Rayan Alahdal
Rayan Alahdal is a Nuclear Engineering Master’s student at the University of Pisa, specializing in the Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Management. A 2025 CTBTO research fellow, he co-authored a study on CTBT ratification pathways. His academic contributions include a 2023 conference paper on potential Deep Geological Repository sites for radioactive waste in Saudi Arabia. He has further broadened his expertise through a JRC Summer School on Radioactive Waste Management and Decommissioning, a SIPRI course on WMD Non-Proliferation, and a 2022 internship at France’s I2EN, where he trained in nuclear policies, energy economics, and reactor physics.
Ali Alkis is a Junior Associate Fellow at the NATO Defense College and a PhD candidate in nuclear security in Türkiye. His research focuses on nonproliferation, nuclear terrorism, nuclear piracy, and extended deterrence. Alkis is one of the NTI’s Emerging Nuclear Security Leaders and contributes to Harvard University’s Ukraine Nuclear Security Working Group, engaging in collaborative research on regional nuclear security challenges. In August 2026, he received the Institute of Nuclear Materials Management (INMM) Early Career Award in recognition of his early contributions to the field of nuclear security and nonproliferation.
Ali Alkis
Lauren Cho
Lauren Cho is a political analyst based in Washington D.C. She has previously spent time at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, NASA, and the International Crisis Group. Her research interests include nuclear intelligence, North Korea’s nuclear weapons program, and the broader implications of emerging technologies on East Asia regional security. She has written for several think tanks and academic institutions on North Korea’s nuclear program, nuclear intelligence, and space-based weapons. She holds a B.A. in International and Public Affairs from Brown University.
Okechukwu Collins Obasi is a disarmament, non-proliferation and security sector governance policy practitioner currently serving as Programme Officer in the Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration Division of the Department of Political Affairs, Peace and Security, at the African Union Commission. His portfolio spans CBRN safeguards, WMD non-proliferation, lethal autonomous weapon systems governance, UNSCR 1540 implementation, mine action, security sector reform and disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration programming. He holds an MSc in Defence and Strategic Studies from the Nigerian Defence Academy and a BSc in Political Science and Diplomacy from the University of Nigeria.
Okechukwu Collins Obasi
Douglas de Quadros Rocha
Douglas de Quadros Rocha is a PhD Research Fellow at the Institute for Strategic and Defense Studies (IESD) and a PhD candidate in Political Science at Jean Moulin Lyon 3 University. His thesis examines French nuclear arms control strategy and its implications for the deterrence and disarmament debates within the nuclear order, particularly in the context of the NPT. His research interests include nuclear arms control, non-proliferation and disarmament, and French and Brazilian nuclear policies. He holds an MA in International Security and Defence from Jean Moulin Lyon 3 University, and a BA in International Relations from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS).
Hely Desai is a Visiting Research Fellow with the South Asia Program at the Henry L. Stimson Center in Washington, D.C., and a Nuclear Futures Fellow with the Ploughshares Fund and Horizon 2045. She works at the intersection of policy, government, and academia, with a focus on nuclear policy, deterrence, non-proliferation, and nuclear energy in South Asia. Hely holds an MPhil from the University of Cambridge, where she also served as a graduate researcher at the Center for Geopolitics. She previously worked as an Editorial Associate for the Cambridge Review of International Affairs. She was a member of the 2024 CTBTO–CENESS Fellowship cohort and has also served as a Youth Leader with the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs.
Hely Desai
Miguel Ángel García Carrasco
Miguel Ángel García Carrasco is a researcher specialising in nuclear deterrence and European defence. From 2025 to 2026 he was a Research Fellow at the Fondation pour la Recherche Stratégique (FRS) in Paris, where his research covered the evolution of strategic nuclear arsenals, early warning systems and European debates on nuclear deterrence. Alongside his research, much of his work there was devoted to two EU-funded projects: the EU Non-Proliferation and Disarmament Consortium and the Hague Code of Conduct against Ballistic Missile Proliferation (HCoC). He has also contributed as an associate analyst to the Spanish foreign-policy platforms GEOPOL21 and Homo Internationalis. A graduate in Political Science from the University of Granada, he completed a Master’s in International Relations at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid, where he focused on European security and finished first in his class.
Veerle Moyson is a Project and Research Coordinator at the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) in Vienna, where she works primarily on disarmament education. Her main areas of interest cover weapons of mass destruction, emerging technologies, and humanitarian perspectives. Veerle’s previous experience includes internships with the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the UN, as well as engagement in youth networks such as the Young Women in Non-proliferation and Disarmament Mentorship Programme. Veerle holds a Master of Political Science from the University of Antwerp and an LLM in International and European Law from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel.
Veerle Moyson
Lindo Mtsweni
Lindo Mtsweni is an MSC Space Engineering student at the University of Miskolc, Hungary, where she is studying under the Stipendium Hungaricum Scholarship. She holds a BSc in Aeronautical Engineering from the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa. She previously interned at Armscor, South Africa’s defence acquisition agency. Her areas of interest include space systems engineering, space systems testing and qualification. She recently participated in a Spacecraft Testing Workshop organized by the European Space Agency (ESA) in collaboration with the African Space Agency (AfSA).
Hao Nan is a Geneva-based policy researcher with the Geneva Graduate Institute and Interpeace. His research focuses on nuclear security and geopolitics, strategic competition, and the strategic agency of middle powers, with particular interests in ballistic missile proliferation, nuclear restraint and hedging, and security dynamics across East Asia and the Middle East. He previously worked at the East Asian intergovernmental institutions, including the Trilateral Cooperation Secretariat (for China, Japan and ROK) in Seoul and the ASEAN-China Centre in Beijing, and strategic studies institutions such as the Emirates Center for Strategic Studies and Research in Abu Dhabi and the Observer Research Foundation in New Delhi. His academic training spans public policy, international law, and Middle Eastern studies.
Hao Nan
Carlos Andrés Olivera Caballero
Carlos Andrés Olivera Caballero is a Bolivian arms law and non-proliferation researcher based in Santa Cruz de la Sierra. He founded the Andean Space Tech and Dual-Use Compliance Lab (AST-Lab), which audits civilian satellite launch components in Latin America against international export control frameworks, including the MTCR Annex. He also served as Bolivia’s first UNITAR Youth Leader Fund delegate in Japan (2026). He completed an LL.B. Bachelor of Law at Universidad Autónoma Gabriel René Moreno, focusing on export controls and dual-use space governance.
Jan Quosdorf is a Project Director for the Arms Control Negotiation Academy (ACONA) at the Peace Research Institute Frankfurt (PRIF) and consults for a joint Vienna Center for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation (VCDNP) and United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) project mapping European arms control education. He previously worked for the Helmut-Schmidt-University Hamburg, the German Council for Foreign Relations (DGAP), and consulted for BASIC. Jan has studied at the University of Göttingen, Tsinghua University, Peking University, and King’s College London, and is currently completing his second M.A. at IFSH, University of Hamburg.
Jan Quosdorf
Hree P. Samudra
Hree P. Samudra is an Indonesian policy researcher specializing in nuclear verification, missile nonproliferation, and emerging military technologies. She coordinates global projects and regional engagement for the CTBTO Youth Group and is a Strategic Risk Reduction Fellow at the Asia Pacific Leadership Network (APLN). She is also an Erasmus Mundus Joint Master scholarship recipient pursuing the International Master in Security, Intelligence and Strategic Studies (IMSISS), with academic mobility across Glasgow, Italy, and Prague. Her research examines how AI, OSINT, and commercially developed dual-use technologies reshape verification and strategic decision-making in the Indo-Pacific. She is particularly interested in the role of private technology and defense-industry actors in security governance and its implications for transparency, accountability, and multilateral arms control.
Takanobu Sato has extensive experience in missile non-proliferation and missile technology with a particular focus on preventing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and international cooperation. He has worked on emerging technology policy, including the strategic promotion, protection, and governance of critical technologies at the Pacific Forum where he has engaged in projects related to the intersection of technology, industry, and policy, particularly in the context of defence cooperation. His broader experience includes research on confidence-building and risk reduction, focusing on strategic stability, emerging technologies, and arms control. He has also held fellowships at the Arms Control Negotiation Academy (ACONA).
Takanobu Sato
Tobias Schaub
Tobias Schaub holds an MA in International and Development Studies from the Geneva Graduate Institute and the American University in Washington, D.C., specialising in conflict, peace and security, as well as a BA in Political Science and History from the University of Basel. He worked at the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) on arms control, disarmament and non-proliferation. Previously, he was a research assistant at the Geneva Graduate Institute and a personal assistant to a member of the Swiss Parliament. His research interests lie in international and European security, nuclear politics, strategic stability and space security.
Ayesha Zafar is a Political Affairs Intern with the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs at UN Headquarters in New York. She recently completed the Erasmus Mundus International Master’s in Security, Intelligence and Strategic Studies with distinction from the University of Glasgow, Dublin City University, and Charles University. Her academic and professional work focuses on international security, arms control, nuclear non-proliferation, strategic stability, and disarmament. She has previously worked with research institutions in Europe and contributed to projects examining nuclear risks and escalation dynamics. Her current interests include missile non-proliferation, emerging security challenges, and multilateral approaches to global security governance.