About me:
Through my international work as a paediatrician, public health specialist, professor, and researcher, I have witnessed the accelerating pace of climate change and its growing health impacts. Prolonged droughts, record heat, water shortages in healthcare, and increasingly severe storms and fires are already affecting populations worldwide.
Alongside paediatrics, my work therefore focuses on climate advocacy, education, and research on climate–health links. I give talks, teach, publish, and write on climate change and child health to strengthen climate literacy. Despite clear warnings from the IPCC calling for urgent global action, climate evidence is still too often ignored in decision-making.
My Climate dashboard:
I actively work to reduce my own ecological footprint through everyday choices in food, mobility, energy use, and biodiversity-friendly living.
We prioritise low-impact travel, such as hiking or walking safaris in the bush instead of exploring by heavy vehicles.
Reducing your footprint is an ongoing journey, and progress can be tracked with Apps such as Carbon Footprint, Earth Hero, or One Climate.
My UN SDGs (Sustainable development goals) research focus:
SDG 3 (Health and Wellbeing), SDG 13 (Climate action), SDG 7 (Affordable and clean energy), SDG 11 (Sustainable cities and communities), SDG 10 (Reduced inequalities), SGD 17 (Partnership for the Goals), SDG 4 (Quality Education)
My professional background, Biography:
Professor University of Cape Town (Digital Health), CEO MY Rwanda Heart and Research Centre (Kigali), Director of Education IHF, Geneva Sustainability Centre (Geneva), Medical Director DRV (Gaissach), Senior Medical Superintendent and Head of Innovation Hub Groote Schuur University Hospital (Cape Town), Medical Director Kantonspital Aarau, Head of Children`Hospital Bernward Hospital, Head of Department University Hospital Frankfurt, Postdoctoral Researcher INSERM Institute Paris (German National Research Grant), Medical Registrar University Hospital of Bonn, Master of Public Health (Health Systems) University of Cape Town
Medical Schools in Germany and Austria, 3rd State Exam University of Munich, Master of Public Health (Health Systems), University of Cape Town
Climate action means health protection 