Galway Professor joins UN’s Scientific Panel on the Effects of Nuclear War

Dr Neil Rowan is the only Irish scientist on the 21-member scientific panel drawn from a range of expert fields globally.

He is an Adjunct Professor in the School of Medicine, Nursing and Health Science at University of Galway and lectures at Technological University of the Shannon.

Last month, United Nations Secretary-General Antóino Guterres announced the appointment of an independent scientific panel experts tasked with examining the physical and societal consequences of a nuclear war on a local, regional and planetary scale in the days, weeks and decades following a nuclear war.

The panel was established pursuant to General Assembly resolution 79/238, titled “Nuclear War Effects and Scientific Research”, and its tasked with publishing a comprehensive report on the effects, making key conclusions, identifying areas requiring future research.

The report will be considered by the UN General Assembly at its eighty-second session in 2027.

Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Simon Harris, has welcomed the appointment of Dr. Rowan.

“I am delighted that, once again, Irish people are front and centre of global efforts to achieve a world free from the threat of nuclear war,” he said.

“The work of Dr. Rowan and his fellow panellists will be an invaluable contribution to our evidence-based understanding of the catastrophic effects of nuclear war,” he added.

Dr Rowan has over 30 years on leading scientific research in food systems and advancing healthcare where has published over 200 journal papers and supervised 40 PhD students.

He is also a Principle Investigator at Research Ireland-funded CURAM Centre for Medical Device Research at University of Galway where he specializes in sterilization and infection prevention.

“Our understanding of the effects of nuclear war needs to be updated given that the existing knowledge is incomplete and more than likely outdated,” he said.

“The last cross-sectional United Nations study of this kind was undertaken almost four decades ago where advances have since been made in high performance computing and modelling to inform this important area.

“The population of the world has also increased considerably with changes in distribution and where economies have become more interdependent on trade for food security.

“Our environment has also become more vulnerable as evidenced by climate change and frequency of extreme events.

“This updated integrated approach to address new scientific information will include reviewing appropriate models that can estimate long term effects of nuclear war on affected populations globally,” added Professor Rowan.

The first meeting of this new scientific UN panel for nuclear war effects is due to take place in New York over the coming weeks where the work will be of profound importance for informing global disarmament and non-proliferation.

Pictured: Prestigious appointment...Dr Neil Rowan.