Ibrokhim Y. Abdurakhmonov received his BS in Biotechnology from the National University, Uzbekistan(1997), an MS in Plant Breeding from Texas A&M University (2001), and a Ph.D. in Molecular Genetics (2002), and a DSc from the Academy of Sciences of Uzbekistan (2009). He became a full professor (2011) at the same Academy of Sciences. He founded the Center of Genomics and Bioinformatics of Uzbekistan in 2012. He was elected as a fellow (2014) of The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) and a member (2017) of the Academy of Sciences of Uzbekistan. He served as Uzbekistan's Minister of Innovative Development and Higher Education, Science, and Innovations Minister from 2017 to 2023. In 2023, he was appointed as the Minister of Agriculture of the Republic of Uzbekistan. He received the 2010 TWAS prize and ICAC Cotton Researcher of the Year 2013 for his outstanding contribution to cotton genomics. He was honored as the 2022 Ambassador of Silk Road Friendship by CICEC and Global People Magazine. He received the 2023 UNESCO-Equatorial Guinea International Prize for Research in the Life Sciences. He received the 8th VCANBIO Award for Biosciences and Medicine in 2023.

Arruda is a full professor, Department of Genetics, Institute of Biology, State University of Campinas (Unicamp). He received his PhD in genetics from Unicamp and has pioneered the field of plant molecular biology and plant genomics in Brazil. His research interests are on the understanding the regulation of gene expression in plants and its impact on amino acid metabolism and plant response to biotic and abiotic stresses. He is a member of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences. He has received honours including the National Order of Scientific Merit, Brazil; Scientific and Technological Merit Award, State of São Paulo; and 2001 RedBio Medal, Red Latino-Americana de Biotecnologia (FAO) for his contribution to the development of plant biotechnology in Latin America and Caribe. He was co-founder and scientific director of the plant biotechnology company Alellyx Applied Genomics.

Assem is vice-president of the Agricultural Research Center in Egypt. She was the former director of the Agricultural Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering Research Institute (ARC). She is specialized in plant molecular biology and biotechnology. She visited and exchanged her experiences as a visiting scientist at several universities and biotech companies in the USA. Assem is a member of the African Union High Level Panel on Emerging Technologies and the former vice-chair of the Genetic Sciences National Committee of the Egyptian Academy of Science and Technology, Egypt. She is a Fulbright Alumnus, USA (2002-2003). Assem is a member of the Board of Directors of the Biotechnology Programme, Faculty of Agriculture, Banha University, Egypt. She was a team leader for one of the groups updating the Sustainable Agricultural Development Strategy (2019) of the Ministry of Agriculture and Land Reclamation, Egypt, and she received the FAO Prize 2017. She participated in several basic and applied national and international research projects, she has several publications in peer reviewed journals, and is a reviewer for some national and international funding schemes.

Azevedo is full professor at the Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz, University of São Paulo (USP) in Piracicaba. He obtained his PhD in 1992 at Lancaster University, United Kingdom. He is Fellow of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences since 2010. Azevedo supervised 18 Master and 30 PhD students and 24 post-doctoral fellows. Azevedo has held positions as Coordinator of two Post-Graduate Programs, other administrative positions at USP, and Member of the Botany Advisory Committee at Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq), among others. Azevedo is strongly involved with scientific editing and was a member of the Editorial Board of several journals. He is currently the Editor-in-Chief of Annals of Applied Biology (Wiley). He is also a member of the Advisory Board of Scientia Agricola. He was Vice-President of the Brazilian Association of Scientific Editors. He has published over 210 papers.

Badrie is professor of food microbiology and safety at the West Indies at St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago. She has served as Deputy Dean of Research and Innovation and Head of Dept. She is a past pres., Caribbean Inst. of Food Science and Techn., vice-pres. and dir. of publication, Caribbean Agro-Economic Soc., and public relations officer, Caribbean Acad. of Sciences. Her awards include: NIHERST Reudranath Capildeo gold medal winner in applied science and tech.. EU/CARPIMS scholar, Fulbright Researcher/Scholar; UNU fellow; TWAS/CARISCIENCE Young Female Scientist; European Union Lome IV-CULP-UWI fellowship; USAID Internatl. Dev.; Short-term Vis. Intl. Scholar; Assocn. of Commonwealth U. fellow, Intl.. She serves on the editorial board of three intl. journals.

Akissa Bahri is currently Professor at the National Agricultural Institute of Tunisia. She was the Coordinator of the African Water Facility ‘2010-2015), the Director for Africa at the International Water Management Institute, based in Accra, Ghana (2005-2010), and prior to that, Director of Research at the National Research Institute for Agricultural Engineering, Water and Forestry in Tunisia. She has academic and professional experience in water resources management and the agricultural use of marginal waters, biosolids and their environmental impacts. She has received international honors from the Guinness Foundation (1984), the International Foundation for Science (1993), the Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences (1996), the 2009 "Prof. C.N.R. Rao Prize for Scientific Research", and the 2018 IWA Women in Water Award. She was a Fulbright Scholar at the University of California at Davis in 2005. She holds an Agricultural Engineer degree from the Ecole Nationale Supérieure d'Agronomie de Toulouse, France, a Doctor-Engineer degree from the Institut National Polytechnique de Toulouse, France, and a Ph.D. in Water Resources Engineering from Lund University.

Founding Executive Director, University of California, Davis; President Emeritus, Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, St. Louis, MO; Professor, Department of Biology, Washington Univ., St. Louis. Former director Natl. Inst. of Food and Agriculture, US Dept. of Agriculture. Education: BA in biology (1966) Goshen College, Indiana; PhD in plant pathology (1973) Michigan State Univ., East Lansing. Previous academic positions: Washington Univ., St. Louis, Missouri; Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA. Member, US National Academy of Science; Fellow, AAAS and Academy of Microbiology; Foreign Fellow, National Academy of Sciences of India and Indian National Science Academy. Awards include the Wolf Prize in Agriculture; Dennis Robert Hoagland Award, American Society of Plant Biologists; Scientist of the Year, R and D Magazine; and Ruth Allen Award, American Phytopathological Society.

Bharat Chattoo is a professor in the department of microbiology and biotechnology centre, MS University of Baroda, coordinator of the Biotechnology Programme and director of the Centre for Genome Research. He is the founder vice chancellor of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University. He obtained his PhD from the University of Delhi. Subsequently, he worked at the University of Rochester Medical Centre and has been a visiting scientist/professor at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel, National Institute of Bioscience and Human Technology, Rice Genome Programme in Tsukuba, Japan, and Ciba-Geigy in Basle. He was a staff scientist at the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad, and also worked at the Friedrich Miescher Institute, Basle. He serves on several committees of the Government of India and Gujarat state and has published extensively.

Chopra (PhD, Edinburgh) is chancellor of the Central University of Kerala, India. He was educated at the University of Delhi and Indian Agricultural Research Institute where he began his research career in 1958. He has held key positions in the government of India including Dir. Gen., Indian Council of Agricultural Research, and Member, Planning Commission. He sat on the Boards of Trustees of IRRI, ICRISAT and CYMMIT, and was a member of the Science Council, CGIAR. He is a fellow of the Indian Natl. Science Acad.; Indian Acad. of Science; Natl. Acad. of Science India; Natl. Acad. of Agricultural Science and Eur. Acad. of Science, Arts and Humanities. His honours include: Padma Bhushan, India; Aryabhata Award, INSA; Biological Science Award, FICCI; and Borlaug Award. He served as president of the Natl. Acad. of Agricultural Science, and has received DSc (h.c.) from six universities.

Clegg's research in evolutionary genetics combines statistical analyses with modern molecular techniques. Major accomplishments include characterizing the dynamics of linkage disequilibrium in plant and animal populations, showing that plant chloroplast gene evolve slowly, pioneering the use of DNA sequence data in plant phylogenetic inference and using molecular data in the study of crop domestication. He is a member of the US National Academy of Sciences; the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Philosophical Society. He has been awarded the Guggenheim Fellowship, Darwin Prize from Edinburgh University and the Award of Distinction from UC Davis, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.

Egamberdieva is the Head of the research group at the Faculty of Biology, National University of Uzbekistan. She received her PhD in agricultural sciences from the Humboldt University of Berlin, Germany. On the national level she has played a leading role in the implementation and evaluation of the national programmes and projects in agricultural research for sustainable development, and acts as a Chair of the Executive Committee of the OWSD Central Asia National Chapter, and Vice-Chair and National Focal Point Representative to the UNESCO-STEPAN (Science and Technology Policy Asian Network). Egamberdieva is also involved in science policy, and served on the advisory committee of the German Council of Science and Humanities (WR). She currently serves on the High-Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition (HLPE), the science-policy interface of the UN Committee on World Food Security, and also acts as the Country Ambassador for the American Society for Microbiology (ASM). She is a member of the Global Young Academy (GYA). In 2023 she has been awarded with UNESCO Carlos Finley Prize for Microbiology.

El-Beltagy served as Egypt’s Minister of Agriculture and Land Reclamation. He is currently Chair, International Drylands Development Commission (IDDC); Professor, Arid Land Agricultural graduate studies & Research Institute (ALARI), Ain Shams University; Chair, Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees, Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Egypt, Board Member of the Egyptian Academy for the Scientific Research & Technology; Chair, Food and Agriculture Research Council, Egyptian Academy of Science; Former President, governing board, CIHEAM; Chair, Global Forum for Agric. Research (GFAR); DG, ICARDA; The Golden Medal of CIHEAM & France Commander of the Order of Agric. in recognition of enhancing the Ag development in the Mediterranian ; Member of: Russian Acad. of Agric. Sciences, Moscow; Tajik Acad. of Agric. Sciences; Kyrgyz Agrarian Acad.; and Scientific Council, Azerbaijan Agric Acad. Awards include: Fellow of Univ. of Wales, UK; Al-Istiklal Medal, HM King Abdullah II bin Hussein of Jordan; Golden Medal Award, Armenia; hon. DSc, Univ. of Khartoum, Sudan; and member, Sultan Qaboos ‘first class’ order for Culture, sciences&Arts for enhancing Develop.of Ag in the Dry Areas.

Fang is professor and director of the Department of Agricultural Microbiology and Biotechnology, Institute of Microbiology (IOM), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). He was the director of IOM from 2000 to 2004 and elected a member of CAS in 2003. He has made important contributions in plant virology and plant biotechnology. He has characterized the genomes of several plant viruses including cauliflower mosaic virus and rice yellow stunt rhabdovirus. He successfully developed the transgenic tobacco plants resistant to both tobacco mosaic virus and cucumber mosaic virus, which were planted as early as 1992 at the largest scale in the world at that time. He also analyzed and improved the CaMV 35S promoter which has been widely used in plant biotechnology. More recently, he developed an artificial miRNA approach to control plant virus infection.

Specializing in metabolomics, natural products chemistry, and plant biochemistry, Farag completed his PhD at Texas Tech University, USA, in 2003. In 2005, after spending time as a postdoctoral fellow at The Samuel Noble Foundation, USA, and the James Graham Brown Cancer Center, USA, he became assistant professor in 2005 at the Faculty of Pharmacy, Cairo University, Egypt. Since 2009, Farag has been working as a part time visiting professor at the Technical University of Munich, Germany, to participate in teaching plant metabolomics and chemomterics modelling for master students, and in 2009–2010 he held the Alexander von Humboldt fellowship in Germany. Farag now works full time as a professor at the American University in Cairo (AUC) where his research work focuses primarily around applying innovative biochemical technologies (metabolomics) to help answer complex biological questions in medicine, herbal drugs analysis and agriculture. For his highly cited publications of close to 5000 citations and an H index of 32, Farag was selected as a top researcher in the field of plant biology in Africa by the American society of plant biology, United States.

Fontes is a professor at the Federal University of Viçosa (UFV), coordinator of the National Institute of Science and Technology in plant-pest interaction, and a member of the Brazilian Academy of Science and the National Order of Scientific Merit by the Brazilian Presidency. She was the coordinator of graduate programmes at UFV, head of the Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Department, scientific director of the Arthur Bernardes Foundation, and member of the CNPq Genetics Advisory Committee and Fapemig Agricultural Advisory Committee. She is a member of the CAPES Evaluation Committee of Graduate Programmes in biotechnology and serves as a monitoring and associate editor for scientific journals. She received numerous prestigious awards, including the Marcos Luiz dos Mares Guia Award, senior researcher category by the Secretary of Science and Technology of MG, Capes Thesis Advising 2021 Award and Honorable Mentions, Nano Cell Institute Award, Winner of the II Scientists and Entrepreneur of the Year, Fundação Arthur Bernardes Award for research achievement and Peter H. Rolfs Medal of Merit in Research by UFV.

Garidkhuu is president of the Mongolian National Academy of Sciences and professor at the Mongolian Univ. of Scs. and Technol.. PhD,1975; DSc, 1993, Russian State Agrarian Univ., Timiryazev, Russian Acad. of Scs.. He was: leading Sci. worker and Snr. Engr.,Mongolian Land Org. Expedition; Snr. Sci. worker, Inst. of Chem. and Mongolian Acad. of Scs.. Garidkhuu, is renowned for his fundamental and significant contribution to the development of Mongolian agriculture. Publs.:Soil Sci. of Mongolia;Mongolian Land Resources; Physical, chemical and biological properties of Mongolian Soil;and 300 Sci. articles in occupational journals. Membs.:Acad. of Nat. Scs. of Mongolia;Russian Acad. of Scs.;Kazakhstan Acad. of Scs.. Awards:Science Merit Badge of Mongolia; Golden Star Medal of Mongolia;Golden medal, WIPO; Golden medal of Sinyagin,Russian Acad. of Scs.;Hon. Doctorates and Prof.,Russian Acad. of Scs., Krasnoyarsk Agrarian Univ.; Honored Worker of Science, Pioneer in Agric. Devel. of Mongolia.

Grossi de Sa (PhD, 1987, U. Paris VII) is the head of the Plant-Pest Molecular Interaction Group, EMBRAPA Genetic Resources and Biotechnology (1989-) and professor, Catholic U. of Brasília (2004-). She was president, Brazilian Soc. of Biotechnology; coordinator, Area of Biotechnology (2008-13) and member, CTC-ES, CAPES, Brazil (2008-14). Currently, she is member, Internatl. Advisory Committee, CAPES, and full member, Brazilian Acad. of Sciences. She is a recipient of the Scopus Award 2010 (Elsevier/Capes). Her research emphasizes on plant biotechnology, acting on themes, which include plant defense proteins (proteinase inhibitors, alpha-amylase inhibitors, lectins, defensins, osmotins), insecticidal proteins, plant-pests molecular interaction, development of GM plants for tolerance/resistance to biotic stress and abiotic stress and development of biopharmaceuticals.

Guharay (Ph.D.,1982, University of Nottingham), is currently Advisor Projects and Services with a Mesoamerican Information Services for Sustainable Agriculture, SIMAS. Earlier he served as Program manager Climate Smart Cocoa World Cocoa Foundation (WCF), Scientist Research for Development, International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT); Programme Leader for Integrated Pest Management and Agroforestry, Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center (CATIE), Professor of Plant Protection, National Agricultural University, Nicaragua (UNA) and Research Assistant Professor Biophysics, State University of New York at Buffalo. He is a member of the Latin American Society of Agroecology. He elucidated the biophysical basis of mechanoreception by discovering stretch-activated ion channels. His research helped to scale the biological control of vectors of Malaria in Nicaragua and laid the foundation of ecological management of agroforestry systems in Mesoamerica. He was awarded National Scholarship for Ph.D. studies by Govt. of India in 1978, the Research Scientist of the year by CATIE 2003, and the Coffee personality of Nicaragua by RAMACAFE 2006.

Hasanuzzaman is a professor of agronomy at Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, in Dhaka, Bangladesh. He earned his PhD at Ehime University, Japan, and completed his postdoctoral research at the University of the Ryukyus, Okinawa, Japan. Subsequently, he became an adjunct senior researcher at the University of Tasmania. Hasanuzzaman has more than 400 Scopus-indexed publications, of which more than 250 in the Web of Science. His publications are cited over 27000 times as per Scopus with an H-index of 83 (as of November 2024). He is an editor and a reviewer for more than 80 peer-reviewed international journals and the recipient of Publons Peer Review Award (in 2017, 2018, and 2019). In 2014, he received the TWAS Young Scientist Award. He was also awarded the University Grants Commission Gold Medal, the Bangladesh Academy of Sciences Gold Medal Award, the Global Network of Bangladeshi Biotechnologists Award and the Society for Plant Research Young Scientist Award. He is a Fellow of the Bangladesh Academy of Sciences, the Royal Society of Biology, and the Linnean Society of London. He is a Highly Cited Researcher by Clarivate (2021, 2022).

Heong is Qiushi Chair professor Zhejiang University and Sr. Advisor, Center for Agricultural Biosciences Internatl. (CABI), Malaysia . He obtained his BSc (zoology) from U. of Malaya; his MSc, PhD and DSc from Imperial College, London. He is recognized internationally as an authority on science, technology and the implementation of pest ecology, biodiversity, ecological engineering, farmers' decision-making and pest management. He has served as a snr. res. off., Malaysian Agric. Res & Development Inst, and principal scientist, International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), Philippines. His honors include: Medal for Agriculture Development, Medal for Scientific Excellence from the Govt. of Vietnam; St Andrews Prize, US Council of Agric S and T Charles Black Award, TWAS Prize for agriculture, WB Marketplace Award, COM+Award for communication, Intern Plant Protection Award of Distinction and Zhejiang Westlake Friendship Award, Research Star Award. He is fellow of Academy of Science, Malaysia.

Hungria got her PhD in Agronomy (Soil Science) from Universidade Federal Rural do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and held postdoctoral positions at the universities of Cornell, California-Davis (USA) and Seville (Spain). She has been a Researcher at Embrapa since 1982, at Embrapa Soja (Londrina) since 1991, and a Researcher of National Council of Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq) since 1992. She is a Professor of microbiology and biotechnology at the University of Londrina, and supervised more than 100 MSc and PhD students. Her experience is in agronomy with emphasis on soil biotechnology: biological nitrogen fixation, biodiversity; taxonomy and phylogeny of prokaryotes, microbial ecology, soil microbiology, plant growth promoting bacteria; plant physiology; inoculant production; technologies of inoculation; omics sciences; microbial culture collections. She has over 500 refereed scientific articles, book chapters, books and technical publications. She launched more than 20 technologies, including microbial strains and commercial inoculants. She received more than 20 prizes, including the TWAS-Lenovo Science Award (2020). She is a member of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences.

Ideris, a renowned scientist in avian medicine, pioneered animal vaccines development in Malaysia. Her research interest is in avian respiratory and immunosuppressive diseases. She plays an instrumental role in advancing efforts towards food security and sustainable food production in developing countries. As a distinguished scientist, Ideris was elected to various fellowships, such as, Senior Fellow Academy of Sciences Malaysia (FASc), Fellow Islamic World Academy of Sciences (FIAS), Founding Fellow Malaysian College of Veterinary Specialists (FMCVS), Fellow Malaysian Scientific Association (FMSA), Fellow Malaysian Institute of Marketing (FMIM), and also elected as an Inaugural Member Hall of Honour, World Veterinary Poultry Association, for her contributions in scientific research and outstanding leadership. Ideris has won various national and international awards. She sits on various councils. She has a wealth of experience in administration as well as an educator. She was the eighth vice-chancellor of Universiti Putra Malaysia (2016–2020) and is currently the pro-chancellor of the International Medical University Malaysia, since 2021.

Islam, an internationally reputed scientist in agrobiotechnology, has played a key role in establishing the Institute of Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering at BSMRAU, Bangladesh. He did PhD at Hokkaido University (HU), and postdoctoral research at the HU, University of Goettingen, University of Nottingham, and West Virginia University under the fellowship programs of Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Alexander von Humboldt, Commonwealth, and Fulbright, respectively. He is one of the top 2% of researchers in the world. He collaborated with Sophien Kamoun and led international scientists to rapidly identify the origin of the first epidemic outbreak of wheat blast in Bangladesh. His team developed a novel rapid diagnosis of wheat blast fungus in collaboration with researchers in China and the USA. He is Editor-in-Chief of Bacilli and Agrobiotechnology, and CRISPR-Cas Methods, and Editor of Physiologia Plantarum, Scientific Reports, Physiologia Plantarum, PLOS One, Frontiers in Microbiology, and CAB Reviews. He is an elected Fellow of the Bangladesh Academy of Sciences and the American Phytopathological Society. He received many awards and medals for his accomplishments.

Jahiruddin (PhD, 1986, Aberdeen University) is a Professor of Soil Science, former Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture and former Associate Director of Central Laboratory at Bangladesh Agricultural University. He obtained BAS Gold Medal Award 2009, Global Research Impact Award 2017, BAAG Gold Medal Award 2018 and Soil Care Award 2018. He is a Fellow of Bangladesh Academy of Sciences (BAS). Professor Jahiruddin has a very high record of research publications in relation to Micronutrient problems, arsenic contamination and conservation agriculture. He worked as a team leader for research priority setting in agriculture and development of vision document -2030 and beyond in Bangladesh: Land and Soil Resource Management.