About the MSF Association
Médecins Sans Frontières / Doctors Without Borders (MSF) is a vibrant movement made up of people from all corners of the world.
Each of them shares a common purpose: to save the lives and alleviate the suffering of people in danger by delivering medical care where it is needed most.
Our success over nearly 50 years is a testament to these people, who have dedicated their time and expertise to MSF’s work overseas and at home.
To continue this success our staff – past and present – can shape the movement’s future by becoming a member of an MSF association.
Today, MSF is made up of 25 associations – organisations owned by members. The associations make sure that MSF remains true to its purpose, principles and values and help shape the future of the MSF movement.
How do MSF associations work?
Becoming a member means taking collective responsibility for MSF. And because the people making the decisions have worked with MSF, the organisation stays focused on medical care and our core principles: independence, impartiality and neutrality.
The MSF UK Association
In the UK, Association members elect the UK Board of Trustees, who govern on their behalf.
The Board of Trustees is ultimately responsible for what MSF UK does. It appoints our Executive Director, takes responsibility for the actions of MSF UK and works to guarantee that the MSF principles are respected.
The Board delegates the implementation of the strategy to the MSF UK management team, who run the office day-to-day. Every six weeks the Board meets to ensure MSF UK is well run and achieving its objectives.
Every year, usually in May or June, the Association gathers at the Annual General Meeting, the heart of MSF UK's internal democracy.
If you are a UK MSFer, you can access the UK Association website.
To contact any of the Board members below, please send an email to MSF UK's Board Coordinator.
Update: The MSF UK Association elected a new Board of Trustees at the MSF UK Annual General Meeting in May 2024. This page will be updated soon to reflect the changes in full.
Eve Bruce – co-opted 2021
Eve is a retired Irish American plastic surgeon living in County Kerry, Ireland for the last 13 years. Her medical training was in the United States, and she is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons and Board certified in both general and plastic surgery. She has worked for MSF since 2015 taking her to places such as Gaza, Afghanistan, Nigeria, and Jordan.
Eve is a member of the MSF East Africa Board and also chairs the MSF Ireland Board. She was co-opted to the UK Board in order to provide an Associative link with the Irish Branch Office.
Caroline Bwango - elected 2024
Caroline is an NHS Emergency Medicine Doctor working for Barts Health in London and Manx Care on the Isle of Man. Having completed her Medical training in Uganda, Caroline has gone on to craft a portfolio career. She has worked in several countries around the globe delivering healthcare and strengthening health systems.
Caroline has a particular interest in Public Health and Health Justice and has worked for MSF in various capacities since 2014 in Jordan, Ethiopia and Yemen.
Rachael Craven - re-elected 2023
Rachael is a consultant anaesthetist at University Hospitals Bristol with 25 years of experience working within the NHS. She has a particular interest in education and staff development and has held previous senior management roles in medical education and clinical governance.
Rachael has worked for MSF for 15 years with experience in a range of contexts, but more recently in emergency response to earthquakes and conflicts. She is active in education for medics working internationally and has been a regular faculty member on the ICRC War Surgery Course and the Royal College of Anaesthetists Global Anaesthesia Course, as well as developing educational materials.
Sabrina Das - elected 2024
Sabrina is a Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist in London with >20 years’ NHS experience. Her clinical specialism is in high-risk pregnancy, medical disorders in pregnancy and abortion care. Her leadership experience covers quality improvement, strategy, risk management, governance, and workforce management as an Improvement Advisor in the NHS England National Maternity team.
She is a member of the Chartered Management Institute, having completed a PGDip in Business Administration. As a Harkness Fellow in healthcare policy for the Commonwealth Fund in the USA from 2024-25, she is researching abortion access and harm-reduction strategies for minoritised and vulnerable communities.
She has worked in South Africa and Guatemala in women’s health, and as an MSF-OBGYN in Yemen in 2021 during the COVID pandemic.
Joe Ghandhi - co-opted 2023
Joe is qualified as a chartered accountant with PricewaterhouseCoopers and has extensive not-for-profit and Board experience, having worked as a finance lead with WaterAid, MSF UK, Somerset House Trust and Transparency International.
Prior to joining the MSF UK Board, he was on the Board of MSF India for three years.
He is also the Treasurer and Chair of the Finance Committee of Malaria Consortium.
Emery Igiraneza – co-opted 2022
Emery joined the MSF UK Board in May 2022. Prior to joining MSF, Emery had worked with national and international organisations as well as the public and private sectors in the UK and other countries.
His experience ranges from working as a researcher for the United Nations’ International Labour Organization (ILO) to managing projects in international organisations. In the UK his work focused on Community Inclusion, Refugee Integration and Equality and diversity in public and charity sector. He currently works with International Rescue Committee UK as the head of programmes.
Emery holds a Master’s in International Relations and Globalisation with a specialisation in relations between countries and international organisations, as well as an MBA with a specialisation in leadership.
Edward Monk - elected 2024
Ed is a specialty registrar in infectious diseases and general internal medicine with an interest in infectious disease epidemiology, surveillance and control. He is a CREATE PhD Fellow at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) and based primarily at the MRC Unit The Gambia, studying the transmission dynamics of Group A Streptococcus in the classrooms, households and environment of primary school-aged children.
Ed worked with MSF in Bihar, India in 2019 as a medical doctor on a project providing comprehensive care to patients living with advanced HIV, returning just before the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Subsequently, he worked for the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) on the SARS-CoV-2 immunity and reinfection evaluation (SIREN) study, investigating reinfection, vaccine efficacy and occupational risk. He also has clinical, development and research experience from Malawi, Sierra Leone and Zambia, including geographic information system (GIS) mapping, multicentre randomised controlled trial (RCT) complex intervention design, and antimicrobial stewardship programme development.
Innocent Muleya - elected 2022
Innocent Muleya is a Sessional GP with a special interest in women's health working under the Cwm Taf Morgannwg university health board and Cardiff and Vale university health board. He was born in Zimbabwe, where he started his career as a biomedical scientist before training to be a medical doctor.
Innocent is a Chevening scholar with an MSc in Tropical Medicine and International Health from London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM). He has worked in the NHS and private sector as a junior doctor before his current specialism in primary care as a General Practitioner in Cardiff, where he lives.
Innocent gained leadership experience running a district hospital in the western part of Zambia before he joined MSF. Working with MSF, he has completed two field assignments, as a medical doctor between 2014 and 2015. His first assignment was in Bo, Sierra Leone, responding to the Ebola outbreak. Innocent then provided care to MSF HIV and TB patients in Lesotho.
Christopher Peskett - re-elected 2023
Chris is a registered general nurse. He had worked for both the NHS and German health service before moving to humanitarian work, including involvement in Brazil’s national leprosy programme.
He subsequently worked with MSF from 2002 to 2020, with the exception of one year spent with the Swiss Red Cross. Within MSF he has had a variety of roles, mainly as Nursing Activity Manager but also as Medical Team Leader and Project Coordinator. He has worked in programmes of primary health care (particularly in Sudan and South Sudan), outbreak responses, HIV and TB, as well as with migrant and refugee populations. He also spent one and a half years as a Face-to-Face Fundraiser for MSF, in addition to speaking on behalf of the organisation around the country.
Chris is a board member of the Norwich-based NGO New Routes, assisting refugees, asylum seekers and migrants.
Vita Sanderson - re-elected 2022
Vita is a structural engineer and consultant for the global engineering firm Arup where she advises on the design and implementation of large construction projects for development banks and NGOs, and has worked in countries including India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Ukraine, and Malawi.
Vita worked as a Logistician and Technical Project Coordinator for MSF throughout 2017 and 2018, the majority of which was spent managing the Agok Hospital Project in South Sudan.
Iesha Singh - elected 2023
Iesha joins the Board as a senior humanitarian consultant. She has worked across many major emergencies in Africa, Asia and the Middle East across most sectors with various NGOs, donor agencies and the UN. Iesha has worked in different capacities from leadership, management and coordination, through policy and advocacy, to operational research and evaluations.
She is particularly interested in issues of protection, remote programming and change management.
Iesha worked for MSF OCA between 2004-2008, with shorter stints for OCG, OCBA and OCB.
Tim Symington (Treasurer) - co-opted 2023
Tim is a security consultant, specialising in the prevention of fraud and financial crime, and a Visiting Senior Research Fellow at Kings College London. He is a trustee of a local hospice as well as the UK domestic abuse charity SafeLives.
Tim spent the majority of his career in the UK Civil Service where he held senior leadership roles in the Ministry of Defence, the Department for Transport and the National Crime Agency. After leaving government service he worked for Lloyds Bank, leading their intelligence work for the prevention of fraud and financial crime.
Bertrand Taithe - elected 2024
Bertrand is a professor and historian of humanitarian aid at the University of Manchester, where he founded the Humanitarian and Conflict Response Institute in 2008 with Rony Brauman, Tony Redmond and other colleagues. He has been working with MSF since 1999 and, in 2005, was invited to take part in the La Mancha process. About 13 years ago he became part of the scientific committee of CRASH in MSF France, and 10 years ago he co-developed LEAP with colleagues from the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. He contributes to the FOOT in Paris and leads a Wellcome Trust project, Developing Humanitarian Medicine.
The MSF movement
Elected representatives from the UK meet together with colleagues from the other MSF associations contributing their voices to the global discussions shaping MSF’s work.
During the annual International General Assembly the MSF President is appointed and an International Board chosen. They are responsible for bringing coherence to our vibrant and diverse movement.
Who can become an association member?
MSF overseas staff, office staff and office volunteers may apply to join after they have worked with MSF for six months.
Their contribution to MSF may have been with any section and in any project country. They do not have to live in the UK, nor be a UK citizen.
How to join?
The first step is to complete this online application form. We will review your application then be in touch with the next steps.