Official Announcement of Chair and Vice-Chairs of IRDR Scientific Committee
02 August 2024

Recently, IRDR Co-sponsor International Science Council (ISC) announced the appointment of Dr. Alik Ismail-Zadeh as the new Chair of IRDR Scientific Committee, Prof. Christopher Garimoi Orach and Dr. Naxhelli Ruiz-Rivera as the new Vice-Chairs, after announcing the 15 members of the first term of Scientific Committee in IRDR Phase II in June.

Dr. Alik Ismail-Zadeh is Senior Fellow and Research Professor at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Karlsruhe, Germany, promoting international cooperation in Earth and space sciences and in disaster risk reduction. Dr. Christopher Garimoi Orach is a Professor of Community Health, departmental chair of Community Health and Behavioural Sciences, and deputy dean at Makerere University School of Public Health. Dr. Naxhelli Ruiz-Riverais a social scientist at the Institute of Geography, National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM).

The Scientific Committee provides scientific guidance for IRDR to deliver on its mission to mobilize science for the reduction of all types of disaster risk, building resilience and reducing vulnerability by integrating risk science with climate change adaptation and mitigation and sustainable development. 

Related News & Events
28 September 2026
A delegation from the IRDR IPO, led by Executive Director, Prof. Saini Yang, met with key representatives from the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), including the Executive Vice President, Mr. Jason Bell, to discuss discuss possible areas of collaboration at the intersection of disaster risk science, animal welfare, and sustainable development.
23 September 2026
Join the IRDR-ICoE-SEADPRI UKM webinar on 29 September 2026 (10:00 am–12:00 pm Malaysia Time) with IRDR Fellow Prof. Rajib Shaw as he explores how the Sendai Framework's lessons can shape the next generation of DRR and embed "Resilience by Design" into sustainable development beyond 2030.
21 September 2026
The IRDR Special Session at the recently held 16th IDRiM Conference 2026, “Advancing International Collaboration to Foster Integrated Research on Catastrophe Resilience in Megacities”, brought together leading researchers and institutions to address the growing disaster risk in the world's most populous urban centres.
Disclaimer of use | Privacy Policy | Terms of use | Contact us|
Copyright 2023 Integrated Research on Disaster Risk. All rights reserved.
+86 10 8217 8917
Room B713, No.9 Dengzhuangnan Rd., Beijing China 100094