Rina Suryani Oktari is an Associate Professor and Vice Dean of Student, Alumni, and Partnership Affairs at the Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Syiah Kuala (USK). She holds several important roles in the field of disaster management, including: 1) Coordinator for the Disaster Education and Management Research Cluster at Tsunami and Disaster Mitigation Research Center (TDMRC) (2014-present); 2) Associate Editor of the International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction (IJDRR), Elsevier (2023-present); 3) Editor of the International Journal of Disaster Management (IJDM) (2020-present); 4) Chairperson of the Sociocultural Working Group of the Indonesian Association of Disaster Experts (IABI) (2024-present); 5) Head of the Graduate Program in Disaster Science - at USK (2022-2024); 6) Secretary of the Indonesian Disaster Management Society (MPBI) (2021-2024); 7) Country Focal Point (CFP) of the Inter-agency Network for Education in Emergencies (INEE)(2022-2024); 8) Head of Family Medicine Department, Faculty of Medicine, USK (2015-2019). 

Dr. Oktari earned her Doctoral Degree in Disaster Science from the Graduate School of Mathematics and Applied Science, Universitas Syiah Kuala, and was an alumnus of the Pan Asia Risk Reduction (PARR) Fellowship Program at the International Environment and Disaster Management (IEDM) Laboratory, Kyoto University. In 2019, she was recognized as the Young Scientist of the Integrated Research on Disaster Risk (IRDR) worldwide.

Dr. Oktari has been awarded several international research grants as a Co-Principal Investigator, including from Newton Fund Institutional Links - UK, Botnar Foundation - Switzerland, ESRC Global Challenges Research Fund – UK, PEER USAID – US, and World Health Organization – Kobe (Japan). She has also collaborated on research with several world-class universities, such as the University of Pittsburgh, University College London, Griffith University, DIGNITY, Colorado University, and Copenhagen University. She had familiarized herself with the Disaster Management field since she worked for Tsunami 2004 Response and Recovery in Aceh. She has more than ten years of working experience in humanitarian and development issues, including Islamic Relief, the United Nations, and the Australian Government's funded program called Local Governance Innovations for Community in Aceh Phase II (LOGICA2). Her broad research interests include disaster education, disaster health, early warning system, climate change, community preparedness and resilience, knowledge management, and disaster communication. She has published in several reputed international journals, chapter books, and proceedings.

Previous research projects: 1) UKRI: Fostering Resilient Recovery in Displaced Communities via School-based Hubs; 2) APN-START: Exploring the Existing School-Community Network and Enabling Environment for Enhancing Community Resilience to Disaster. On-going research projects: 1) KONEKSI: CORE-STEP Advancing Innovative Knowledge-based Solutions for Inclusive and Climate-Ready Primary Health Care Systems; 2) SATREPS: Building Sustainable System for Resilience and Innovation in Coastal Community (BRICC) project; 3) BOTNAR: Addressing the Wellbeing and Security Needs of Urban Children and Adolescents in Indonesia in the Digital Era: Adapting the Safe Communities Safe Schools (SCSS) Model

Dr. Oktari has supervised a total of 3 PhD, 18 master's, and 42 bachelor's students. Supervised Doctoral/PhD students: 1) Brury Apriadi Husaini; 2) Teuku Renaldi; 3) Budi Satria. Supervised Master students: 1) Nurul Rahmah Desilia; 2) Nasliati; 3) Risnan Aldino; 4) Fahlida Harnita; 5) Noralina; 6) Tibyan Asyukri; 6) Yolanda; 7) Windi Asnita Sari; 8) Nazirurrahman; 9) Cut Isna Afrillia; 10) Satria Wardhana; 11) Maya Safira; 12) Sayed Al Qaby Akbar; 13) Maisura Adlina; 14) Harry Mulyana Pradipta; 15) Rika Zardini; 16) Signorina Kasvia; 17) Muhammad Prima Syahputra; 18) Ifenna Obiwulu. Supervised Bachelor students: 1) Ardiansyah Yolanda Putra; 2) Muhammad Dezha Detiro; 3) Debby Sofiana; 4) Ghazi Maulana; 5) Zihni Janan; 6) Mutia Fathin; 7) Deza Rosiva AR; 8) M. Edwin Mufid; 9) Muhammad Fathan Mubina; 10) Ighra Khalisa; 11) Cut Intan Agustia; 12) Raden Roro Annisa; 13) Izzatun Nisa; 14) Rosa Elyza Putri; 15) Yasarah; 16) Salwa Nabila; 17) Lilla Raswita; 18) Balqis Qanita; 19) Bella Nurhadisah; 20) Chinta Simah Bengi; 21) Muhammad Ichsan; 22) Johansyah; 23) Aliya Salsabila; 24) Riska Tri Ananda; 25) Nanang Fungani Fajar; 26) Sarah Natasya; 27) Endaitha Salsalina; 28) Randy Rolanda; 29) Benjamin; 30) Almira Nooren; 31) Natasya Putri; 32) Rolan Ronaldo; 33) Desrita Kamelia Sari; 34) Syawelleony Rania Zhusto; 35) Dista Ismaridha; 36) Umairana; 37) Yasir Mutthaqin; 38) Popy Maysulastri; 39) Dea Amanda Raisayanti; 40) Bagas Zulkarnain; 41) Kaniya Atsilah; 42) Kastrun Nabila.