Andrew Luks, MD

Dr. Luks is a Professor of Medicine at the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle, Washington. Since serving as the HRA physician at the Pheriche Clinic in the fall of 2003, Andrew has continued working in the field of high-altitude medicine physiology. In addition to working on volunteer ranger patrols on Denali and participating in several research projects at high altitude, he has taught as part of the Nepal Diploma in Mountain Medicine course and published many papers on high altitude medicine and, most recently, served as the lead author on the sixth edition of Ward, Milledge and West’s High Altitude Medicine and Physiology."

Luanne Freer, MD

Dr. Freer, MD, FACEP, FAWM is a board-certified emergency physician who spent 27 years in Yellowstone National Park as medical director before retiring from that position at the end of 2020. She is a past president of the Wilderness Medical Society and has been volunteering in Nepal with a variety of nonprofit organizations for over 20 years. Dr. Freer staffed the Himalayan Rescue Association’s Pheriche clinic in 2002 when she conceived of the idea of a seasonal hospital at Everest base camp. She is the founder and medical director of the Everest ER, established in 2003. She lives in the San Juan Islands US with her Nepali adopted dog Lhola.

Maritam Pun, MD

Dr. Pun is a high-altitude researcher with extensive field experience in Nepali Himalayas. After completing his graduate work in Mountain Medicine and High Altitude Physiology at the University of Calgary, Canada he worked as an Assistant Professor at the Department of Clinical Physiology, Maharajgunj Medical Campus, Institute of Medicine, Kathmandu, Nepal. Dr. Pun also worked as a researcher at the Institute of Mountain Emergency Medicine, European Academy of Bolzano (Eurac Research). Dr. Pun has been contributing to MMSN for about two decades in different capacities in the executive body as well as, as an active member. Currently, Dr. Pun focuses his research on high-altitude pathophysiology, sleep-disordered breathing, and neurocognitive/vascular functions.

Monika Brodmann Maeder, MD

Dr. Brodmann Maeder is the President of the Swiss Institute of Medical Education (SIME) and the President of the International Society of Mountain Medicine (ISMM). Until February 2021, she worked as a senior consultant, member of the clinical management, educator, and head of the research group “Wilderness Medicine” for the Department of Emergency Medicine at the University Hospital in Bern / Switzerland and as a senior researcher and educator in mountain emergency medicine for the EURAC research Institute for Mountain Emergency Medicine in Bolzano/Italy. She holds a Master of Medical Education (MME) from the University of Bern, a Certificate of Clinical Scholars Research from Harvard Medical School, and Diplomas in Mountain and Expedition Medicine from ICAR, ISMM, and UIAA. Dr. Brodmann is the author of more than 40 peer-reviewed publications in international scientific journals and has contributed to standard books in mountain emergency and wilderness medicine. She is an active speaker at international conferences with a focus on mountain emergency medicine. Since the year 2000, Monika has been closely connected with Nepal as a member of the medical commission for the Pasang Lhamu Nicole Niquille Hospital in Lukla and as an instructor for mountain and helicopter rescuers in Nepal.