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Scientific Expert Group

Composition: The Scientific Expert Group is composed of experts selected on the basis of their outstanding scientific credentials in a discipline relevant to NIR in biology, epidemiology, physics, bio-physics, or medicine and the ICNIRP work plan tasks. They carry out their work for the Commission on a voluntary basis. In doing so they do not represent either their country of origin or their institute. ICNIRP SEG members are required to declare any personal interests in relation to the activities of ICNIRP. SEG members' declarations of personal interests are available below their profile.

Election: SEG members are elected from nominations by members of the Commission, the Executive Council of the International Radiation Protection Association (IRPA), the IRPA Associate Societies, and national radiation protection agencies following a call for nominations. The election takes place every 4 years in general at the beginning of a new term of office after the IRPA Congress.

Duties: The SEG supports the ICNIRP Commission in fulfilling its mission and specific tasks in the work plan. Depending on their expertise and availability, SEG members are invited to join specific Project Groups set up to cpmplete a work plan item. Within the PG, SEG members participate mostly in the preparation of draft recommendations.

Jacques Abramowicz
SEG Member

Jacques Abramowicz is the Director of Ultrasound Services in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA. He received his medical degree from Sackler Medical School of the Tel Aviv University in Israel in 1975. Following four years in the Israeli Defense Forces, he completed a residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at Sapir Medical Center, Kfar Saba, Israel, an ultrasound fellowship at King’s College Hospital in London, UK, under Prof. Stuart Campbell and a special fellowship in Maternal-Fetal Medicine at the Eastern Virginia Medical School, in Norfolk, Virginia. He is a diplomat of the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology and a fellow of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine (AIUM) and the American Gynecological and Obstetrical Society (AGOS). Jacques Abramowicz has published 175 scientific articles in international peer-reviewed journals as well as over 20 book chapters. He has been a co-editor of several books and the editor of the book “First Trimester Ultrasound-a comprehensive guide”, published in 2015. He has delivered 220 invited lectures to national and international audiences. Prof. Abramowicz is a fellow of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) and was the Chair of its Illinois Section, the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine (AIUM) and the American Gynecological and Obstetrical Society (AGOS). He is the treasurer of the World Federation for Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology (WFUMB) and is the Chair of its Safety Committee. He was on the Board of Governors of AIUM and is a past Chair of its Bioeffects Committee, of which he is a member. He is a member of the Bioeffects and Safety Committee of the International Society of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology (ISUOG) and was its Chair for 8 years, until 2009. He is a founding member of ISUOG’s3D/4D special interest group. In 2011, he gave the William J. Fry memorial lecture at the AIUM Annual meeting (“…significantly contributed, in his or her particular field, to the scientific progress of medical diagnostic ultrasound”) where he was also awarded the Presidential Award for services to the society. He was the recipient of the 2011 March of Dimes Jonas Salk Leadership award. Jacques Abramowicz’s research focuses on the prenatal diagnosis of fetal anomalies, screening and early diagnosis of ovarian cancer, using a chicken model and bioeffects and safety of ultrasound. Jacques Abramowicz was elected Member of the ICNIRP Scientific Expert Group (SEG) in May 2016.

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Declaration of Personal Interest

Anssi Auvinen
SEG Member

Anssi Auvinen has a medical background and has worked in the field of epidemiology with a special interest in health effects of radiation since 1989. His publication record covers roughly 250 articles in scientific journals and his research interests cover both cancer risk and radiation effects on other diseases, and he has conducted studies on electromagnetic fields, as well as ultraviolet radiation. He has been the principal investigator of the Finnish Interphone and COSMOS studies. Prof. Auvinen works currently at the School of Health Sciences, University of Tampere and has also a part-time affiliation at STUK – Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority. His previous employers include the U.S. National Cancer Institute (Maryland, USA), International Agency for Research on Cancer (Lyon, France) and Finnish Cancer Institute. He has served as an invited expert in questions concerning health effects of radiation for several major organizations including the World Health Organization, International Union Against Cancer (UICC), U.S. National Academy of Sciences, Scientific Committee on Emerging and Newly Identified Health Risks (European Commission/DG SANCO), and Swedish Radiation Protection Authority (SSM). Anssi Auvinen was elected Member of the ICNIRP Scientific Expert Group (SEG) in March 2013.

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Declaration of Personal Interest

Christian Cajochen
SEG Member - PG Short Wave Light

Christian Cajochen is heading the Centre for Chronobiology at the University of Basel. He received his PhD in natural sciences from the ETH in Zürich, Switzerland, followed by a 3-y postdoctoral stay at the Harvard Medical School in Boston, USA. His major research interests include investigative work on the influence of light on human cognition, circadian rhythms and sleep, circadian related disturbances in psychiatric disorders, and age-related changes in the circadian regulation of sleep and neurobehavioral performance. He has held a number of honours, has authored more than 200 original papers and reviews in his career. He serves as associate editor for established sleep-related scientific journals and is editor in chief for “Clocks&Sleep”. Christian Cajochen was elected Member of the ICNIRP Scientific Expert Group (SEG) in May 2018.

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Declaration of Personal Interest

Jose Gomez-Tames
SEG Member - PG RF Dosimetry Review

Jose Gomez-Tames is Research Associate Professor in Nagoya Institute of Technology. His research focuses on computational bioelectromagnetics, neural engineering, and their biomedical applications. He received the B.S. degree in electronics engineering from the Institute of Technology of Costa Rica, Cartago, Costa Rica, in 2007 and the M.S and Ph.D. degrees in medical system engineering from Chiba University, Chiba, Japan, in 2012 and 2015. He was a Research Fellow of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science in 2015. Since 2016, he has been a Research Assistant Professor and subsequently Research Associate Professor in Nagoya Institute of Technology. He is working group chairman of the IEEE International Committee on Electromagnetic Safety from 2017. Dr. Gomez-Tames was appointed a Member of the ICNIRP Scientific Expert Group (SEG) in 2018.


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Declaration of Personal Interest

Penny Gowland
SEG Member

Penny Gowland obtained a degree in Astronomy and Physics from University College London in 1985 and then specialised in Medical Physics, completing a PhD in Magnetic Resonance Imaging from the Institute of Cancer Research in 1990. She then moved to the University of Nottingham School of Physics and Astronomy to work in Sir Peter Mansfield’s group, and she has remained there ever since, being given a chair in 2004. Her research focuses on developing quantitative magnetic resonance techniques to answer biomedical questions. She is currently working on developing novel high field methods for neuroscience and neurology. She has also developed the magnetic resonance as a physiological measurement technique and used it to provide new information in gastroenterology in health and disease. Similar techniques have been used to study fetal development. Her work at high field and on fetal development as led her to take a strong interest in the interactions of EMF with the human body, and safety aspects of MRI. She participates in a number of national and international committees. Penny Gowland was elected Member of the ICNIRP Scientific Expert Group (SEG) in March 2013.

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Declaration of Personal Interest

John Hanifin
SEG Member - PG Short Wave Light

John Hanifin is currently a research assistant professor and laboratory director of the Light Research Program at Thomas Jefferson University. He completed his doctoral degree in Biochemical Sciences from the University of Surrey in the U.K.  He has served as project manager for NIH and NASA sponsored research studies and has served on several United States Department of Energy panels examining how solid state lighting can impact human physiology. His research examines the effects of light on the brain, hormones and behavior in humans.  He has contributed to studies of neuroendocrine and circadian regulation relative to light intensity and wavelength.  Using the techniques of radioimmunoassay, performance testing and photobiology, he has explored polychromatic light mixtures of short wavelength light for circadian, neuroendocrine and neurobehavioral effects in humans and has published extensively. Current studies include elucidating the action spectrum of melatonin regulation, studying the influence of light on tumor progression, and testing new smart lighting devices for hospitals and roadways as well as space applications on the International Space Station. John Hanifin was elected Member of the ICNIRP Scientific Expert Group (SEG) in May 2018.

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Declaration of Personal Interest

Jukka Juutilainen
SEG Member

Jukka Juutilainen is Professor of Radiation Biology and Radiation Epidemiology, and Department Head at the Department of Environmental Science of the University of Eastern Finland. His teaching includes generic courses on environmental health and risk assessment, as well as specific courses on non-ionizing and ionizing radiation. His research team conducts multidisciplinary research using all approaches of environmental health research; the projects have included experimental studies using various animal and in vitro models, epidemiological studies and exposure assessment. The main research areas have been assessment of possible developmental and carcinogenic effects of low frequency and RF electromagnetic fields, and combined effects with known carcinogenic/genotoxic agents. Recent research interests include epigenetic effects and genomic instability induced by radiation and other environmental agents. Dr. Juutilainen has coordinated three national research programmes on possible health risks of mobile communication and served as an invited expert in working groups and committees of many international organizations. He also served as an Associate Editor for Electro- and Magnetobiology in 1993-1997 and for Bioelectromagnetics in 1998-2001. Jukka Juutilainen was a member of the ICNIRP Standing Committee on Biology from 2004 until 2012. He was appointed a Member of the ICNIRP Scientific Expert Group (SEG) in March 2013.

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Declaration of Personal Interest

Ken Karipidis
SEG Member, PG Data Gaps

Ken Karipidis is originally a physics graduate from La Trobe University and later completed a PhD in epidemiology at Monash University. He has been working as a scientist at the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA) since 2000. He is currently the assistant director of the Assessment and Advice Section at ARPANSA where he is heavily involved in the scientific and regulatory aspects of radiation protection from electromagnetic radiation sources. He also provides expert advice and information on radiation protection to government, the public and other relevant stakeholders and leads the development of policy initiatives and best practice. He has been a member of various national standard setting committees including the working groups developing the Australian radiofrequency exposure standard and extremely low frequency exposure guidelines. He is currently an advisory board member at the Australian Centre for Electromagnetic Bioeffects Research and is an associate investigator at the Centre for Population Health Research on Electromagnetic Energy. Ken Karipidis joined the ICNIRP SEG in August 2015. Since 2018 he serves as Chair of the PG NIR for Cosmetic Purposes.

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Declaration of Personal Interest

Masami Kojima
SEG Member - PG Laser Pointers

Masami Kojima received his Ph. D. in Medicine from Kanazawa Medical University in 1991. He is a professor of Kanazawa Medical University. He is belonging to 3 departments, Medical Research Institute, Nursing School, and Department of Ophthalmology. He was an Alexander von Humboldt Research Fellow in the department of Experimental Ophthalmology, University of Bonn, Germany from 1988 to 1990. His research interests focus on the mechanisms of cataract development in the lens. Currently he is working in the field of non-ionizing exposure such as ultraviolet, infra-red, and microwave and millimeter wave exposure related ocular damages. He holds many academic honors, such as the International Society of Ocular Toxicology Award (1990), the Japanese Society for Cataract Research Award (1992), International Scheimpflug Club Meeting Award (1993), US-Japan Cooperative Cataract Research Group Meeting Award (1997), Kanazawa Medical University Article Award (1997), and the US-Japan CCRG the Alvira Reddy Award (2007). He has been an ICNIRP Consulting Member from 2001 until 2004. He was elected to the ICNIRP SEG in November 2014.

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Declaration of Personal Interest

Ilkka Laakso
SEG Member - PG RF Dosimetry Review

Ilkka Laakso is Professor of Electromagnetics in Health Technologies at Aalto University, Finland. His research focuses on theoretical and computational bioelectromagnetics at both extremely low and radio frequencies. Special interests are electromagnetic dosimetry for human exposure assessment and biomedical applications of electromagnetic fields. He received the Master degree in electromagnetics and circuit theory from Helsinki University of Technology, Finland, in 2007, and the PhD in electromagnetics from Aalto University, Finland in 2011. He subsequently spent four years in Nagoya Institute of Technology, Japan, as a a postdoctoral researcher, Research Assistant Professor, and Research Associate Professor. He is the secretary of Subcommittee of EMF Dosimetry Modeling of IEEE International Committee on Electromagnetic Safety and a working group chairman. Ilkka Laakso was appointed a Member of the ICNIRP Scientific Expert Group (SEG) in 2016. 

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Declaration of Personal Interest

Isabelle Lagroye
SEG Member

Isabelle Lagroye, PharmD and PhD in Life Sciences, graduated from the Bordeaux II University, France, in 1997. After a post-doctoral position at the Radiation Oncology Center in Dr Roti-Roti's laboratory (Saint-Louis, MO, USA), she has carried out research work at the Bioelectromagnetics group of the IMS laboratory, University of Bordeaux I since 1999. She is also an Associate Professor at the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes (EPHE), France. Her research deals mainly with the toxicological effects of non-invasive electromagnetic fields, investigating genotoxicity, apoptosis, and protein expression in rat brain and cell cultures exposed to mobile telephone signals. She was a member of the ICNIRP Standing Committee on Biology from 2009 until 2012 and was appointed a Member of the ICNIRP Scientific Expert Group (SEG) in March 2013.

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Declaration of Personal Interest

Sarah Loughran
SEG Member - PG Short Wave Light

Sarah Loughran is currently a researcher at the University of Wollongong in the Australian Centre for Electromagnetic Bioeffects Research (ACEBR) human neurophysiology research group, an NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence (CRE). She is also an Associate Investigator in a second NHMRC CRE, Population Health Research on Electromagnetic Energy (PRESEE) based at Monash University in Melbourne. She received degrees in physiology and psychology from Deakin University before completing a PhD in cognitive neuroscience and psychophysiology in 2007 at Swinburne University in Melbourne. She subsequently spent several years as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Zurich, Switzerland, specialising in bioelectromagnetics, sleep, and EEG signal analysis research. During this time she was also accepted as an experienced research fellow in the Marie Curie Training in Sleep and Sleep Medicine initiative. Her research focuses on a wide range of bioelectromagnetic health issues including the effects on sleep, human brain function, and the mechanisms associated with these effects, as well as sleep and cognitive neuroscience research more generally. She is a member of the current World Health Organisation (WHO) RF Environmental Health Criterion evaluation committee, and is on the board of directors for the Bioelectromagnetics Society. Sarah Loughran was appointed a Member of the ICNIRP Scientific Expert Group (SEG) in March 2013.

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Declaration of Personal Interest

Jack Lund
SEG Member

David Jack Lund retired in 2008 after a 46 year career as a research physicist with the US Army Medical Research Command where he studied the effect of laser radiation on ocular tissue and the visual system. His principle focus was in the conduct and analysis of research pertaining to the injurious effect to the retina of laser exposure and the determination of the minimum dose required to produce retinal injury. He has authored /coauthored papers relating the damaging effect of laser irradiation to the parameters of the laser exposure which are highly instructive to the formulation of the current ICNIRP, ANSI, and IEC guidance for calculation of the maximum permissible exposure of the human eye to laser radiation. His research has included studies of the hazards of “eye safe” infrared lasers, experimental studies of the additivity of effect for exposure to repetitive laser pulses yielding empirical methods for assessing the hazards of such exposures, experimental determination of action spectra for the threshold for laser-induced thermal retinal injury and studies of the dependence of the threshold for laser-induced retinal injury on both the duration of the laser exposure and the diameter of the laser-irradiated area on the retina. He serves on ANSI and CIE committees/subcommittees and collaborates with international investigators in the exploration of laser-induced ocular bioeffects. He was an ICNIRP Consulting Expert from 2002 to 2012. He was then elected to join the Scientific Expert Group in 2018. 

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Declaration of Personal Interest

Simon Mann
SEG Member - PG RF Dosimetry Review

Simon Mann heads the Physical Dosimetry Department at Public Health England’s Centre for Radiation, Chemical and Environmental Hazards, and is responsible for programmes of scientific work to develop health-related advice on exposures to electromagnetic fields (EMFs) and optical radiation across the UK. He is a chartered electrical engineer, and received his BSc in Electronics and his DPhil in Electromagnetic Compatibility from the University of York in 1988 and 1993 respectively. His own research focuses on exposure assessments for EMFs, including methods for assessing new sources and situations, and supporting biological and epidemiological studies. Simon was Secretary to the Group, which developed the UK's national advice on limiting exposures to electromagnetic fields and he is Secretary to the independent Advisory Group on Non-ionising Radiation (AGNIR), which prepares reviews of the biological effects of NIR and advises on research priorities. He was a member of the IARC Working Group that evaluated the carcinogenic potential of radiofrequency EMFs in 2011 and he is presently working with WHO to develop its Environmental Health Criteria monograph on radiofrequency fields. Simon is a member of the UK technical standards committee that considers human exposures to EMFs and he has represented the UK at European technical standards meetings and in meetings organised by the EU Commission about EMFs. Simon was  appointed as a member of the ICNIRP Scientific Expert Group (SEG) in January 2015.

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Declaration of Personal Interest

Rüdiger Matthes
SEG Member - PG RF Dosimetry Review

Rüdiger Matthes received his M.E. degree in electronic engineering from the Technical University in Munich. Since 1989 he is Head of the group "Non-Ionizing Radiation (Dosimetry)" at the German Federal Office for Radiation Protection. The interests of this group cover all aspects of NIR protection with the main focus on dosimetry. He has been the Scientific Secretary of ICNIRP since 1993. He has served the Standing Committee on Physics and Engineering (SCIII) as a Chairman from 2004 to 2008. He was elected as Vice-Chair in 2008, as a Chair in 2012 and as Member Emeritus in 2016. Since 2016 he is retired and is now serving the Commission as a SEG member.
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Declaration of Personal Interest

John O'Hagan
SEG Member - PG Laser Pointers, PG Short Wave

John O’Hagan heads the Laser and Optical Radiation Dosimetry Group at Public Health England. This research group covers all aspects of optical radiation dosimetry, including both the beneficial and detrimental effects of optical radiation on people. The group also operates a UV monitoring network across the UK, Eire, Gibraltar and Cyprus. He received his PhD from Loughborough University for research on risks arising from the use of lasers in the entertainment industry. He is a Visiting Professor at Loughborough University where he has organised training courses on laser safety jointly with the University since 1992. He is a Chartered Scientist, a Chartered Physicist and a Chartered Radiation Protection Professional. He is also a Fellow of the Institute of Physics, Laser Institute of America and a Senior Member of SPIE. John is Vice-President Standard of the International Commission on Illumination (CIE), Convenor of the International Electrotechnical Commission Technical Committee 76 “Optical Radiation Safety and Laser Equipment” Working Group 9 “Non coherent sources”, Chairman of the British Standards Committee EPL/76 “Optical Radiation Safety and Laser Equipment” and is a member of a number of other national and international committees. John was appointed a Member of the ICNIRP Scientific Expert Group (SEG) in March 2013.

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Declaration of Personal Interest

Chiyoji Ohkubo
SEG Member

Chiyoji Ohkubo received his PhD in Medicine from the Showa University, School of Medicine in 1982. He worked at the National Institute of Public Health, Ministry of Health Labour and Welfare of Japan as Professor and Director of the Department of Physiological Hygiene until 2002 and Director of the Department of Environmental Health until 2005. After retirement upon his age, he worked as a Scientist at Radiation and Environmental Health, WHO for WHO International EMF Project until 2007 in Geneva. After returning home, he received Professor position at the Department of Environmental Biology, Graduate School of Pharmacy, Meiji Pharmaceutical University until 2008. He is currently Director of the Japan EMF Information Center (JEIC) which was established in July 2008 to facilitate communication on EMF issues among government agencies, industry, the media and the general public. The JEIC is a part of Japan Electrical Safety and Environment Technology Laboratories (JET) that was founded in 1963 as an authorized testing body, designated by the Government of Japan under the Electrical Appliance and Material Control Law. He has been involved in biological research on non-ionising radiation covering Static, ELF, IF and RF electromagnetic fields. He is a chairperson the Committee on the Possible Adverse Health Effects of Radio Frequency Electromagnetic Fields (PARF), Ministry of Internal Affair and Communications of Japan. Chiyoji Ohkubo was appointed a Member of the ICNIRP Scientific Expert Group (SEG) in March 2013.

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Declaration of Personal Interest

Margarethus Paulides
SEG Member - PG RF Dosimetry Review

Margarethus ('Maarten') Paulides obtained his MSc in Electrical Engineering at Eindhoven University in 2002 and his PhD in Medical Electromagnetics at Erasmus University in 2007 (cum laude, the highest honor in NL). Initially, his work at Erasmus Medical Center was focused on the development, clinical implementation and evaluation of an RF hyperthermia applicator to treat cancers of the head and neck. His follow-up work was focused on computer simulation and magnetic resonance (MR) imaging guided thermal interventions. This work involved research periods at the National Institute of Applied Physics (The Hague), Duke University Medical Center (Durham NC, USA) and General Electric Research (Niskayuna NY, USA). The outcome of his research were novel devices, patient-specific simulation technology and pioneering data and knowledge for improving EMF exposure guidelines. In 2018, he was appointed at Eindhoven University of Technology (TUe) as Director of the Center for Care and Cure Technologies Eindhoven (C3Te) and Associate Professor in Biomedical Electromagnetics. His current research is focused on multi-physics simulation and MR imaging for extracting electromagnetic and thermal tissue properties and improved guidance of thermal therapy. Of specific interest are the experimental, pre-clinical and clinical validation of the novel technologies. Since 2015 he is board member of the Dutch National Antenna Research Framework (NARF). From 2017, he serves in the Electromagnetics Committee  of the Dutch Health Council that advises the relevant ministers in the Netherlands on EMF related subjects. He also is a Management Committee member and Workgroup leader in COST action CA17115. He served in the program committee of the International Congress on Hyperthermic Oncology (ICHO) in 2012 in Kyoto (Japan) and 2016 in New Orleans (USA). He also acts as advisor of start-up companies aimed at providing solutions for computer simulation and image guided interventions. He was appointed a Member of the ICNIRP Scientific Expert Group (SEG) in 2017. 


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Declaration of Personal Interest

Kensuke Sasaki
SEG Member - PG RF Dosimetry Review

Kensuke Sasaki received his PhD in Electrical and Electronic Engineering in 2011 from the Tokyo Metropolitan University and is currently a Researcher of the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology, Japan. He is engaged in research on human safety due to electromagnetic exposure in the RF domain. His interest is the computational dosimetry of human exposures and the measurement of the electrical constants of biological tissues at both low and radio frequencies. He contributes for international standardizations as the member of Subcommittee of EMF Dosimetry Modeling of IEEE International Committee on Electromagnetic Safety and the expert of IEC/TC106/JWG11 and JWG12. He is an Early Carrier Representative of Commission-K, Internal Union of Radio Science (URSI) from 2017. Kensuke Sasaki was appointed a Member of the ICNIRP Scientific Expert Group (SEG) in November 2018.


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Declaration of Personal Interest

David Savitz
SEG Member

David Savitz is currently Professor of Epidemiology and Obstetrics and Gynecology, Brown University. He began his academic career as Assistant Professor in the Department of Preventive Medicine and Biometrics at the University of Colorado School of Medicine and moved to the University of North Carolina School of Public Health in 1985. He served as the Carey C. Boshamer Distinguished Professor and Chair of the Department of Epidemiology until the end of 2005. From 2006-2010 he served as the Charles W. Bluhdorn Professor of Community and Preventive Medicine, and Director of Disease Prevention and Public Health Institute at Mount Sinai School of Medicine. His teaching is focused on epidemiologic methods and he authored a book entitled “Interpreting Epidemiologic Evidence.” He directed 29 doctoral dissertations and 15 masters theses. He has served as editor at the American Journal of Epidemiology and as a member of the Epidemiology and Disease Control-1 study section of the National Institutes of Health and currently is an editor at Epidemiology. He was President of the Society for Epidemiologic Research and the Society for Pediatric and Perinatal Epidemiologic Research and North American Regional Councilor for the International Epidemiological Association. His primary research activities and interests are in reproductive, environmental, and cancer epidemiology. Dr. Savitz received his undergraduate training in Psychology at Brandeis University and a Masters degree in Preventive Medicine at Ohio State University in 1978, and his PhD in Epidemiology from the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health in 1982. He was elected to membership in the Institute of Medicine in 2007. He served in the ICNIRP Standing Committee on Epidemiology from 1997 until 2012 and was appointed a Member of the ICNIRP Scientific Expert Group (SEG) in March 2013.

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Declaration of Personal Interest

Karl Schulmeister
SEG Member - PG Laser Pointers

Karl Schulmeister graduated from Univ. Techn. Vienna with a Dipl-Ing in physics in 1992 and from Trinity College Dublin in 1994 with an MSc, and in 2001 received his PhD in biophysics on research on the risk for retinal injury from lasers. Since 1994 he is head of the „Laser, LED and Lamp Safety“ group at Seibersdorf Laboratories in Austria. His team has developed computer and ex-vivo models for laser induced ocular and skin injury threshold prediction that served to characterise the spot size and multiple pulse dependence of thermal injury. He is co-author of the hand-book „Laser Safety“ and about 100 scientific publications. Dr. Schulmeister is the technical secretary at the IEC TC76 Working Group on laser and optical radiation safety standards. He is member of ANSI Z136 Laser Safety Committee on Bioeffects and since 2002 Associate Director of Division 6 “Photobiology” of CIE, the International Commission on Illumination. He has served on ICNIRP Standing Committee on Optical Radiation (SCIV) from 2003-2012 and on the Main Commission from 2008-2012. He was appointed a Member of the ICNIRP Scientific Expert Group (SEG) in March 2013.

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Declaration of Personal Interest

David H. Sliney
SEG Member - PG Laser Pointers, PG Short Wave Light

David H. Sliney holds a Ph.D. in biophysics and medical physics from the Institute of Ophthalmology of the University College (London, UK), an M.S. in physics and radiological health from Emory University (Atlanta, GA, USA) and a B.S. in physics in from Virginia Polytechnic Institute (Blacksburg, VA, USA).  He worked for the US Army Medical Department for 42 years, serving as Program Manager, Laser/Optical Radiation Program, which he held until his retirement in 2007. He remains an associate faculty member of the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Baltimore, MD. His research interests focus on optical hazards from intense light sources and lasers, laser-tissue interactions and laser applications in medicine and surgery. He has published well over 200 peer-reviewed scientific papers - many relate to the development and optimization of laser/optical applications in eye surgery and ophthalmic diagnostics. He served as member, advisor and chairman of numerous committees active in the establishment of safety standards for protection against non-ionizing radiation (ANSI, ISO, ACGIH, IEC, WHO, NCRP) and has served as an ICNIRP Commission Member from 1992 until 2004 and as Chairman of ICNIRP SCIV (optical radiation) from 1998 until 2004. He was appointed a Member of the ICNIRP Scientific Expert Group (SEG) in November 2017.

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Declaration of Personal Interest

Rianne Stam
SEG Member

Rianne Stam was trained as a medical biologist at Utrecht University, where she obtained a PhD in the neurosciences. She subsequently conducted scientific research and taught medical and biology students at University Medical Center Utrecht, as post-doctoral fellow and assistant professor. Her main area of interest at university was the neurobiology and physiology of stress. Since 2007 she works as senior scientist at the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (Bilthoven, the Netherlands), where she performs risk assessments and policy research on the biological effects and possible health risks of electromagnetic fields (EMF). She has published over 30 peer-reviewed research papers and has regularly acted as a reviewer for neuroscience, physiology and pharmacology journals. She was actively involved as an invited scientific expert in the preparations and negotiations for a new EU Directive on worker protection against the risks of EMF in the Council of the European Union. She has also helped develop information documents on EMF for the non-profit public outreach organization “Knowledge Platform Electromagnetic Fields”, in which her employer participates. She was appointed a Member of the ICNIRP Scientific Expert Group (SEG) in March 2013.

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Declaration of Personal Interest

Bruce Stuck
SEG Member - PG Laser Pointers

Bruce E. Stuck is now retired. He was until 2013 the Director of the Ocular Trauma Research Division at the U.S. Army Institute of Surgical Research in San Antonio, Texas whose mission is to investigate the ocular effects of non-ionizing radiation and short-duration pressure wave effects.  This research establishes protection strategies (e.g. exposure limits or physical protection products) and develops triage and treatment approaches for ocular injury from non-ionizing radiation and shock wave exposures from blast.  From 1992-2010, he was the Director of the U.S. Army Medical Research Detachment of the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, where he had programmatic responsibilities for the Army Medical Department’s laser and radio frequency radiation biological effects research program. He has 32 years experience in laser hazards research experience and is the author/co-author of numerous papers on ocular and cutaneous effects of laser and radio frequency radiation. His primary interests are in the biological effects of visible and infrared laser radiation on the retina and cornea and the assessment of laser-induced eye injuries and their treatment. He is the Chair of the Biological Effects and Medical Surveillance Technical Subcommittee of the American National Standards Institute’s (ANSI) Z136 Standard for the Safe Use of Lasers. He is a member of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, the Laser Institute of America, the Biomedical Optical Society of the SPIE and the editorial board of the Journal of Laser Applications. He has served on ICNIRP SC IV since 1999 and on the Commission from 2004 until 2016. Bruce is now supporting the work of the PGs as a SEG member.

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Declaration of Personal Interest

John Tattersall
SEG Member

John Tattersall is a Principal Scientist in the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl), a government Agency which provides research and advice for the UK Ministry of Defence and other government departments, and an Honorary Senior Lecturer in Clinical Neurosciences at the University of Southampton. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Nottingham in 1984, for work on neuromuscular physiology in molluscs. From 1983 to 1986, he was a Postdoctoral Research Assistant in Physiology at the University of Bristol, investigating spinal cord pathways involved in visceral pain. In 1986, he joined the Ministry of Defence to set up in vitro electrophysiological techniques for investigating the mechanisms of anticholinesterases and antidotes. He began studying the interactions of electromagnetic fields with biological systems in 1995, initially using these techniques to investigate effects on excitable cells and tissues. His current research interests are mainly in the biological effects of pulsed fields. He is a member of the IEEE International Committee on Electromagnetic Standards and was one of the two UK representatives for COST BM0704, “Emerging EMF Technologies and Health Risk Management”. He was appointed a Member of the ICNIRP Scientific Expert Group (SEG) in March 2013.

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Declaration of Personal Interest

Tim Toivo
SEG Member

Tim Toivo obtained his M.Sc. degree in biomedical engineering at Tampere University of Technology 1996. He started his work at STUK–Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority in 1998 as a scientist in the unit of non-ionizing radiation. Currently he works as a senior inspector and is mainly involved in regulatory, research and expert work in the area of safety issues of electromagnetic fields (EMF) and ultrasound. Part of his work is to inform users of EM fields and communicate with the general public about safety issues. He participated in the preparation of the EU directive (EU 2013/35/EU) as an expert for the Finnish delegation. He worked also on its implementation into national legislation as well as on guidance for Finnish workplaces in particular in regard to MRI workplaces. He has been involved over 15 national and international research projects and published over 50 articles from which over 10 in peer-reviewed research papers. Currently he is investigating if  the cosmetic use of exposure to ultrasound has negative health effects. Research activities he has been involved in include the development of measurement techniques required to determine non-ionizing radiation exposure, as well as exposure measurements, particularly in relation to microwave radiation and various electric and magnetic fields. He has been lecturing non-ionizing radiation protection at the Tampere University of Technology since 1996. He was appointed a Member of the ICNIRP Scientific Expert Group (SEG) in February 2017.

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Declaration of Personal Interest

Andrew Wood
SEG Member - PG RF Dosimetry Review

Andrew Wood is Professor in the Brain and Psychological Sciences Research Centre (BPsyC) at Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne, and is a Chief Investigator with the new Australian Centre for Electromagnetic Bioeffects Research. After studying physics at Bristol University, UK, he obtained a PhD in biophysics from King’s College Hospital Medical School, London, UK. At Swinburne, he has taught Medical Biophysics at both undergraduate and postgraduate level for over 30 years. He has supervised 12 successful PhD candidates. He served on the Radiation Health Committee of the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA) for over ten years. In 2001 he acted as a short-term consultant to the WHO in Malaysia on NIR-related matters. In relation to possible health effects of NIR electromagnetic fields, Dr. Wood has conducted laboratory studies both at the cellular level and with human volunteers. He also is involved in theoretical research into mechanisms of action of these fields on biological systems, particularly in relation to dosimetric aspects. He is an Associate Editor for the journal Bioelectromagnetics. He was appointed a Member of the ICNIRP Scientific Expert Group (SEG) in March 2013.

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Declaration of Personal Interest

Tongning Wu
SEG Member - PG RF Dosimetry Review

Tongning Wu is a senior engineer in China Academy of Information and Communications Technology. His studies focus on electromagnetic dosimetry, anatomical modeling and biomedical applications of electromagnetic fields. He received the B.S. degree in Biomedical Engineering from Tianjin University, China, in 2002. He obtained the M.S degree in Communication and Information System from China Academy of Telecommunication Technology, in 2005 and Ph.D degree in électronique, optroniques et systèmes from Université Paris-Est, France, in 2009. He is the member of International Advisory Committee (IAC) on Electromagnetic Fields of WHO. He is the director of youth committee of the China Bioelectromagnetic Association, founding member of China Digital Medical Society of China Medical Association and Conscious Disturbance Society of Chinese Neuroscience Association. He also participated in the IEC/IEEE workgroups on EMF safety. He is currently the co-rapporteur of ITU-D Q7/2 (Strategies and policies concerning human exposure to electromagnetic fields). Tongning Wu was appointed a Member of the ICNIRP Scientific Expert Group (SEG) in 2019.


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Declaration of Personal Interest
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