Takako Izumi is an associate professor at the International Research Institute of Disaster Science (IRIDeS), Tohoku University, Japan since 2013. She also serves as Program Director of the Multi Hazards Program under the Association of Pacific Lim Universities (APRU), which comprises 50 universities and academic institutes in the Pacific Lim. Her research interests include international and regional frameworks/strategies for disaster risk reduction (DRR), international humanitarian assistance, and DRR initiatives at the local and community levels.

Previously she worked for international NGO and UN agencies such as Un Habitat, UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) for disaster response and its coordination in Asia, and UN Office for the Recovery Coordinator for Ache and Nias (UNORC) to assist the recovery efforts after the Indian Ocean Tsunami.

She was appointed as a member of UNDRR’s Asia-Pacific Science Technology and Academia Advisory Group (ASTAAG) in May 2015. She holds Ph.D. in Global Environmental Study from Kyoto University, Japan.