Ira Helfand, MD

Ira Helfand, MD is co-chair of PSR’s Nuclear Weapons Abolition Committee and also serves as co-president of PSR’s global federation, International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW). Dr. Helfand has worked for many years as an emergency room physician and now practices internal medicine at an urgent care center. Dr. Helfand represents IPPNW at the annual World Summit of Nobel Peace Laureates. He is also a member of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN)’s International Steering Committee. Dr. Helfand co-authored PSR’s report, Nuclear Famine: 2 Billion at Risk?, which outlines the global health consequences of regional nuclear war. He was a leading medical voice in ICAN’s campaign for the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. Dr. Helfand addressed national delegations at international conferences on the Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons in Oslo, Norway, Narayit, Mexico, and Vienna, Austria, during the May 2016 U.N. Open-Ended Working Group on disarmament in Geneva, and throughout the U.N. General Assembly negotiations in 2017.