supported COM´s training and talent-development objectives for the broad com pool. From June 2022 to March 2023, Dibeh was the Head of Operations Support at the Unit for Relations with Arms Carriers. On 1 July 2024, she took her new role as Head of Internal Communications at the ICRC. Dibeh is Lebanese/Australian. She holds a bachelor’s degree in translation and interpretation from the Faculty of Art and Human Sciences, as well as a degree in political sciences from the Faculty of Law and Political Science, both at the Lebanese University in Lebanon. She speaks Arabic, French, English and Spanish. She is currently pursuing a professional certification in co-active coaching with the Co-Active Training Institute.

David Nott was born in Carmarthen South Wales. His parents moved him to England when he was five and he grew up in the north of England. He went to university to study medicine in St Andrews and Manchester. Whilst rotating through all the specialties as a junior doctor he developed an interest in global surgery. His first mission was with Medecins Sans Frontiers in 1992/1993 when he went to Sarajevo during the Bosnian conflict. Following that mission his interest in war surgery grew exponentially and he spent the next 25 years operating on the front line in many of the ongoing wars. His autobiography ‘War Doctor’ became the Sunday times best seller in 2019 and describes many of his missions to hostile environments, in particularly the devastation in Aleppo in 2013 and 2014.  As the way off harnessing all his knowledge and experience his wife Elly set up the David Nott foundation in 2016. This charity bring surgeons from all over the world to the Royal College of surgeons of England and Edinburgh and where they are trained to be front line humanitarian surgeons. Where surgeons cannot come to the UK then the charity goes to them. Over the past 8 years the charity has been on over 60 missions abroad training well in excess of 2 1/2 thousand doctors.  Indeed, it has trained over 600 Ukrainian surgeons on the front line performing over 16 courses. The hostile environment surgical training course also trains anaesthetist and obstetricians.David continues to be a full-time NHS consultant at Saint Mary’s Hospital Paddington specialising in general surgery, vascular surgery and trauma.

Geoff serves as the Executive Director of the Global Surgery Foundation, in addition to being a senior health advisor to the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR). He has more than 25 years of experience in medical humanitarian and disaster relief work during which he has served as a front-line surgeon in multiple countries and several conflict zones. He has also led disaster response activities, developed strategic programmes and guided organizational and governance reviews and re-structuring. While maintaining a busy surgical practice in Canada, he was the Director of Trauma Services for the North West of Alberta from 2008-16 and the Chair of the Alberta Provincial Trauma Committee from 2014-16, which coordinated an integrated trauma system for Alberta. He has lived in low resource countries with his wife and 3 children, as they worked together with local health care providers to improve access to surgical care in those settings.

Dan Deckelbaum is associate professor at the Divisions of Trauma at the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) and associate member at the School of Population and Global Health. He also serves as Director of Surgical Education and Procedural Skills at the McGill University Simulation Centre. He obtained his subspecialty training in trauma surgery and critical care at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami. During his fellowship he also completed a Masters of Public Health at the University of Miami. In addition to his passion for clinical practice, he has developed an avid interest in global surgery, including disaster preparedness and response. His interest in global health is founded upon on-site clinical experience in government hospitals in East Africa as well as disaster response activities in Somalia, Kenya, Haiti and Nepal. This clinical experience is the basis for ongoing capacity building programs in resource limited settings across the globe.

Vanessa is an emergency physician experienced in supporting countries to strengthen emergency and critical care systems and build clinical capacity in low-resource and humanitarian settings. In her role in Clinical Services and Systems at WHO HQ, Vanessa is leading the coordination and development of WHO’s Establishing Quality Improvement Programmes, including a comprehensive learning program and toolkit designed to support point-of-care quality improvement in health facilities.

 

Julie Barnet has led the People as Partners and Quality Unit at Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) OCG Headquarters in Geneva since October 2021. She supports MSF’s medical and operations teams in enhancing quality of care, patient safety, and quality improvement, ensuring patient-centered care in field operations.

Previously, Julie worked with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) from 2004 to 2021, holding roles such as Hospital Project Management Specialist, Deputy Health Coordinator in Lebanon, and Hospital Project Manager in Tripoli. She has extensive emergency response experience, having contributed to MSF and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation in Yemen, Haiti, Nepal, and other crisis areas.

Trained in Environmental Sciences (MSc ETH), Epidemiology (PhD) and Clinical Tropical Medicine (DTM&H), Prof. Dr. Mirko Winkler leads the Urban Public Health Unit at the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute. His work is oriented towards the interactions between environmental change, social change, sustainable development and public health. He has researched in Africa and South America how the development of large infrastructure projects, such as mining and renewable energy, affects the health of the communities in which they occur. More recently, and in close collaboration with ICRC, he applied the health impact assessment (HIA) approach to the context of protracted conflict in the Gaza Strip.

Morena Bassan as nutritionist has 22 years of experience in nutrition programme in the humanitarian world and 7 as dietician in Italy. She started with ICRC in 2008 working in DRC (North Kivu) as Ecosec delegate/Nutritionist and after she worked as nutritionist delegate in Somalia in 2012 and then from 2017 to 2020. From 2021 up the current position in HQ, Morena worked in Nairobi as ICRC supra-regional nutritionist specialist, covering ten countries in Africa (Burkina Faso, CAR, Chad, DRC, Ethiopia, Mali, Mozambique, South Sudan, Sudan, Somalia) and two in the Middle East (Yemen and Syria). Before to join ICRC and between ICRC field missions, Morena worked for 8 years in DRC as nutritionist programme manager designing and implementing nutrition programme during the emergencies in Ituri and North Kivu regions and 4 years as Health and Nutrition programme manager covering Kenya, Somalia and South Sudan with INGOs.

Katrine Finsnes is a specialist in anesthesiology with a Master in Tropical Medicine and Public Health, and a Master of Disaster Management. She has worked in clinical emergency response both in-hospital and pre-hospital in Australia and Norway, and has had many different clinical roles for different humanitarian organisations across Africa, the Middle East and Asia. Katrine started working for ICRC as medical advisor for the weapon contamination unit, and currently works as the Operations Partner in the Asia Pacific region with the ICRC for Essential Services (economic security, water and habitation, weapon contamination, and healthcare).

After earning my master’s degree in Hydraulics Engineering. Following a few years in the field, with development NGOs, I returned to academia. During my doctoral studies, I delved into Complex Systems Theory and Decision Analysis techniques. Subsequently, I pursued postdoctoral research in Urban Studies. After a period of consulting, on Technological Forecasting and Strategic Planning. In 2008, I became part of Medicines Sans Frontiers (MSF), operationalizing WASH and Public Health Engineering in natural and man-made crisis. In 2014, I transitioned to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), concentrating on how hospitals in resource-limited settings cope with unforeseen, violent events. Later, my focus shifted towards urban environments, specifically addressing the intricacies of planning humanitarian interventions, emphasizing safety and resilience integration. Today, I am based in Geneva, serving as the deputy head of the Analysis & Evidence unit at the ICRC.

Mr Robert Neighbour MSc C.Eng FIET is a Chartered Engineer, a Fellow of the Institution of Engineering & Technology, Founder Director of Partnerships at Diamedica (UK) Ltd. He has undertaken innumerable missions worldwide to install and maintain anaesthetic equipment and train people in its use and maintenance. The company specialises in designing and providing medical equipment suitable for use in harsh environments, areas of limited logistical support and conflict situations. Diamedica supplies customers in over 80 countries worldwide, including to medical and emergency response organisations, NGOs and government departments.

Michael Dayan is the AI4Health Lead at the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), spearheading the integration of artificial intelligence into the organization’s health initiatives. With a health data science-related PhD in Biomedical Engineering from University College London, Michael has over 15 years of experience in data science, analytics, and AI-driven solutions for health. Previously, he worked with leading institutions such as the Mayo Clinic and Weill Cornell Medicine, focusing on innovative applications of data science in healthcare. At ICRC, Michael is instrumental in advancing the Health Chatbot initiative and its integration with the Humanitarian MOOVE evaluation platform, ensuring these tools align with ethical, technical, and operational standards to meet the needs of humanitarian settings. Michael’s expertise in AI, health data, and programming drives transformative solutions that empower clinical staff and enhance decision-making in challenging environments. His commitment to leveraging AI for impactful humanitarian outcomes makes him a key contributor to ICRC’s health innovation efforts.

Kailey Seiler is a global health innovation specialist dedicated to designing implementable digital health tools for diverse health settings. As User-Centered Design Lead at the Laboratory for Intelligent Global Health & Humanitarian Response Technologies, she works at the intersection of technology and health, co-designing large language models (LLMs) and AI-driven solutions with clinicians and humanitarian actors to address critical health and humanitarian challenges. Prior to her current role, Kailey has worked with organizations such as The Global Fund, Desmond Tutu Health Foundation, InnovateHealth Yale, and freelanced for a number of health-tech startups. She holds an MPH from Yale School of Public Health and a Bachelor of Science from the University of Florida. Originally from the Florida Keys, Kailey enjoys returning to her island roots whenever possible.

I am a specialist in general and gastrointestinal surgery with a special interest in trauma and global surgery, colorectal cancer, laparoscopic and pelvic surgery. I work as a global surgeon in the Norwegian Red Cross. I did my PhD work on the vascular supply to the splenic flexure regarding colon cancer surgery. I live in Southern Norway with my wife and three children.

Claudia Truppa is an infectious diseases physician and a trained medical epidemiologist with over 15 years of experience in global health. Her career spans both frontline field deployments and strategic roles in headquarters, working with organizations such as Médecins Sans Frontières, UNICEF, and the International Committee of the Red Cross. She has served in diverse contexts, including Sub-Saharan Africa (Mozambique, South Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo), Central America (El Salvador, Honduras), Southeast Asia (Myanmar), and the Middle East (Jordan, Syria, Yemen, Lebanon). Claudia’s work has focused on implementing health programs addressing critical care needs for vulnerable populations, including primary healthcare, prehospital emergency care, hospital services, physical rehabilitation, and mental health support. Currently, she is a Research Fellow at CRIMEDIM Center for Research and Training in Disaster Medicine, Humanitarian Aid, and Global Health. Her academic focus includes health policy and systems research, with an emphasis on crisis-affected populations and fragile health systems.

Benedikt is currently (since November 2023) unit head of Control and Response Strategies in the Division of Antimicrobial Resistance at World Health Organization (WHO) headquarters in Geneva where is leading WHO’s technical work on antimicrobial stewardship and antimicrobial use surveillance. Between March 2021 and October 2023 Benedikt has been team lead Essential Medicines in the Division of Access to Medicines and Health Products at WHO where he led the development of the WHO AWaRe antibiotic book. Benedikt obtained his medical degree in Munich, Germany in 2001 and then moved to Switzerland to train in infectious diseases. Between 2006 and 2021 he has been working at Geneva University Hospitals as clinician (responsible for the local antimicrobial guidelines and antimicrobial stewardship) and academic researcher. His research focused on antimicrobial resistance, antimicrobial stewardship and appropriate use of medicines in general From 2010 to 2012 he did a research fellowship at the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, USA and in 2012 he also obtained a master’s degree in the Science of Clinical Investigation from the University of Utah.

Rupa Kanapathipillai is an infectious diseases physician and advisor at Medecins Sans Frontieres, currently based in New York. She completed her infectious diseases training in Melbourne, Australia and remains as Senior Medical Staff at Monash Health (Melbourne) where she returns to practice clinical infectious diseases every year. Rupa completed a Diploma in Tropical Medicine and Hygiene from the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, a Masters in Public Health (Epidemiology) from Columbia University, and an editorial fellowship at the New England Journal of Medicine. Rupa first worked with Medecins Sans Frontieres in an HIV project in Malawi in 2008-2009, followed by work in Liberia supporting the Ebola outbreak in 2014. Since 2015, Rupa has focused on antimicrobial stewardship implementation and support in MSF, and now oversees AMS activities in multiple projects ranging from acute trauma and reconstructive surgery in the middle east, to pediatric sepsis in west Africa. She works with colleagues focused on Infection Prevention and Control, microbiology and pharmacy, to ensure a multidisciplinary approach to antimicrobial resistance in these contexts.

Amanda trained as a nurse in Cambridge, UK in 1987 and completed further training as a Theatre Nurse in Norwich, UK before working various roles in operating theatres in Cambridge and London. She undertook her first humanitarian role as a theatre nurse in India in 1991 and Lebanon in 1995 before being seconded in 2002 to the ICRC from the British Red Cross to work in Lokichokkio Hospital, Northern Kenya. Since then, she has worked in many ICRC hospital roles in the field and as a Talent Manager for hospital staff for 2 years in Geneva. More recently, Amanda occupied the post of Chief Nurse in Geneva for 5 years. She is currently a living in Bangkok where she is completing a MSc in Global Health.