Dr Leo van Bergen is a medical historian specialising in the relationship between war and medicine. He has written a couple of books on the Red Cross and a medical history of the first world war which, under the title Suffering, Dying and Medical Care 1914-1918, will be published in English in 2009. He works at the VU Medical Centre in Amsterdam, in the department of medical humanities.

Marion Birch is a nurse and midwife with an MSc in Health Policy, Planning and Finance and qualifications in primary health care, the psychosocial consequences of war for children, and economics. She worked in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia for 15 years principally in the areas of post-conflict health sector rehabilitation, in-service training during conflict, water, sanitation and waste disposal, and support to the public health activities of community organisations and local government. More recently she has worked as a trainer, health advisor and consultant before taking up her present post as director of Medact – an organisation of health professionals challenging the barriers to health caused by the effects of war, poverty and environmental damage.

Sam Engelstad is a Graduate of New York University School of Public Administration. His work has included stints for the World Bank, and the UN in Somalia. He is a feedback instructor for the Do No Harm project.

Dr Klaus Melf is the Peace-Health Project Manager at the University of Tromsø and University Hospital North Norway. He trained in medicine and holds a doctorate in Occupational Medicine and a Master’s Degree in Peace and Conflict Transformation. He has coordinated the Medical Peace Work pilot project from 2005-2008. He is a board member of IPPNW-Norway and member of the IAUP/UN Commission on Disarmament Education, Conflict Resolution and Peace.

Andrew Pinto is a resident physician in Community Medicine at the University of Toronto. He is an active member of Physicians for Global Survival (IPPNW-Canada), and has worked on research related to small arms/light weapons in Uganda and El Salvador.

Michael Rowson is a senior teaching fellow at the Centre for International Health and Development at the UCL Institute of Child Health, where he co-ordinates undergraduate activities. With Klaus Melf, he is editor of the Medical Peace Work textbook. He is a former Executive Director of Medact, the global health charity and was also co-managing editor of Global Health Watch 2005/6.

Dr. Ute Watermann is a German physician and journalist. In 1996 she went to Chiapas, Mexico, as a international medical war observer. From 2001 to 2005 she was the spokeswoman of the German affiliate of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW). Today she works as an assistant researcher for a German member of parliament, with a focus on international health policy.

Chris Willott graduated from the University of Liverpool with a BA and M.Phil in Politics. His M.Phil research examines the impact of national and global policy on poverty and environmental degradation in Mozambique. He went on to work as a writer and editor for the European Union HIV/AIDS programme in developing countries before moving to Nigeria to work as a lecturer in Political Science. He then became course tutor for the undergraduate international health BSc at the University College London. He is currently studying for a PhD at the University of Bath.

Xanthe Hall has worked as the nuclear disarmament campaigner at IPPNW Germany for over 15 years and is based at their office in Berlin, Germany. Xanthe was born in Scotland, grew up in England and studied Drama and Theatre Arts at Birmingham University. She was a member of the West Midlands CND executive committee and worked as a staff member for CND before leaving for West Berlin in 1985. Xanthe is a co-founder of the Abolition 2000 Global Network for the Elimination of Nuclear Weapons in 1995. She also helped found the German Abolition national network - Traegerkreis "Atomwaffen abschaffen". Xanthe is a member of the Executive Committee of Middle Powers Initiative and the Abolition Global Council. Xanthe has a seven year old son.

Dana Rosen worked for the German Affiliate of IPPNW in Berlin in 2006, after finishing her B.A. degree in International Relations at the School of International Studies of the Technical University of Dresden. Before starting her postgraduate studies, she interned with the European Regional Office of the World Health Organization in Copenhagen and worked as a project assistant specializing in reproductive and sexual health for the UNFPA Regional Office for the Pacific. Currently, Dana is finishing her M.A. degree in Conflict, Security and Development (War Studies) at King’s College London. She hopes to gain additional work experience with UNICEF in Sub-Saharan Africa after she graduates and is thinking about pursuing a Public Health degree in the near future.