Professor Chu is the Director of the Centre for Environment and Population Health, Griffith University. Her key areas of research expertise are global health, eco-friendly healthy settings; reproductive health; health promotion and integrated health planning; workplace health promotion and safety management; community needs assessment and policy development. She is committed to translational research and capacity-building, particularly in linking environment, health strategies and sustainable development. She has been active as an international consultant to facilitate the development of healthy cities, hospitals and workplaces in many countries in the Asia-Pacific.

Professor Chu recently focuses on global health security, climate change adaptation and health. She was awarded the Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in 2013. She has published over 200 articles and book chapters, delivered 2 policy/guidelines, 4 commissioned research communication booklets, 5 documentaries films, 21 international consultancy reports, 1 WHO regional guideline, and has presented 71 key note addresses in the conferences. She has graduated 42 PhDs and has won a national commendation for 2018 excellence in research supervision by the Australian Council for Graduate Research.

Dr. Norio Okada is currently Professor Emeritus of Kyoto University and Visiting Professor of Kumamoto University, Japan. He is currently Adviser to the Institute of Disaster Area Revitalization, Regrowth and Governance (IDiARRG), Kwansei Gakuin University, Japan. He graduated in 1970, received MEng.in 1972 and Dr, Eng. in 1977 all from Faculty of Engineering, Kyoto University. His specialty includes: integrated disaster risk management, sustainable management local communities, environmental and water resources management, participatory risk governance.

From 1977 to 1991, he was Associate Professor and Professor at Faculty of Engineering, Tottori University. From 1978 to 1980, he also worked at IIASA with the resources and environment group. From 1991 to 2012, he worked at Disaster Prevention Research Institute (DPRI), Kyoto University. Between 2009 and 2011, he was Director of DPRI. After his retirement form Kyoto University, he was Professor at Kumamoto University (2012-2013), and Professor at Kwansei Gakuin University (2013-2016). Since 2001, he has been leading an extensive international research initiative to establish the new academic society called “The International Society for Integrated Disaster Risk Management (IDRiM Society) of which he has become elected as the first President since September 2010.

From February 2017 to January 2018, he stayed at IASA, Potsdam, Germany as Senior Fellow.　From Sept. 2019 he is to be invited to work again at IASA. In 1995, he was awarded the degree of Doctor of Engineering (DEng) Honorius Causa from the University of Waterloo, Canada. In 2012, he was awarded by the University of Waterloo, Canada as the 2012 TD Walter Bean Award Visiting Professor in Environment.