IARC’s Dr Ausrele Kesminiene appointed to UN Independent Scientific Panel on Effects of Nuclear War

Dr Ausrele Kesminiene of the Environment and Lifestyle Epidemiology Branch at the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has been appointed to the Independent Scientific Panel on Effects of Nuclear War by United Nations (UN) Secretary-General António Guterres.

The panel met for the first time on 4–5 September 2025 in New York (USA) to outline the tasks and discuss the timeline for the publication of a report on the physical effects and societal consequences of a nuclear war on a local, regional, and planetary scale, including, among others, the climatic, environmental, and radiological effects and their impacts on public health, global socioeconomic systems, agriculture, and ecosystems in the days, weeks, and decades after a nuclear war. The report will be considered by the UN General Assembly at its eighty-second session in 2027.

The panel consists of 21 expert members drawn from a range of scientific fields, including nuclear and radiation studies; atmospheric sciences and climate; environment and environmental studies; agriculture, biology, and life sciences; public health and medicine; and behavioural and social sciences and applied economics.

Watch the press conference on the first meeting of the Independent Scientific Panel on the Effects of Nuclear War, held on 5 September 2025

Read the UN press release: “Secretary-General Announces Members of Independent Scientific Panel on Effects of Nuclear War”, published on 18 July 2025