Our Team

Anthony is professor of global health and sustainable development at UCL, co-chair of the Lancet Countdown for climate and health action, and a former director of maternal, child and adolescent health at the World Health Organisation. He is senior adviser to ‘Children in All Policies (CAP-2030), an initiative involving WHO, UNICEF, the Lancet and nine countries, to place children at the centre of national policies to address climate change and the SDG goals.

Marina is the Executive Director of the Lancet Countdown, and climate change and health researcher at UCL. She trained as a clinical biochemist in the Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina, and holds a PhD in biomedical sciences from the University of Cambridge, UK. Her research background spans from toxicology through to environmental health and climate change, and she has previously carried out her research in the Instituto Tecnologico de Buenos Aires, the University of Cambridge, and the Francis Crick Institute. Working as a consultant for the NHS, she led a team of researchers in developing its Net Zero commitments, and is a member of the working group on health co-benefits in climate change mitigation policies of Italy's Superior Health Council.

Megan is a Neuroscientist with a PhD from King’s College London and has previously carried out research on a rare, inherited childhood disease, epilepsy, and dementia. Prior to working at the Lancet Countdown, she worked on dementia-related projects both nationally and internationally with a particular focus on engaging and supporting Early Career Researchers.

Vesna studied molecular biology and genetics at the University of Belgrade, followed by an MA in Dance Studies at the University of Surrey, and a PhD at University of East London. She has managed various European projects and is a member of The International Dance Council CID, UNESCO.

Louis is the Director of Strategic Operations of the Lancet Countdown. In this role, he supports our Board and partners to ensure that our activities translate into systemic change, including through overseeing the strategic alignment between our global and regional programmes. Louis holds a MSc Public Health (Environment and Health) from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and a first-class BA Human Science from the University of Oxford. His prior experience includes public sector management consulting, global health research contributing towards Tanzania’s national sanitation campaign, and most recently founding a climate change and health team within a leading European government-focused technology company.

Hannah is a communications professional with an academic background in political and social sciences. Prior to working at the Lancet Countdown, she worked in communications in the third sector, working for an international, medical, humanitarian organisation.

Maria is a climate change and health researcher. She has studied the impacts of climate change on respiratory and vector-borne diseases and explored the relationships between climate vulnerability, humanitarian aid, and adaptation funding. She holds a Master of Science in Public Health (MSPH) in Environmental Health and Epidemiology from Emory University.

Camile is a policy professional with a background in research and advocacy in a range of subject areas - from Women, Peace and Security to Indigenous education. She holds an MPhil in Multidisciplinary Gender Studies from the University of Cambridge, where she explored feminist and decolonial approaches to tackling climate change.

Claudia is a scientist with a deep interest in the past and future trends of meteorological extremes that pose a threat to human health. Prior to joining the Lancet Countdown Claudia worked at the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) where she focused on the climate and forecast of weather-related health hazards, namely heatwaves. Claudia holds a PhD in Applied Physics from Cardiff University.

Carole is a climate change and health researcher, focusing on adaptation at the individual and government levels. She is currently obtaining her MPH in Global Health from University of Washington. Prior to joining, Carole worked in international forecasting, providing comprehensive literature reviews. She continues to pursue research around climate and societal forecasting, with a current literature database project.

Harry is a climate change and health researcher, with a PhD in energy demand from University College London. He holds degrees in Physics and Applied Mathematics, as well as a Master’s degree in Linguistics. Prior to his PhD Harry worked in energy and climate journalism and occasionally still writes popular science pieces.

Daniel is a Senior Research Associate in energy systems modelling at UCL’s Energy Institute. Daniel is a chartered mechanical engineer with an EngD in techno-economic modelling of energy storage. He previously worked for Corus R,D&T, fuel cell developer CMR Fuel Cells and electrolyser manufacturer ITM Power before joining UCL.

Pete is a sociologist with interests in the diffusion of ideas across socio-material boundaries. He is particularly interested in the cultural preconditions of engagement with climate change. Prior to joining the Lancet Countdown and the University of York, Pete taught sociology at St Mary’s University, London, and the University of Manchester. He has a PhD in Sociology from the University of Manchester.

Stella is an environmental health specialist with a PhD in Epidemiology and Public Health from the University of Basel. Her research areas include household air pollution and water, sanitation and hygiene. She has vast experience in randomized health interventions addressing environmental health problems, and studies generating knowledge about climate change and health in Peru.

Luciana is a biologist with a master's degree in epidemiology from the University Cayetano Heredia in Peru. She is currently communications coordinator at the Lancet Countdown South America and has a great interest in the dissemination of scientific information on climate change and health. Before joining the team, Luciana worked as a researcher at the University Cayetano Heredia.

Camila is a biologist, finishing her master's degree in Climate Studies at Wageningen University and Research. She has a great interest in the impacts of climate change on environmental health and human wellbeing, as well as in climate change adaptation in South America. Before joining the team, Camila worked as a researcher at the EcoHealth and Urban Ecology Lab at Cayetano Heredia University.

Yasna Palmeiro is an Associate Researcher at the Public Policy Center of Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile, and a doctoral researcher at the Institute for Global Health of University College London. Yasna is a registered nurse from the P. Universidad Católica de Chile and holds an MPH from Universidad de Chile and postgraduate diplomas in Biostatistics and Public Policy.

Wenjia Cai is now an associate professor of Global Change Economics in Department of Earth System Science, Tsinghua University. Her main research interests is the evaluation of climate mitigation’s impacts to environment and health. She has published papers in The Lancet Planetary Health, The Lancet, Environmental Science & Technology, Environmental Research Letters, Applied Energy and etc. She is the principal investigator of Lancet Countdown Regional Centre for Asia.

Chi Zhang is now a Professor in Economics and Policy of Energy and the Environment at the School of Management and Economics, Beijing Institute of Technology. Her research areas include climate change and healthy economics, energy economics and sustainable development, environmental economics and management. She has published papers in The Lancet Public Health, Applied Energy, Energy Conversion and Management, among others.

Yibo Ke has a master's degree from the Beijing University of Agriculture and is responsible for communication and administration for the Lancet Countdown Regional Centre for Asia. She has previously worked with the National Institute of Nutrition and Health, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

Xueqin is an energy and climate change modeler with a PhD in environmental economics from Renmin University of China. He has been working on sustainable development impacts assessment of energy system transition, with a special interest in human health co-benefits of carbon mitigation. Xueqin is now working as a postdoctoral researcher at Tsinghua University.

Zhao is a climate change and health impact assessment specialist with a PhD in natural disaster from the Beijing Normal University. Her research areas include heat-related health impact assessment in the background of climate change, the impact of population aging on heat-related mortality in the future, and risk assessment of natural disasters. She is now also working as a postdoctoral associate in Tsinghua University.

Shihui is an energy-economics-health modeler with a Ph.D in environmental science and engineering from Tsinghua University. Her research focuses on the economic, air quality and health impacts of low carbon transitions, as well as incorporating health impacts into policymaking. She is now working as a postdoctoral researcher at Tsinghua University.

Paul is an Associate Professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia. He is an environmental health scientist with expertise in health and climate change, and his main research focus is the impacts of climate change on allergens such as pollen and allergic diseases such as asthma.

Associate Professor Ying Zhang is a senior epidemiologist at the School of Public Health, University of Sydney. Her work has been dedicated to research, education and engagement on climate change and health in Australia and internationally for many years.

Alice is a Public Health Registrar in East of England and an Academic Clinical Fellow at the MRC Epidemiology Unit at the University of Cambridge. As an Australian, prior to heading to the UK to study and work, she studied medicine at the University of Tasmania and worked as a medical doctor in Western Australia and Tasmania.

Rachel Lowe is an ICREA Research Professor, Global Health Resilience Team Leader at the Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC), and Director of the Lancet Countdown in Europe. She also holds a Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin Fellowship at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. She coordinates two Wellcome Trust digital technology, climate, and health projects, HARMONIZE and IDExtremes, which aim to provide robust data and modelling tools to build local resilience against emerging infectious disease threats in climate change hotspots. She is the co-coordinator of the Horizon Europe project IDAlert, which aims to tackle the emergence and transmission of zoonotic pathogens by developing novel indicators and innovative early warning systems to strengthen Europe’s resilience to emerging health threats.

Kim van Daalen is a post-doctoral researcher at the BSC Global Health Resilience team focusing on climate change, infectious disease and gender inequities, and a Lancet Countdown Research Fellow coordinating the Lancet Countdown in Europe with Prof. Lowe. Kim is also an honorary fellow at UCL. She recently finished her PhD as Gates Cambridge Scholar at the University of Cambridge. In 2022 she won the Bill Gates Sr. Prize for outstanding research and leadership, and in 2017 she won a Public Health award for her MPhil in Public Health & Epidemiology. Kim has co-authored multiple publications reflecting her broad research interests at the intersections of environmental epidemiology with climate change, planetary health, and (gender) inequities.

Cathryn Tonne is an Associate Professor at the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), and an environmental epidemiologist focusing on the health effects of air pollution from traffic and household sources. She is also the Co-Director of the Lancet Countdown in Europe and leads the working group focused on mitigation actions and health co-benefits in the Europe collaboration. She is a member of the Expert Working Group on climate change, air pollution, and health within the WHO Technical Advisory Group on Air Pollution and Health. She led the European Research Council funded Cardiovascular Health effects of Air pollution in Telangana, India and is coordinator of CATALYSE, a Horizon Europe project focused on climate change and health.

Prof. Maria Nilsson is a professor in public health with the orientation climate change and health at the department of Epidemiology and Global Health at Umeå University in Sweden; a social scientist who holds a PhD in epidemiology and public health sciences. She is also the Chair of the Lancet Countdown in Europe. She was the integrating editor in the 2015 Lancet Commission on Health and climate change, and co-leads the global working group on adaptation, planning, and resilience for health in the Lancet Countdown. She was awarded a fellowship from the Swedish Institute for Global Health Transformation (SIGHT), under the auspices of the Swedish Royal Academy of Sciences, for global health leadership.

Josep M. Antó is a Senior Research Professor at ISGlobal, a Professor of Medicine at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Spain, and the Co-Chair of the Lancet Countdown in Europe. He is a respiratory physician and epidemiologist whose research has focused on the epidemiology of asthma and COPD with special interest on the environmental determinants and prevention of these diseases. Among other leading positions, he has been the Founding Director of Centre for Research in Environmental Epidemiology (CREAL) (2005-2016) and Founding Scientific Director of ISGlobal (2016-2019). In the past years, he has been increasingly devoted to adapt environmental health strategies to the fight against climate change and to promote the concept of planetary health locally and internationally.