Health | WHO-WMO SERCOM Integrated Health Study Group | Team Members
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Diarmid Campbell-Lendrum
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World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland Diarmid is the co-chair of the study group, and coordinator of the climate change and health program at the World Health Organization (WHO) headquarters. His training is on the ecology of infectious disease and public health, and he has worked on climate change and health for 20 years.
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Juli Trtanj
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National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Climate Programme Office, Washington DC, USA Juli Trtanj (United States of America) the co-chair of the study group. She is the One Health and Integrated Climate and Weather Extremes Research Lead, responsible for developing and implementing the NOAA Health Strategy, This includes coordinating the NOAA One Health Working Group bringing together NOAA data, research, information and actions to inform health decision making. In this role, Juli also co-chairs the US Global Change Research Program, Climate Change and Human Health Group (CCHHG); represents NOAA on the Pandemic Prediction and Forecasting Science and Technology Working Group; and is the Health Lead for the Group on Earth Observations (GEO). Previously she developed and directed NOAA’s Oceans and Human Health Initiative focused on Early Warning Systems, Health Benefits from the Sea, and Graduate Training. She started the first multidisciplinary and multi-partner research program on Climate Variability and Human Health. She has contributed to, reviewed, or edited sections of several IPCC and US National Climate Assessment reports and authored several book chapters and journal articles. She served on the Steering Committee of the USGCRP Climate and Health Assessment. She is directly involved with the World Health Organization (WHO) and other partners in the development of the Integrated Information Systems for heat, cholera and other water-related illnesses. She earned her Master in Environmental Science from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies.
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Craig Sinclair
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Cancer Council Victoria, Australia Craig Sinclair is Head of Cancer Prevention at the Cancer Council Victoria, Australia and has an adjunct appointment as Associate Professor at Queensland University of Technology. He is Director of the World Health Organisation's (WHO) Collaborative Centre for UV Radiation and a member of the World Meteorological Organisation’s (WMO) UV and Ozone Scientific Advisory Group. He has expertise in skin cancer, vitamin D and sun protection and population health approaches to reduce cancer risk. He is an author of over 40 peer reviewed publications including the most recent WHO publication on artificial tanning devices: Public Health Interventions to Manage Sunbeds. In 2010, the United States Environment Protection Agency (EPA) awarded Craig with an EPA Montreal Protocol Award for his substantial contribution to human health protection.
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Peter Berry
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Health Canada, Ottawa, Canada Dr. Peter Berry is a Senior Policy Analyst and Science Advisor to the Director at the Climate Change and Innovation Bureau at Health Canada and Adjunct Assistant Professor at the Interdisciplinary Centre on Climate Change at the University of Waterloo. Since arriving at Health Canada in 1999 he has conducted research in several areas related to climate change including health risks to Canadians, adaptive capacity, health system resilience, health vulnerability assessment and communicating climate change risks to the public. Peter is currently an editor and author for the next national assessment Health of Canadians in a Changing Climate: Advancing our Knowledge for Action being led by Health Canada, to be released in 2021. Among other scientific reports, he contributed to the recently released Global Commission on Adaptation Background Paper: Health System Adaptation to Climate Variability and Change. He is currently developing an online course with colleagues at the University of Waterloo for health sector decision makers on building climate resilient health systems.
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Qiyong Liu
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China Centre for Disease Control, Beijing China Dr Liu, is the chief scientist for climate change and health adaptation at the China Center for Disease Control. In this role, he coordinates a joint team from six noted institutions to assess the health effects of climate change and to research on adaptation strategy and solutions in China and beyond. As the director for WHO CC for Vector Surveillance & Management, he focuses on surveillance, alert and control of vector borne diseases. He is also the Chairman of the Society for Vector Biology and Control, CPMA Editor-in-Chief, Chinese Journal of Vector Biology & Control.
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Roché Mahon
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Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology, Bridgetown, Barbados Dr. Roché Mahon is the Social Science lead for the inter-disciplinary Climate Services programme of the World Meteorological Organization’s Regional Climate Centre for the Caribbean hosted at the Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology (CIMH). In this role, she works with a regional Consortium of climate and sectoral experts to co-design, co-develop and co-deliver tailored climate information products and services for six climate-sensitive sectors in 16 Caribbean countries. Since 2017, Dr. Mahon has been the coordinating coauthor of the quarterly Caribbean Health-Climatic Bulletin co-produced by the CIMH, the Caribbean Public Health Agency and the Pan American Health Organization. More recently, she was nominated by the Caribbean Meteorological Organization to serve as the Focal Point for Integrated Health Services on behalf of the British Caribbean Territories. Roché is a Commonwealth Scholar (2010-2013) who received her Ph.D. in Environmental Management from Lincoln University in Christchurch, New Zealand.
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Reija Ruuhela
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Finnish Meteorological Insitute, Helsinki, Finland Dr. Reija Ruuhela is currently a Senior Climate Expert in the Weather and Climate Impact Research, Finnish Meteorological Institute. As a former head of operational weather and climate services she used to lead several service development projects including health related services. She also served as a coordinator of the national adaptation research programme, and the implementation of the adaptation strategy in Finland. Her research interests include Climate variability and change, Climate risk assessment, Adaptation to climate change, Health impacts of weather and climate, International consulting on capacity building of climate services. She has authored many research articles related to Climate variability and change, Climate risk assessment, Adaptation to climate change, Health impacts of weather and climate, International consulting on capacity building of climate services. She is serving as an editorial member and reviewer of several international journals.
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Andreas Matzarakis
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Research Centre Human Biometeorology of the German Meteorological Service, Freiburg, Germany Prof. Dr. Andreas Matzarakis is leading since August 2015 the Research Center Human Biometeorology of the German Meteorological Service in Freiburg and responsible for the Heat Health Warning System in Germany. Appointed as extraordinary Professor at the University of Freiburg since October 2006. He received a degree in Meteorology in 1989 from the Physics Department, Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich in 1989 and a Ph.D. degree in Meteorology and Climatology from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. From 1995 to 2001 he was a scientific assistant at Meteorological Institute of the Albert-Ludwigs University of Freiburg and earned his habilitation about the "thermal component of the urban climate” in 2001. He is appointed to Professor at the University of Freiburg in October 2006. His research is mainly focused on urban climatology, human-biometeorology, tourism climatology and climate impact research. Several models and tools in applied climatology and biometeorology i.e. RayMan Model, SkyHelios Model and CTIS (Climate-Tourism/Transfer-Information-Scheme) have been developed by him.
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SC Bhan
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India Meteorological Department, New Delhi, India SC Bhan is the Head of Power, Health and Transport Sector Application, India Meteorological Department (IMD), New Delhi. He was previously an operational weather forecaster heading various State, Regional Weather Forecasting Centres and Director (Operations) National Weather Forecasting Centres of IMD. Since 2015 he has worked to develop the Heat-Health Early Warning System of IMD, including integration with national, state and city level Heat Action Plans and stakeholder coordination (National & State Disaster Management Authorities, Central & State Health Departments, Indian Medical association and Red Cross etc). He is a member of National Task Force for preparation of National Guidelines for Prevention and Management of Heat Waves; Heat Action Plans for state & district; Computation of Temperature Thresholds for warnings; and introducing Colour Coded Heat-Health Warning System for Impact Based Forecast system for managing heat related health risks. He is a member of Technical Expert Group (TEG) on Heat and Human Health of Ministry of Health, Government of India. In other sectors, he has established a system for climate services for energy sector for planning, distribution and operation of energy sector, including training and online decision tools for power management operations. He also supports agro-meteorological advisory services to farmers for better managing weather sensitive operations in agriculture.
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David Gikungu |
Kenya Meteorological Department, Nairobi, Kenya
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Kenza Khomsi
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General Directorate of Meteorology, Casablanca, Morocco Dr. Khomsi has been the head of the Air Quality Department within the National Climate Center at the General Directorate of Meteorology in Morocco since March 2016. She earned a PhD in climatology and climate change, a master’s degree in theoretical and applied mechanics and an engineering degree in atmospheric science. She is an advanced mentor, a trainer and a coach. Her research interests revolve around air quality, climate change and their impacts on human health and wellbeing and has led many related researches. She is the WMO focal point for integrated health services in Morocco. She is contributing to the “Africa integrated assessment of air pollution and climate change” led by the Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC) and is a member of the Urban Study Group within the WMO.
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Kyu Rang Kim
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Korea Meteorological Administration, Republic of Korea Dr. Kim is leading the Biometeorology Research team of the National Institute of Meteorological Services (NIMS) of the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) since 2006. His research interest is in heat and cold stress assessment of human, pollen allergy forecast, and agro-meteorology. He is also a member of the Standing Committee on Services for Agriculture. He developed a nation-wide Heat Health Warning System based on Perceived Temperature (PT) and local ensemble forecast to implement an impact-based forecast for heat waves in Korea. PT was first introduced from Germany (DWD) and investigated to represent heat/cold stress of Koreans using climate chamber experiments. PT was far better explaining heat-related mortality and morbidity than ordinary air temperature in Korean cities. He suggests observation of black globe temperature (GT) at standard meteorological stations. Observed GT can be used to calculate radiant temperature, which holds the key component assessing human heat stress. Various types of downscaling methods as well as high resolution (~10 m) GIS data were incorporated to estimate weather conditions including air and radiant temperatures and wind speed at pedestrian height in urban and agricultural areas. Pollen monitoring network in Korea is composed of 12 Burkard samplers and is operational since 1997. He developed forecast models based on deep neural network and statistical models for pollen allergy to be publicly serviced by KMA. Automation of the observational network is his current vision for better accuracy and sustainability of pollen allergy services.
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Yolanda Clewlow
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United Kingdom Met Office Exeter, UK Yolanda Clewlow is the United Kingdom Met Office’s strategic lead for all health-related services, working in close partnership with health-sector partners and academia to ensure delivery of science and services with impact. With over 20 years' experience working in the National Health Service, Yolanda bridges the weather, climate and health communities to help save lives and livelihoods and protect critical infrastructure, contributing to a more resilient nation.
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Judy Omumbo
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The Science for Africa Foundation, Nairobi, Kenya Dr Judith A. Omumbo holds a PhD from Oxford University, an MPH (Hebrew University, Israel) and a Bachelor’s degree in Dentistry (University of Nairobi). She began her career in epidemiology as part of the KEMRI/Welcome Trust Collaborative Programme in Kenya. She undertook DPhil at the University of Oxford in modeling the spatial risks of Plasmodium falciparum in East Africa. At the Institute for Climate and Society (IRI) she served as an Associate Research Scientist with IRI’s Africa Program until 2011. Over the last 15 years she has contributed significantly to the development of the use of maps and Geographic Information Systems to undertake the spatial and temporal distribution of malaria in Kenya and the Greater Horn of Africa. Her research interests continue to involve building the capacity of the health sector in Africa to use climate information effectively for decision- making in the control of climate-sensitive diseases. She serves on the Scientific Advisory Committee of the World Wide Anti-malaria Resistance Network (WWARN), as a technical advisor on malaria international program of the World Health Organization, and the External Technical Advisory Group for AvecNet.
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Marcella Ohira |
Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (IAI), Montevideo, Uruguay
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Madeleine Thomson
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Wellcome Trust, London, UK Madeleine Thomson Ph.D is the senior climate change lead and acting head of the Our Planet Our Health programme at the Wellcome Trust; a politically & financially independent foundation focused on improving the health of everyone by helping great ideas to thrive. The Trust support researchers, policy makers & the public in tackling today’s health challenges including those associated with climate change. Dr Thomson is also a visiting Professor at Lancaster University, UK and an Emeritus professor at Columbia University, New York where she previously held senior research positions at the International Research Institute (IRI) for Climate and Society and the Mailman School of Public Health. While at IRI she served as Director of the WHO Collaborating Centre on Early Warning Systems for Malaria and Other Climate-Sensitive Diseases (including meningococcal meningitis and ZikaV) and was co-chair of the cross Columbia working group on global health security. Originally trained as a field entomologist she spent much of her early career undertaking operational research to support large-scale health interventions in Africa (e.g. the national impregnated bednet programme in The Gambia). She was educated at the University of Sheffield (BSc), Imperial College London (MSc) and the University of Liverpool (PhD).
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Jonathan Abrahams
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Monash University Disaster Resilience Initiative, Melbourne, Australia Jonathan Abrahams is the Director of the Monash University Disaster Resilience Initiative whose research, education, programs and alliances focus on building the resilience of communities and health emergency and disaster risk management *EDRM. From 2008-2022, Jonathan played a leading role at global level on WHO and UN system policies, technical guidance, learning packages and networks related to implementing the Sendai Framework and Health EDRM including safer hospitals, climate change, resilience health systems, community preparedness and WHO’s thematic platform on Health EDRM and the associated Research Network. He supported WHO Regional Offices and Country Offices and partners to strengthen country and community capacities to reduce systemic health risks and impacts of all types of emergencies and disasters. Before joining WHO, Jonathan was the Director of Public Health in Emergencies, Asian Disaster Preparedness Center, Thailand, from 2005-2008; and Emergency Management Australia, AusAID’s Humanitarian and Emergency Response Unit and the health programme of the Australian Department of Veterans' Affairs.
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Sally Edwards
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World Health Organization, Manila, Philippines Sally Edwards is a Regional Advisor on Climate Change and Health in the Climate and Environmental Determinants of Health Unit. She has worked in various capacities looking at the effects of Climate Change on Human Health and her current areas of focus include early warning systems for heatwaves, droughts, and climate sensitive diseases, the initiative on promoting an environmentally responsible and resilient health sector, green procurement and supporting countries of the Region in the area of Climate Change and Health.
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Juan José Castillo |
Pan American Health Organization, Washington DC, USA Juan José Castillo is a Regional Air Quality Advisor at the Pan American Health Organization. He works delivering technical cooperation to health officers in the Americas and the Caribbean to build capacities towards addressing the air pollution burden of disease. Juan has +12 years’ experience in the environmental public health field. He has worked as an Executive Director in international nonprofit organizations, faculty and researcher , and as public officer in transport, environment and health. He has working experience in the private sector. Juan studied Environmental Engineering and holds a master’s degree in environmental management.
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Coleen Vogel |
University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa Coleen Vogel is a Distinguished Professor at the University of the Witwatersrand. She is a climatologist by training but has increasingly worked in the social dimensions of climate change, focusing particularly on climate change adaptation. She currently serves on various local and international boards. She has, for example, chaired and been the vice chair of international global environmental change scientific committees (e.g. IHDP and LUCC and involved in the Earth System Science Programme), groups that preceded the current Future Earth developments. She was also one of the lead contributors to the preparation of the Disaster Management Act in South Africa. She has been Chapter Lead Author and co-author of chapters in the IPCC (4th and 5th assessment reports). She is now also involved as a chapter lead author in the IPBES transformative assessment. She has also received the Burtoni Award for international excellence in adaptation research and received the University of the Witwatersrand Vice Chancellor’s award for excellence in teaching.
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Joy Shumake-Guillemot |
World Meteorological Organization, Geneva, Switzerland Dr. Joy Shumake-Guillemot leads the World Health Organization/World Meteorological Organization Climate and Health Joint Office in Geneva, Switzerland. She is an environmental health scientist and public health practitioner who has worked with WHO, WMO, UNICEF and others to develop public health policy and programming for climate adaptation and risk management. She has extensive field experience in Africa, Asia and Latin America supporting public health and humanitarian assistance programmes. Her current work focuses on enabling WMO and WHO to work together to accelerate the availability, access and use of climate and weather information that can improve public health policy and practice. She plays a leading coordination role for the Health, Environment, and Climate Change Coalition (HECCC) between UN Environment, WHO and WMO. Joy has led several strategic efforts as the lead author of the WHO Operational Framework for Climate Resilient Health Systems, the health strategy for the Global Framework for Climate Services, the Climate Service for Health Guidebook and has contributed to numerous research, policy and technical publications. Joy received her Doctor of Public Health in Environmental Health Sciences from Johns Hopkins University. |
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Rosa von Borries |
World Meteorological Organization, Geneva, Switzerland Rosa von Borries is an Associate Programme Officer at the World Health Organization-World Meteorological Organization Climate and Health Office. Her current work focuses on strengthening collaboration between WHO and WMO to facilitate the use of climate science and services for improved public health policy and practice. She has a background in Medicine and Public Health, with a particular interest in the science-policy interface bringing together cross-sectoral actors and cross-disciplinary efforts to support decision-making for better health protection from climate, weather, and environmental hazards. She has been involved in transdisciplinary endeavours of the Planetary Health Network and the Centre on Climate Change and Planetary Health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), as well as the Planetary Health Alliance. Rosa is passionate about languages speaking fluent English, French, Spanish, German, and basic Portuguese, and Arabic enabling effective communication with a diverse range of actors. |
