The Warhead Group is led by Rob Harrison, who has been DG Warhead since October 2025. He's spent most of his career in operational roles in the foreign service, with five postings overseas, and he's also worked in policy and analytical roles in the centre of government. Since 2012 he's worked almost continuously on Russia, with a break as the government’s Head of Analysis during the Covid pandemic, and he helped coordinate the UK’s response to the Salisbury poisonings in 2018 and the invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Charlotte Nichols was elected as the Labour Member of Parliament for Warrington North in the 2019 General Election, and was re-elected in 2024 with a sixfold increase in her majority. She worked previously as an officer for the GMB union.
She served as a member of the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy from May 2020, latterly the Business and Trade Select Committee until the 2024 election.
She previously served on Labour’s frontbench as Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities, and as a PPS in the Shadow Culture, Media and Sport; Shadow Northern Ireland; and Shadow International Trade teams.
She is Labour co-Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Nuclear.
With over 25 years experience working with the UK National Nuclear Laboratory in areas including long-term liabilities associated with contaminated land; environmental safety assessment to major operational and capital build projects supporting the UK civil nuclear programme on a diverse range of projects and technical issues across the UK civil nuclear estate; and engineering project delivery.
Since 2006, Jeremy has managed the development and delivery of a nuclear security and threat reduction capability within National Nuclear Laboratory. He has led capacity building projects, the development of the Nuclear Site Security Plan for the commissioning of a Cat I nuclear facility, and the development of the Security Assessment Principles (SyAP’s) aligned Nuclear Site Security Plans. In his current role Jeremy leads the National Nuclear Laboratory strategic investment in Security and Non-proliferation. He is a Member of the Security Institute, Fellow of the Nuclear Institute, Chartered Security Professional, chairs the Nuclear Institute Special Interest Group on nuclear security and is a member of the CBRN-UK Executive Committee.
Andrew is Professor of International Politics at the University of Leicester, and currently the PI on the European Research Council Third Nuclear Age project.
He has published widely on all aspects on nuclear politics, including the books: The Politics of Nuclear Weapons, Hacking the Bomb, Threats to Euro-Atlantic Security, Ballistic Missile Defense and US National Security Policy, Reassessing the Revolution in Military Affairs, The United Kingdom and the Future of Nuclear Weapons and Emerging technologies and Euro-Atlantic Security.
Andrew was previously a visiting fellow at the Centre for Arms Control and Nonproliferation in Washington D.C., the James Martin Center for Non-Proliferation Studies in Monterey California, and at the Norwegian Nobel Peace Institute in Oslo. Andrew has worked at the University of Leicester since January 2012. He received his PhD from the University of Birmingham in 2011.
Parham Ghobadi is a Senior Reporter and Presenter at BBC Persian, covering Iran and international affairs in both Persian and English. His reporting has included Iran’s nuclear programme, nationwide protests, and the wars involving Israel and the United States against Iran. He has also reported from conflict zones, including Ukraine.
Parham is completing an MA in War Studies at King’s College London, with a particular interest in deterrence, nuclear strategy, covert warfare, military strategy, Middle Eastern security and US foreign policy. Before joining the BBC, he worked as a journalist at Reuters.
Rob Jordan is the Director of Proliferation and Nuclear Policy at RUSI, focusing on developments and trends in the proliferation of nuclear weapons, the concepts and doctrines that apply to nuclear deterrence, and on wider proliferation, arms control and risk reduction matters related to nuclear, chemical and biological weapons.
After completing a PhD in microbiology and immunology at the University of Bristol, Rob joined the Ministry of Defence in 2005, initially working on building the UK’s understanding of chemical and biological warfare programmes by state and non-state actors. Subsequent Defence roles included leading intelligence support to a range of operations against the Afghan Taleban and then Islamic State.
In later roles he developed and implemented national strategy and policy to reduce terrorist threats to civil aviation, reduce access to chemical, biological and explosive materials, and to improve legislative, regulatory and operational responses to the threat posed by the criminal use of small drones. More recently he led the reorganisation of Defence Nuclear Organisation’s Warhead Directorate in parallel with the renationalisation of AWE. In his most recent role in Government he led on incorporating intelligence assessment into UKHSA’s understanding of overseas threats to UK public health.
Rob has particular interests in arms control verification, in understanding the interplay between civil and defence applications of research, infrastructure and supply chains, and in understanding how Governments communicate complex risks both internally and to the public.
Dr Andrew Leigh CITP MBCS is Software Development Group Head at MASS, where he leads software development, product management and research teams delivering advanced capability for defence and security customers including nuclear security. With over 25 years' experience in software engineering, systems integration and technical leadership, he holds a PhD in Software Engineering and Design and is an award-winning innovator.
Andrew serves on the Programme Committee of the IEEE International Conference on Software Architecture (ICSA) and is an Associate Lecturer at The Open University. He is a regular contributor on software engineering and professional practice including speaking about responsible software engineering at the NATO IST-238 Research Specialists' Meeting on Military Applications of Generative AI earlier this year.
Working at the intersection of nuclear security, armed conflict, and policy, Ali Alkis is a nuclear security professional from Türkiye and a Junior Associate Fellow at the NATO Defense College. He is pursuing a PhD in Political Science at Hacettepe University in Ankara and is an Emerging Nuclear Security Leader with the Nuclear Threat Initiative. He also contributes to Harvard University’s Ukraine Nuclear Security Working Group.
His work focuses on nuclear security and nonproliferation. Since 2023, he has developed the concept of “nuclear piracy” to describe the coercive appropriation and instrumentalisation of civilian nuclear facilities by state actors during armed conflict, and to highlight gaps in existing nuclear security and governance frameworks. In August 2026, he received the Institute of Nuclear Materials Management Early Award in recognition of his contributions to nuclear security research and policy.
Annabel Biggs is a Computational Physicist and holds a First-Class Honours MSci in Mathematics and Physics from the University of Bath. After spending three years working as a Software Developer, she now works in Nuclear Security at AWE.
Although her professional background is technical, Annabel has always been interested in social studies and international politics. Growing up with a mother who taught Sociology, she spent many dinner-table conversations discussing the role of the media in society. As a result, she has found watching the rise of social media and its role in amplifying fringe ideas particularly fascinating. Annabel has now applied this interest to the nuclear sector by researching how the postmodern information environment impacts nuclear deterrence.
Diana Kuznetsova is a Research Assistant at Stanford’s Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISAC) and a Research Fellow at the King’s College London EVIDENCE Network. She recently completed her MA in Intelligence and International Security at King’s College London. Diana is an IAEA Marie Skłodowska-Curie Scholar.
Over the past five years, she has worked with the Ukrainian government, leading think tanks, and international organizations on issues related to international security, geopolitics, defence policy, and emerging technologies. Her research interests include nuclear and AI security and policy, defence technology, emerging technologies, and the intersection of technology, geopolitics, and national security.
Eli Glickman is a candidate for an MA in War Studies at King's College London, where he studies as a Marshall Scholar. He is also a researcher at the Centre for Nuclear Strategy and Security, also at King's. Eli's main research interests are in nuclear strategy, force structure, and air warfare.
He has previously held research positions at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London and the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments in Washington, DC. Eli holds an MSt in military history from St. Hilda's College, Oxford and a BA in political science from the University of California, Berkeley.
Hugo holds a master’s in mechanical engineering from the University of Bristol, where his research included assessing predictive models for stress corrosion cracking in nuclear fuel cladding. His final dissertation explored using time reversal in ultrasound to focus energy on inaccessible locations.
He began his career at Rolls-Royce, specializing in the design and substantiation of power generation equipment. Currently, Hugo is a Design Engineer in a future product design team, where he develops technology and advanced designs for heat exchanger products. While his work is technical, he takes a keen interest in history and geopolitics.
Iden Starfire started her STEM career in 2024, on a graduate programme developing as an Applied Physicist. Prior to working in her current role, Iden has gained experience in both the education field, as well as in law enforcement with Thames Valley Police.
Entranced by science and engineering from a young age, Iden studied Planetary & Space Physics at Aberystwyth University, achieving a first-class master’s degree. Her drive and desire to help develop a greener and brighter world has given Iden a particular interest in efforts to net-zero. Recognising the importance of civil nuclear power and her passion for science communication, this led to her UK PONI research topic on determining whether the UK school system is teaching nuclear science and technology clearly and fairly.
Jack Lines is a Process Engineer working for Cavendish Nuclear, where he works on the development and delivery of process engineering solutions for the UK nuclear industry. His professional interests span nuclear fuel cycle technologies, radioactive waste management, and the role of nuclear innovation in addressing emerging national security and global engineering challenges.
At least year’s conference, Jack’s poster, titled Space Nuclear Systems: Bridging Innovation, Strategy, and Public Trust, won the poster competition. This year he has returned to deliver a presentation on the topic of Utilising Am-241 from Legacy Civil Plutonium Stockpiles for Long-Duration Deep-Sea Sensor Networks. His presentation explores how radioisotope power systems, originally developed and demonstrated for space exploration, could be adapted to support persistent deep-sea sensing capabilities. The concept examines potential applications in protecting critical undersea infrastructure and enhancing anti-submarine warfare capabilities, while highlighting opportunities to derive strategic value from the UK's legacy nuclear materials.
Nour Eid is an independent researcher on Middle Eastern Geopolitics, specializing in arms control and nonproliferation in the Gulf and a senior consultant in Forensics Investigation and Integrity based in Paris. She graduated with a master's degree in International Security from Sciences Po Paris and wrote her master thesis on the Saudi Nuclear Program, focusing on the diverging Saudi and Emirati approach to the 123 Agreement.
She previously held positions at the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna, the Energy for Growth Hub in Washington DC and the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs in Beirut. She is involved in Track 1.5 and Track 2 discussions on issues revolving around Arms Control and Energy Security in the Middle East. She also holds a bachelor’s degree from the American University of Beirut in Political Science and International Law.
Sanghun Seok is a PhD candidate in East Asian Studies at the University of Cambridge. Drawing on his previous experience as a South Korean career diplomat, his doctoral research examines nuclear politics in post-Cold War Northeast Asia from an international relations perspective informed by historical analysis.
His research interests include nuclear proliferation and deterrence, the role of language and narratives in international politics, and broader East Asian security. Alongside his doctoral research, he engages with policy communities, and his work has appeared in The RUSI Journal, The Diplomat, and NBR, among others. He has also been quoted in media outlets including the South China Morning Post, CNBC, and Newsweek. He is a Senior Associate Fellow at RUSI.
Zewelanji Nalwamba is an International Relations graduate from the University of Leicester, currently interning with the Nuclear Deterrence Network. Her research focuses on the geopolitics of emerging energy technologies, including nuclear fusion, critical minerals such as lithium, and the strategic implications of evolving clean energy supply chains.
Her academic interests lie at the intersection of international security, nuclear technologies, and China's global influence. Her dissertation examined China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and its impact on security and development in the Global South, with particular attention to the role of nuclear energy and technology within broader debates on infrastructure, development, and global power.
