Honorary, visiting and emeritus staff

David Alexander was Professor of Emergency Planning and Management at UCL Risk & Disaster Reduction until 2025.

David has approximately 480 publications to his name, including 13 books with works translated into French, Italian, German, Portuguese, Japanese, Russian and Arabic. His books include 'Natural disasters', 'Confronting catastrophe', 'Principles of emergency planning and management', 'Recovery from disaster' (co-authored with Ian Davis) and 'How to write an emergency plan'.  

He is the founding editor of the International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, editing roughly 17,000 papers during his career. David is Vice-President and Chair of the Trustees of the Institute of Civil Protection and Emergency Management, the oldest learned society in its field (founded in 1938). He has worked for the Home Office, Government Office for Science, Cabinet Office and the Council of Europe, and acted as Specialist Adviser to the House of Lords Select Committee on Risk Assessment and Risk Planning in 2021. He is currently advising governments in Scotland, Ireland, France, Japan and "a Middle Eastern country". He is a member of the Advisory Board of the UK Alliance for Disaster Research, the Board of Directors of the International Society for Integrated Disaster Risk Management, and Global Advisory Council Member, Institute for Strategic Risk Management. 

David received the Santa Barbara medal of the Italian Volunteer Fire Service and the Distinguished Research Award of the International Society for Integrated Disaster Risk Management (IDRiM) in 2009 and 2013 respectively.

Maureen Fordham PhD is emerita professorial research associate at UCL, emerita professor of gender and disaster resilience at Northumbria University and director of Gender Etc. 

She has been researching disasters (with a strong emphasis on flood hazards) since 1988 and has a particular interest in gender and intersectionality; community-based disaster risk reduction; resilience and vulnerability analysis. 

She focuses on the inclusion/exclusion of a range of marginalised social groups in disaster risk reduction. She is a founding member of the Gender and Disaster Network in 1997 and is the coordinator of its activities.

She has been a governmental advisor at all scales from local, through national, to the regional, and global UN levels. Previously at UCL she was the principal investigator for the GRRIPP project: 'Gender Responsive Resilience and Intersectionality in Policy and Practice (GRRIPP) - Networking Plus Partnering for Resilience’ (2019-2024) a UKRI Collective Fund' award. 

Currently she is the gender adviser for Nordicity on the UNESCO Global Survey on Women, Culture and Emergencies.

Gallur Santorum is a full professor at the Santo Domingo Institute of Technology (INTEC), Coordinator of the Doctorate in Communication and Education in Virtual Environments, and of the Doctorate in Social Sciences at INTEC. Gallur Santorum holds a PhD in Contemporary History (2011, USC, Spain), a PhD in Communication and Information (2017, USC, Spain), a Master's Degree in Contemporary and Latin American History (2009, USC, Spain), a Postgraduate Degree in Education (2008, CAP, USC, Spain), a Master's Degree in Journalism (2017, Spain), the Qualified Teacher Status in Wales and England (2011) and a Degree in Journalism (2008, USC, Spain), as well as a Higher Technician Degree in Artistic Photography (2003, Santiago, Spain).

He has 16 years of experience as a research professor and has published over 220 scientific publications, including articles (over 60 peer-reviewed articles), book chapters, books, and conference presentations, in Spain, Mexico, and the Dominican Republic. Gallur Santorum’s research is interdisciplinary with a particular focus on violence against women, femicide, education, virtual communication, and discrimination. He was a member of the National System of Researchers of Mexico (2013-2020), and he is recognized since 2017 with the categories of Associate Professor, Private University Professor, and Assistant Professor by the ANECA (Spain).In addition, he has taught approximately 10,000 hours of classes in 100 different subjects at the university level in the aforementioned countries, both at the undergraduate and graduate levels. His H-index on Google Scholar is 13 and his i10 index is 16.

John is an interdisciplinary scientist with widespread interests in the generation and application of novel approaches to building resilience to hazardous processes and events. 

His latest substantive position has been as chief scientist at the British Geological Survey, where he has had a particular focus on multi-hazards and resilience. Before taking up this position he was responsible for building transdisciplinary research and partnerships relating to the Resilience to environmental shocks and hazards portfolio of the UK Global Challenges Research Fund. 

Prior to this he was the UK Research Councils risk research champion and before this was natural hazards theme leader at the Natural Environment Research Council. In the latter role, he led the United Nations (UN) Major Group for Science and Technology leading up to the Sendai Framework and co-initiated the UK Disaster Research Group as well as the UK Alliance for Disaster Research. 

He has worked extensively on hazard and risk mitigation in international contexts. He remains an honorary research associate at the British Geological Survey and continues to work with the UN: for instance in revision of the Hazard Information Profiles. 

Honorary fellow

Biraj Adhikari is an interdisciplinary researcher focusing on political ecology and sustainable development.

As an honorary researcher on the Accountable Adaptation project at UCL Risk & Disaster Reduction, he investigates how climate policies are translated from global to national and local realities. 

His work explores the complex interplay of political, ecological, and social factors across multiple scales. Biraj holds a Human Geography and Sustainable Development PhD from the University of Bern, an Environmental Studies MSc from Aalborg University, and a Civil Engineering BEng from Kathmandu University. 

He has experience as both a researcher and a development professional, having worked on poverty alleviation, conservation, and climate change projects in Nepal.

Honorary associate professor

Jailson de Barros Correia is a paediatrician and infectious-disease specialist, and Adjunct Professor at the University of Pernambuco, Brazil. He trained in Paediatrics at the Instituto de Medicina Integral Professor Fernando Figueira (IMIP), completed an MSc in Tropical Paediatrics at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, and earned his PhD in Medicine from the University of Liverpool.

He has held leadership roles in research, policy, and health management, including Director of the Department of Science and Technology at the Brazilian Ministry of Health, Executive Secretary of the National Commission for Research Ethics, and Secretary of Health of Recife (2013–2020), where he coordinated the municipal response to Zika and COVID-19. At IMIP, he founded the Translational Research Laboratory and now serves as International Cooperation Adviser, promoting global collaborations to advance health equity and strengthen resilient health systems. He also teaches at the Faculdade Pernambucana de Saúde, where he coordinates the Executive MBA in Health Management.

Dr Correia has authored more than 50 peer-reviewed papers and 30 books or chapters. His current interests include artificial intelligence, digital health, global child health and equity, innovation in medical education, epidemic intelligence, emergency preparedness and response, and climate adaptation strategies to support disaster risk reduction and resilient health systems.

Honorary Research Fellow

Dr Miwako Kitamura is a researcher–practitioner specialising in gender, disability and socially vulnerable populations in disaster risk reduction (DRR). She is a specially appointed associate professor at Tohoku University’s Startup Incubation Center, where she advances community-centred approaches to inclusive resilience across climate change and global challenges, and develops technology-enabled solutions for social innovation and incubation. Her trajectory was shaped by volunteering during the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, prompting a transition from professional photography to applied scholarship on social infrastructures, caregiving and equitable recovery.

As a senior fellow (non-resident) at Sasakawa Peace Foundation USA, Dr Kitamura has designed immersive field engagements linking international experts with communities rebuilding after the 2011 disaster and the 2024 Noto Peninsula Earthquake, translating learning into policy insight. She is a research member of the Japan Forum on International Relations, contributing to women, peace and security and inclusive disaster governance, and serves on the board of Arinomamasha, a disability hospice. She hopes an honorary researcher affiliation with UCL Risk & Disaster Reduction will deepen UK–Japan collaboration, co-develop methodologies, and expand teaching and knowledge exchange on gender-responsive resilience and innovation.

Honorary associate professor

Dr David Novillo Ortiz is Head of Data and Digital Health at the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Europe, where he leads the flagship initiative on digital health and oversees the regional portfolio on data, metrics, and analytics. He brings more than 20 years of international experience at the intersection of digital transformation and public health.

Prior to his current role, Dr Novillo Ortiz led the eHealth programme at WHO’s Regional Office for the Americas (PAHO) from 2010 to 2018. He previously served as Executive Adviser to the Minister of Health in Spain, contributing to national health policy and digital innovation efforts.

He holds both an Information Sciences MSc and PhD from the University Carlos III of Madrid, as well as a Public Health MSc from the University of Bordeaux and the Public University of Navarre. 

In addition to his work at WHO, he serves pro bono as honorary associate professor at UCL and as an adjunct professor of Biomedical Informatics at the University of Utah. In 2022, he was awarded the WHO Director-General’s Award for Excellence in recognition of his contributions to global health. In 2025, he was elected as a fellow of the International Academy of Health Sciences Informatics (IAHSI).