Operations Team

Founding President and Convenor

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As the Founding President of the ADN, Nibedita leads the development and implementation of strategy for ADN’s growth, public engagement activities, raises grants, produces the Newsletters, Bulletins, line manages the Operation Team, initiates, and leads novel networks.

Nibedita is a Professor of Risk Management based at the University of Leicester’s School of Business. She was the Programme Director from 2018 to 2024 for the MSc in Risk, Crisis and Disaster Management. Currently, she is the Interim Associate Director of the Institute for Environmental Futures. Nibedita is a social scientist specialising in disaster risk reduction and international development at the interface with public health. She is the author of Caste, Class and Gender in Multiple Disasters (2009, VDM Verlag) and Avoidable Deaths (2017, Springer Nature). Currently, she is working on her third monograph, ‘Avoidable Deaths from the Impact of COVID-19 and Economic Lockdown in India’ (working title). Follow Nibedita on LinkedIn and ResearchGate. For more information, please click here.

Founding President

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As the Founding President of the ADN, Hideyuki works closely with Nibedita for the development of ADN’s strategy and plans and in the delivery of the public engagement activities, manages the poll surveys for knowledge exchange events, IT, conducts research analysis and leads the ADN’s Junior Champion project in Japan.

Hideyuki is an Associate Professor at the Graduate School and Faculty of Societal Safety Sciences, Kansai University in Japan. He is an affiliate member of the Disaster and Development Network (DDN) at Northumbria University, UK. His research interests are in the areas of disaster education, risk communication and Science, Technology and Society (STS). To overcome the conventional disaster education, which involves one-way knowledge transmission from experts on disaster risk reduction (DRR) to non-experts, the definition of disaster education is revisited from both DRR and pedagogical perspectives. He has also served as an advisor of disaster education to several governmental committees. Currently, he is the chairperson of the Osaka Prefectural committee for promoting safety and disaster education.

Follow Hideyuki on LinkedIn and ResearchGate. For more information, please click here.

Activity Coordinator

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Shahidul is responsible for the smooth and effective coordination of ADN activities and lends his support to the organization of events and meetings for ADN.

A practitioner in the fields of public health and disaster management, Shahidul has previously held the position of research manager at icddr,b. He is currently involved in the research activities of an international organization, focusing on women, children, and refugee health in Bangladesh. Shahidul has a history of conducting implementation research and has experience in the administration of maternal and child health programs. He was instrumental in establishing a network of facilities aimed at reducing preventable deaths among mothers, children, and others in the southern region of Bangladesh. Shahidul Hoque holds a Master of Public Health (MPH) degree from the James P. Grant School of Public Health at BRAC University, Bangladesh. Follow Shahid on LinkedIn and ResearchGate.

Activity Coordinator

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Kelly coordinates knowledge-exchange Special Sessions, administratively supports the ADN Country Chapters and resources.

Kelly joined the ADN as an intern in 2023. She is currently an MSc student in Risk, Crisis, and Disaster Management at the University of Leicester. Passionate about natural hazards, she graduated from the University of the Western Cape in 2018 in Applied Geology, then she started an MSc program in Geophysics at the Karlsruhe Institute to further her knowledge of the topics.  She completed a Global Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Pathway online course through the Humanitarian Leadership Academy which increased her interest in raising awareness and building resilience followed by effective disaster recovery response programs.  

Quantitative Research Coordinator

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Krishna Klarke, a national of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, serves as a Risk Analyst at the Caribbean Development Bank in Barbados. He holds an MSc in Risk, Crisis, and Disaster Management from the University of Leicester and an MSc in Risk Management and Financial Regulation from Queen’s University Belfast. Additionally, he earned a BSc in Banking and Finance from the University of the West Indies.

Krishna’s diverse educational background equips him with specialized expertise in managing risks across financial and crisis management domains. At the Caribbean Development Bank, he plays a key role in assessing and mitigating financial and operational risks, ensuring sound management of development projects across the Caribbean.

With his analytical mindset and strategic approach, Krishna contributes significantly to enhancing the bank’s risk framework, supporting its mission of promoting regional growth and stability.

Activity Coordinator/ Research Assistant

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Lasith is Research Assistant on the the drowning data collection project, leading the scoping literature review. As an Activity Coordinator, he coordinates internal meetings and supports Dr. Nibedita Ray-Bennett with ADN resources.

Lasith Dissanayake is a PhD research student in Health at the University of South Wales, UK with research interests in youth mental health, health of vulnerable populations and community engagement and involvement in research. Since 2013, Lasith has been involved in public health research projects conducted in Sri Lanka funded by Medical Research Council & Welcome Trust, UK. He has conducted both literature and systematic reviews for various projects and academic programs in Sri Lanka and the UK.

Global Campaign Coordinator

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Abdullahi collaborates with the Operations Team to initiate and oversee the ADN Chapters. He also lends his support to the execution of the ADN’s IAD4AD Strategy.

Abdullahi is an expert in the field of civil aviation, with 20 years of experience. He possesses a global certification from ACI-ICAO as an Airport Safety Professional (ASP). As the Chief Operations Officer at the airport, he supervises aerodrome operations, safety, and emergency management. He has supported the ADN since 2021 when he joined as an intern. Abdullahi earned an MSc in Risk, Crisis, and Disaster Management from the University of Leicester. He can be found on LinkedIn.

Activity Coordinator

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Lauren supports Dr. Nibedita Ray-Bennett on projects related to snakebites, drowning, first responders, COVID-19 and sexual and reproductive health. As an Activity Coordinator, she coordinates activities related to the Global Campaign: International Awareness Day for Avoidable Deaths and the Country Chapters and Hubs. Additionally Lauren contributes to writing publications and resources with the ADN team.

Lauren has operationally and administratively supported the ADN since 2021. She was based at the ADN India Hub in Odisha for eight months and was awarded a Visiting Fellowship at the Institute of Environmental Futures . She has a Master of Science in Risk, Crisis and Disaster Management from the University of Leicester. Follow Lauren on LinkedIn and ResearchGate.

Knowledge Exchange Public Engagement Coordinator

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Nimra has co-managed and chaired the Special Session webinar Series on Women’s Stories of Survival, Innovation, Resilience and Development and has led hybrid Special Sessions and capacity-building workshops in Pakistan. Additionally, she has engaged with the project ‘Sexual and Reproductive Health Services in Remote and Hard to Reach (H2R) Areas of Bangladesh’.

Nimra is currently studying her Masters in Public Health from Auckland University of Technology (AUT) and her areas of interest is Disaster Risk Management and maternal and newborn deaths. A doctor by profession and having a clinical experience of several years, Nimra has decided to explore the field of public health to better understand the determinants of health and its impacts on the wider community, especially the vulnerable population like women, children, disabled, etc.

Field Research Coordinator

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To oversee the repair and refurbishment of CaSA, create and maintain a network of high-risk groups for snakebites in Burujhari village, map local health facilities, assist with outreach programmes in Burujhari and coordinate and communicate regularly with the ADN India Hub, ADN UK and Japan team.

Before joining ADN, Rajesh worked with the Indian Council of Medical Research as a Research intern for two projects namely, ‘National wide study to estimate incidence, mortality, morbidity, and economic burden due to snakebite in India’

Rajesh is passionate about reducing snakebite deaths in rural Odisha.

He holds Master in Public Health from Utkal University, Odisha.

Follow Rajesh on LinkedIn

Social Media Coordinator

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Anusha manages ADN’s four social media platforms and promotes the IAD4AD global campaign activities and global messages. Anusha supports knowledge-exchange event delivery and impact reporting.

Recently, Anusha was the Head Of Policy Research at Tahafuzpak. Anusha has a Bachelor’s degree in Public Administration from the University of Management and Technology (UMT) in Lahore, Pakistan. There she was President of the student-run Governance Innovation Initiative. Prior to this, Anusha studied at Northeastern Illinois University in Chicago, USA. She has also worked with the NEIU newspaper to bring awareness through her blogs, personal stories and experiences about mental health, individual rights and climate action. Anusha finds contentment in learning, researching and writing to bring about change in her local and global community. Follow Anusha on LinkedIn. 

Research and Enterprise Activity Coordinator

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Shafkat supports the ADN through research bid applications and knowledge-exchange.

Shafkat has over a decade of experience in the public health sector, specializing in child injury prevention, violence prevention, and health system strengthening. He recently earned recognition as an emerging leader in drowning prevention and has actively contributed to the drafting of the National Drowning Prevention Strategy of Bangladesh. Shafkat has a Masters in Public Health from North South University, Bangladesh, and he is currently pursuing a Ph.D. at Bournemouth University, UK. For more details about Shafkat’s professional journey, you can visit his LinkedIn or ResearchGate

ADN Japan Activity Coordinator

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Yuna is a dedicated senior student specializing in English and Japanese pedagogy, with a particular focus on teaching these languages to beginner learners. Currently, she is based in Japan and works primarily under the guidance of Mr. Shiroshita within the Avoidable Death Network (ADN).

In addition to her academic pursuits, Yuna provides Japanese-to-English translation services for Mr. Shiroshita’s projects. She holds a degree from the Faculty of Foreign Language Studies at Kansai University. Yuna’s commitment to her field of study and her proactive approach to her responsibilities are highly commendable.

ADN Japan Activity Coordinator

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Hana is based in Japan and working under the guidance of Dr Hideyuki Shirosita.  Currently, she participates in meetings and does translation work. Also, she assists with creating websites.

Hana is interested in avoidable death from a psychological perspective, which is her major. Also, the effective advertising to expand this network and its impact on people is her another interest.

She holds a degree from the Faculty of Literature (Psychology) at Kansai University and currently she is doing her Master’s degree in Psychology at Kansai University.

Junior Champion Magazine Editor

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Currently pursuing his IB Diploma at Oberoi International School in Mumbai, Arkoneil is a multilingual youth leader fluent in English, Spanish, Hindi, Bengali, and Chinese, with additional skills in Japanese. A passionate coder, he has contributed to education projects for underprivileged children in Dharavi, Mumbai. Since 2020, he has been an active ADN Junior Champion, raising awareness on preventable deaths, and is the Founding Editor of the Junior Champion Magazine. His professional profile is available on LinkedIn.

Junior Champion Magazine Co-Editor and Design Coordinator

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Anushka Konar attends 12^th grade at La Martiniere for Girls School, Kolkata, West Bengal. She has lent her voice and creativity to Junior Champions Magazine. She demonstrates her writing skills and dedication to amplifying youth perspectives. She has completed her 10th-grade board examinations and is pursuing her +2 level education in the science stream. As a part of the Science Club of her school, she has contributed to various magazines and materials published by the Club. Follow her on LinkedIn.

Evidence Synthesis Coordinator

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Winifred gathers and coordinates crucial information from a variety of sources, which are instrumental in project planning and public health initiatives. She lends her methodological expertise to the development of interventions and the systematic synthesis of evidence, which includes the identification of pertinent resources, overseeing evidence screening, data extraction, analysis, and reporting.

As an epidemiologist, Winifred’s interests lie in human displacement, migration, vulnerable populations, health systems, and sustainable interventions. She is an active member of the Health in Internal Displacement Network, contributing to a range of issues in internal displacement settings. Winifred holds a PhD in Epidemiology and Public Health from the University of Nottingham, United Kingdom. She can be found on LinkedIn, ResearchGate, ORCID, and Google Scholar respectively.

Operations Manager

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A Researcher in the School of Business, University of Leicester, UK. As a dedicated and enthusiastic researcher, Denise Corsel has a PhD in Management from the University of Leicester’s School of Business. In the past, she served as an Associate Tutor at Leicester’s Civil Safety and Security Unit. She has previously been awarded a Distinction for a MSc degree in Risk, Crisis and Disaster Management and gained a Private Pilot License. Follow Denise on LinkedIn.

Science Society Interface Researcher

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As the Science Society Interface Researcher, Aditya conducts research to understand how science can be applied at the policy level to minimise disaster deaths. He is the in-house academic editor and disseminates ADN’s work with the press and media.

Aditya Ghosh specialises in human geography, political ecology, development studies, environmental justice, postcolonial studies, media and cultural studies. He won the Chevening from the UK-FCO, DAAD (German academic exchange – Federal government of Germany) and Chancellor’s endowment (Sussex University). He has published “Sustainability conflicts in Coastal India: (2018-SpringerNature https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-319-63892-8), and an edited volume titled, The Tides of Life: Surviving between the margins (Publisher: Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts, Ministry of Culture, Government of India ISBN: 978-81-942224-1-5)

Follow Aditya on Research Gate, LinkedIn, Orcid, Google Scholar and the Thomson Reuters Foundation.    

Administrative Coordinator

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Alex supports the ADN administratively, chairing internal meetings and proofreading outputs.

Alex is a crisis management and international relations expert, who has worked in the UK, Canada and Scandinavia. He has focused on crisis management, climate change, and improving international governmental collaboration in crisis response. He has an MSc in Risk, Crisis and Disaster Management from the University of Leicester, and wrote his dissertation on intergovernmental coordination in international crisis response. Alex has led international crisis response teams in information management, planning, and evacuations in multiple organisations.

Volunteer – Case Station (CaSa) Coordinator and Support Officer

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Adewumi Otonne is a Development Economist and prospective PhD student with a keen interest in early-life exposure to extreme weather events and their long-term impact on young people’s economic outcomes. His research lies at the intersection of climate science and labor market dynamics, utilizing advanced econometric techniques to analyze economic models and forecast trends.

With a Master of Science in Economics from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria, Adewumi has provided consultancy services to public and private organizations across Nigeria, the United Kingdom, and the USA. His expertise spans program design, impact assessment, and capacity building, making him an asset in community-driven initiatives.

As the Case Station (CaSa) Coordinator and Support Officer at ADN, Adewumi leads efforts to develop sustainable solutions for vulnerable communities. His work focuses on enhancing climate resilience, financial inclusion, and social protection through evidence-based strategies.

Follow Atonne on: Google Scholar | ResearchGate | LinkedIn |ORCiD

Junior Champion

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Prarthona Datta is a second-generation racialized youth studying in grade 10 at Central Memorial High School in Calgary, Canada. Her areas of interest include youth actions to build climate change resilience, children’s land-based learning activities, youth-led cross-cultural community gardens, and land-based arts activities (dance, music, and art). 

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Madhulika Sahoo is a distinguished Anthropologist focused on gender and health. She currently serves as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Anthropology and as the Director of Student Welfare and Placement at Kalahandi University, Odisha, India. Her research pursuits include indigenous health, disaster displacement, reproductive health, and digital anthropology. Madhulika was Editor of the book titled ‘Ethnography Research in the Social Sciences’ (2023, Routledge). She earned a PhD in Social Anthropology from the National Institute of Technology Rourkela, India, and an MA in Refugee Studies from the University of East London, UK. Her professional and research profiles are available on LinkedIn, ORCID, and ResearchGate.

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She graduated from University of Calcutta, India with a B.Sc. (Hons) in Geography. She obtained a PhD from the Department of Geography and Applied Geography, University of North Bengal, India. Her research focused on gender geography, population geography and higher education and academia.

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Biswajit Paul is a geographer specialised in geospatial technology. Biswajit holds a PhD in Geography and Applied Geography from the University of North Bengal, India. His professional and research profiles can be found on LinkedIn and ResearchGate, respectively.

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Marina graduated with a Masters in Self-regulated Learning. Marina holds a degree from the Faculty of Foreign Language at Kansai University. Her commitment to her field of study and her proactive approach to her responsibilities are commendable.

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Racheal is a civil engineer by training and a professional in Risk, Crisis, and Disaster Management. Racheal has earned an MSc in Risk, Crisis, and Disaster Management from the University of Leicester, UK. You can connect with her on LinkedIn.

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Maryam is a dedicated professional engaged with the Avoidable Death Network (ADN), where she assists in the Knowledge Exchange Special Session webinars, UNOCHA HNPW activities, and the Reproductive Health Kit project. Her expertise lies at the intersection of public health, crisis management, and health security.

With a strong focus on reducing global disaster deaths and addressing critical gaps in disaster management, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, Maryam actively contributes to ADN’s initiatives. Her medical and crisis management skills are especially valuable in projects tackling issues like snake bites and maternal mortality. Through her work, Maryam aims to enhance emergency response and care delivery in high-risk communities, fostering the development of more effective health interventions and disaster-resilient systems.

Maryam holds a Medical Degree (MD) from Vinnytsya National Medical Memorial University (Pirogov), Ukraine. You can connect with her on LinkedIn.

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Sadia Afrin Sayfa Negaban is a passionate meteorology student dedicated to understanding atmospheric forces and mitigating climate-related hazards. She is currently pursuing her undergraduate studies in meteorology at the University of Dhaka and has completed her O-levels and A-levels at Willes Little Flower School and College.

Sadia is an active contributor to ADN’s Junior Champion Magazine, where she focuses on climate resilience and disaster preparedness. Her commitment aligns with ADN’s mission to reduce preventable disaster-related deaths through innovative approaches, public engagement, and advocacy.

Recognized for her exceptional talents, Sadia has received prestigious awards from the Daily Star and Edexcel and personal recognition from the Prime Minister of Bangladesh. She was honored as the South Asian Meteorological Association (SAMA) Student Champion for Bangladesh in 2024 and secured the runner-up position in Climathon 2024, organized by Genlab. You can connect with her on LinkedIn and Facebook.

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Mohammad Fahimul Islam is a dedicated meteorology student with a passion for disaster management, committed to ADN’s mission of reducing avoidable deaths. His expertise in weather patterns and climate science is instrumental in predicting and mitigating natural disasters, aiding vulnerable communities in building resilience.

Currently, he is pursuing an undergraduate degree in Meteorology at the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh, having successfully completed his SSC and HSC examinations. Fahimul brings his knowledge to ADN’s Junior Champion Magazine, where he educates and inspires youth about disaster preparedness and climate resilience, empowering them to safeguard their lives and livelihoods.

Fahimul’s dedication to meteorology and disaster management drives him to make a significant impact on reducing the effects of climate-related disasters. He is eager to continue contributing to ADN with innovative solutions and strategies that enhance community resilience and save lives. You can connect with him on LinkedIn.

ADN Intern Future Leaders

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Shadrack Ayuk TABE is a passionate humanitarian supply chain professional with expertise in logistics management, focused on operational improvement and cost efficiency. Known for his proactive leadership and problem-solving skills, he uses sound judgment and strategic decision-making to streamline supply chain processes and enhance organizational performance.

As the founder of Building Bridges Cameroon (BBCAM), Shadrack is committed to empowering youth through capacity building, career orientation, and poverty alleviation, helping create job opportunities and reduce avoidable deaths in his community.

He holds an MBA and MPhil from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Kumasi, Ghana, further strengthening his leadership and management capabilities.

As an intern, Shadrack contributes to AND’s global campaign activities in Ghana. You can connect with him on LinkedIn and Facebook.