Meet our three new directors

At UK-Med, we are fortunate to have a highly experienced team with the skills and expertise needed to deliver first-class emergency health care globally.

We are excited to introduce you to our three new directors who have joined UK-Med in recent weeks. Meet the team below:

Dr. Ram Vadi, Health Director

Born and raised in Canada, Ram is a medical doctor with extensive experience in outbreak response, ongoing and protracted conflicts, as well as health system strengthening around the globe. Before joining UK-Med as Health Director, he was the Team Lead and Medical Coordinator for the UK EMT response in Lebanon and, prior to that, worked for several years with the Red Cross in Syria, Somalia and South Sudan. He also worked in Guinea during the West African Ebola outbreak in 2014.

Ram is passionate about access to healthcare, preventative medicine and improving social determinants of health across the life spectrum. As the new Health Director, Ram is looking forward to helping UK-Med to grow as an organisation and be able to better respond to current and emerging crises, while also building long-term sustainability around ongoing UK-MED programs around the world.

Ram says, “I am excited to continue playing a role in the humanitarian sector’s response to COVID-19, but also to help in the eventual recovery phase of the pandemic and help build back the capacity needed to better respond in the future.”

Having visited over 90 countries, Ram is an avid traveller and fluent in several languages. He is also very active in sports in his spare time.

Andy Clarke, Humanitarian Operations Director

Andy joined UK-Med in September 2020 as the Humanitarian Operations Director. Andy has more than 20 years’ experience in the emergency sector working in outbreak response, conflict, and natural disasters. Before joining UK-Med, Andy worked at Oxfam in a number of roles including WASH Rapid Response Team Leader in Northeast Nigeria. Andy is also a qualified water and sanitation engineer and was involved in Oxfam’s response to the 2014 Ebola outbreak in Liberia.

Andy will be leading the Humanitarian Operations team where he will be providing operational coordination, grant and programme management and logistics support for UK-Med’s growing humanitarian health programming.

“UK-Med is contributing to the evolution of the emergency medical team modality and the development of the global system. Having specific emergency surge capacity is really valuable in the sector,” Andy says. “UK-Med can add tremendous value to the sector and I’m excited to be a part of it.”

Andy lives in Oxford, where he enjoys paddle boarding on the popular Oxford canals.

Adil Shah, Director of Support Services

Adil joined UK-Med in December 2020 as Director of Support Services. He brings more than 20 years experience in executive and non-executive roles from civil society organisations across Africa, Asia and Europe. Most recently, he was Director of Finance and Operations at ADD International where he was responsible for programmes that supported disability rights movements in Africa and Asia.

Adil will be leading the UK-Med Support Services team where he will be developing strategic frameworks to enable the effective management of resources and governance to ensure that the charity operates efficiently.

“I am delighted and privileged to be part of UK-Med. Over the last year, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic alone has led to a dramatic loss of human life worldwide and presents an unprecedented challenge to health systems,” Adil says. “I am very much looking forward to be part of UK-Med’s response to many of these health emergencies around the globe and to provide essential health care to those most in need.”

In his personal life, Adil is an accomplished cook whose love for food has led him to experiment with traditional ways of cooking curries. He is also an enthusiastic cricketer and plays as an allrounder for Old Town Cricket Club.