Sir Zumla was born in Chipata, Zambia in 1955. He is dually qualified in Medicine (MB.ChB) and Science (PhD). He nearly lost his life to meningitis when he was working as a junior doctor in London in 1982. He subsequently progressed to a meteoric, star-studded, and extremely successful career focussed on tackling killer infectious diseases. Sir Zumla's research, training, capacity development, advocacy and charitable contributions to World Health Organization's Research and Development Blueprint Priority Diseases of TB, TB/HIV, COVID-19, MERS, and other epidemic-prone Emerging and re-emerging infections, are an exceptional major body of work developed with an upward trajectory along these specific themes over three decades. As of Nov 2022, Sir Zumla has over 880 publications (inc. 760 PubMed; 22 medical textbooks; 67 book chapters, and 40 journal themed series). His Google Scholar H-index is 122, i10index is 560, with 68,200 citations. Sir Zumla has received over 28 prestigious accolades/prizes including: Knighthood from HM The Queen-2017; IUATBLD UNION MEDAL-2018; Mahathir Science Prize-2020; EU-EDCTP Pascoal Mocumbi Prize-2021; Roy.Soc.Trop.Med.Hyg Sir Patrick Manson Medal.

Zichichi, em. prof. of Adv. Phys., U. of Bologna, has authored over 1100 sci. papers incl. 7 discoveries, 5 inventions, 3 original ideas which opened new avenues in high energy subnuclear physics and 4 high-precision measurements of fundamental physics properties. Among the discoveries: nuclear antimatter; among the inventions: an electronic circuit for time-of-flight measurements with a precision of seventy thousandth of a billionth of a second; among the original ideas that which brought to the discovery of the third column in the fundamental structure of the Universe. The great projects of European Physics (LEP and LAA at CERN, GRAN SASSO at INFN, HERA at DESY) are linked to his name, for his seminal contributions in their conception, study and implementation phases. He has been in charge of high-level offices and received 102 prizes, distinctions and medals in 15 countries.

Zhuang is a research professor at the Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and professor at the University of CAS. She graduated (PhD 1988) from and served as a postdoctoral fellow (1990) in the Department of Plant Pathology at Cornell University, USA, and jointed the Department of Mycology, Institute of Microbiology, CAS, Beijing in 1981. She was elected as a member of CAS in 2009. Her research is focused on the morphological and molecular approaches to systematics and phylogeny of certain groups of Ascomycota, species diversity of fungi from different areas of China, DAN barcoding of selected groups, and natural resources of fungicolous ascomycetes.

Zhu, academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), professor of biogeochemistry and environmental soil science, is the science director of the Institute of Urban Environment, CAS. Zhu is a leader in taking multi-scale and multi-disciplinary approaches to soil and environmental problems. He obtained his PhD in environmental biology from Imperial College, London in 1998. He is currently the co-editor-in-chief of Environment International (Elsevier), founding editor of Soil Ecology Letters, and an editorial member for a few other international journals. He is a scientific committee member for the International Science Council (ISC) programme on Human Health and Wellbeing in Changing Urban Environment, and served for nine years as a member of the Standing Advisory Group for Nuclear Application, International Atomic Energy Agency (2004-2012). Zhu is the recipient of many merit awards, among them including the TWAS Prize in Agricultural Science 2013, and the National Natural Science Award 2009. Zhu has published over 400 papers in international journals. He is an ISI highly cited researcher.

Zhu received B.Eng. degree from Zhejiang University in 1982 and PhD degree from McMaster University, Canada, in 1991. He joined Department of Chemical Engineering at McMaster University as a faculty member in 1994 and served as department chair from 2009 to 2014. He has served as a vice-president of The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen since 2017. Zhu works on polymer reaction engineering and materials, advanced polyolefin products, and smart polymers. He has trained 140 graduate students and postdoctoral fellows, published 378 papers, received 13900 SCI citations, given 300 invited seminars. He was elected to Canada Research Chair in 2001, as a fellow to Chemical Institute of Canada in 2009, to Canadian Academy of Engineering in 2010, to Engineering Institute of Canada in 2011, and to Royal Society of Canada in 2014. He was bestowed the highest honor Distinguished University Professor by McMaster University in 2015 and awarded the primary R.S. Jane Memorial Award by Canadian Society of Chemical Engineering in 2016. He is a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of several academic publications. He is an active consultant for polymer industries.

Zhu is a distinguished professor of Institute of Geology and Geophysics (IGG), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing. He served terms as Director of IGG-CAS and State Key Laboratory of Lithospheric Evolution. He is an author of more than 300 journal articles. He has pursued several distinct lines of research in paleomagnetism and geodynamics, including geomagnetic field reversal, paleointensity, magnetostratigraphy, and environmental magnetism. For example, his pacesetting work in magnetostratigraphic dating of early human settlements has dated the earliest human occupation in mainland East Asia at ~1.7 Ma, providing new insights into early human evolution. His efforts in exploring destruction of the North China Craton enable a significant advance in the understanding of continental evolution and plate tectonics. He was elected a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union, an academician of CAS, and a Fellow of TWAS. He was awarded the National Natural Science Award, the TWAS Prize in Earth Sciences, the Scientific and Technological Progress Prize of HLHL Foundation (Hong Kong), and the Young Scientist Award of China.

Zhu (PhD, 1999, Donghua University), member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, is currently the dean of the College of Materials Science and Engineering and the director of the State Key Laboratory for Modification of Chemical Fibers and Polymer Materials at Donghua University. She has served as the vice-president for Chinese Materials Research Society (C-MRS) since 2016, for the Chinese Association of Women Scientific Workers since 2019, and for the China Textile Engineering Society since 2020. She is recognized as a pioneer in the discovery and development of melt spinning process theory of polymer-based nanocomposite fibers in China. She published over 450 SCI papers, 10 books and chapters. Over 300 Chinese Invention Patents were filed and granted. Her honors and awards include Second Prize of National Award for Technological Inventions (2020), National Innovation Competition Award (2017), First Prize of Shanghai Natural Science Award (2018), First Prize of Shanghai Award for Technological Invention (2015), the Cheung Kong Scholars (2013), Shanghai Science and Technology Elite (2011), Second Prize of National Award for Progress in Science and Technology (2006).

Zhou is director of the Xi'an AMS Center, China. She has also been director of the Institute of Earth Environment and the State Key Laboratory, Chinese Academy of Sciences. She obtained her PhD in geology and was awarded The First National Prize for the One Hundred Most Outstanding PhD Theses by the Ministry of Education, China. She has pioneered the development of chronostratigraphic and geochemical tracer techniques using loess 10Be and 14C for Quaternary studies and revolutionized the understandings of north-south hemisphere interactions and geomagnetic excursion or reversal processes. She has been awarded two National Prizes (numbers 2 and 3) in Natural Science and five number 1 State Prizes in Advanced Science and Technology. Her international experience includes associate editor, Radiocarbon Journal(now editorial member), and panel member, PAGES/CLIVAR working group (2004-08).