Toledo, a Bolivian biologist who earned a PhD in 2010 from Wageningen University and Research, The Netherlands, is a professor, researcher, and laboratory coordinator in the Biology Department at Gabriel René Moreno University in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. She held the position of botanist in the BOLFOR project, research coordinator in the Bolivian Institute of Forest Research, and executive director at Noel Kempff Mercado Museum of Natural History. Toledo studied the vegetation diversity and structure, and the plants used by indigenous peoples in the Bolivian lowlands. From her participation in several projects, she obtained many publications, including book chapters, books, and scientific papers. She also presented results at (inter)national congresses and has made contributions to human resource development by supervising graduate students and training local people. She was chief editor of the Journal of the Bolivian Botany Society and the Kempffiana Journal. Currently, Marisol Toledo is a member of the Academy of Sciences of Bolivia; National Advisory Committee of the Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund; and in international research networks ( RAINFOR, 2ndForests).

After retirement from WHO on 1st July 2014, Touré is researcher in medical entomology and professor of cell biology and genetics at the Faculty of Medicine and Odonto-stomatology (FMOS) of Bamako, Mali. He was the disease vector research Manager for WHO/TDR from June 2001-June 2014. Before joining TDR, he was a researcher in medical entomology and professor of cell biology and genetics at the Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy (FMPOS), Bamako, Mali; director general of the National Research Council (CNRST) of Mali; and head of the Malaria Research and Training Center (MRTC), FMPOS. He holds a PhD (1985) in life sciences (vector population ecological genetics) from Université de Droit, d'Economie et des Sciences d'Aix-Marseille III, France. His honours include: Etoile d'argent du Mérite National du Mali avec effigie Abeille. He was a member of several WHO and WHO/TDR steering committees and technical advisory committees of research institutes in Mali and West Africa.

Tsai (Ph. D. 1978, Purdue) is Distinguished Research Fellow, Institute of Biological Chemistry, Academia Sinica. He is President of Taiwan Biophysics Society, and former president of Taiwan Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Taiwan Magnetic Resonance Society. He was the Kimberly Professor of Chemistry at The Ohio State University until 2006. From 2006-2014 Tsai served as Director of the Institute of Biological Chemistry of Academia Sinica. His honor includes an Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship (1983-1985), the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award (1985-1990), the Distinguished Scholar Award of The Ohio State University (1992), Elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (1992), and Distinguished Alumnus Award (Purdue College of Pharmacy). He also serves as an Associate Editor of Biochemistry since 2010. He was elected to Academician of Academia Sinica in 2012.

Tuteja (PhD 1982, DSc 2008, U. of Lucknow, India) is Prof. and dir., Amity Inst. of Microbial Tech., Amity U. (India). He has made significant contributions in crop improvement under adverse conditions using genetical and microbial approach, developing marker-free transgenic crops with stress tolerance. He was group leader and sen. scientist, Intl. Centre for Genetic Engg. and Biotech. (ICGEB), New Delhi, India; postdoc fellow, UCLA and NIH, USA. He is a fellow of FNASc., FNA, FASc., FNESA and FNAAS. His honours include: Genomic Pioneer Award; Best Scientist Award, Natl. Envl. Science Acad.; Vigyan Gaurav Samman Award, Council of Science and Tech. UP; and the Goyal Prize Award, Kurukshetra U.. He is editorial board member of Arch. Biochem. Biophys, Plant Physiol. Biochem., Plant Signaling and Behavior and The Open Plant Science J.. He has published +300 papers and edited 9 books.

Tyagi is professor, Delhi University South Campus, India. He has served as head, Dept. of Plant Molecular Biology; chairman, Board of Research Studies; and dir., Interdisciplinary Centre for Plant Genomics at Delhi University South Campus; and dir., Natl. Inst. Plant Genome Research, India. He has made important contributions to genome sequencing of rice, tomato and chickpea, investigated transcriptome profile and characterized function of several novel genes/regulatory elements related to rice reproductive system and stress responsive networks by forward and reverse genetics approaches. His awards include: JC Bose Natl. Fellowship; DBT Natl. Bioscience Award; NASI Reliance Industries Platinum Jubilee Award; BP Pal Memorial Award; Birbal Sahni Medal; and Om Prakash Bhasin Award for Sci and Tech. He is a member of: Ind. Natl. Science Acad.; Natl. Acad. of Sciences India; Ind. Acad. Science and Natl. Acad. of Agric. Scs., India; Former President, Natl. Acad. of Sciences India.

Val has been investigating environmental adaptations of fish of the Amazon, their use for food security, and fish farming for the last 40 years. He contributed to personnel training in the Amazon and headed the National Institute for Amazonian Research for 8 years. He is an accredited professor at the Graduate School of the University of Laval, Canada, and in local schools. He maintains intense international collaboration and is member of the Canadian Society of Zoology, the American Fisheries Society, the Society for Experimental Biology (UK) and of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences, acting as its Vice-President for the Amazon. He was awarded: Commendation of the National Order of Scientific Merit (Class Commander, 2002, and Grand Cross Class, 2013), American Fisheries Society's Excellence Award (2004); Grand Order of Legislative Merit of the State of Amazonas (2008); Citizenship award of the Amazonas State (2015); and the prestigious Anísio Teixeira Prize for Higher Education (2016).

Van Sluys (PhD in genetics and microbiology, 1989) is a full professor at the Universidade de São Paulo. Her research focuses on plant-microbe interaction relevant to agriculture and the natural environment, emphasizing genome evolution and how transposable elements may account for genetic diversity. She contributed to spreading biotechnology and genomics in Brazil and supervised over 50 students working in the field, now based in Brazil or abroad. Among other activities, she also contributed to organizing the Plant Molecular Biology research community in Brazil. She published over 100 papers, attended scientific meetings as a speaker, and organized multiple symposia and conferences. Van Sluys served as life-science adjunct panel member at FAPESP (São Paulo Research Foundation) for 15 years, and at the Brazilian Research Council (CNPq) for 4 years. She also served on several international evaluation research panels, including the National Academies, USA. Van Sluys has been a member of the São Paulo Academy of Sciences since 2015, served at the National Council for the Economic Development (2016–2018), and was elected to the Brazilian Academy of Sciences in 2016.

Varshney (PhD, 1985, University of Calgary, Canada) is a Professor of Microbiology and Cell Biology and Chair of Biological Sciences Division, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. He is fellow of Indian National Science Academy, New Delhi; Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore; and the National Academy of Sciences (Allahabad), India. He is a recipient of the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize; GN Ramachandran Gold Medal for Excellence in Biological Sciences and Technology; JC Bose National Fellowship; Life Sciences Research Award of Novo Nordisk Education Foundation, India; Ranbaxy Research Award for basic research in medical sciences; PS Sarma Memorial Award of the Society of Biological Chemists (India) and the first National Bioscience Career Development Award, among others. He is an honorary Professor at the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre of Advanced Scientific Research, Bangalore. He serves as a member/Chair on various advisory committees of research institutions and funding agencies.

Verma obtained his MSc in 1966 from Lucknow University, India and his PhD in biochemistry at The Weizmann Institute in Rehovot, Israel. He is professor in the Laboratory of Genetics at The Salk Institute in La Jolla, California; adjunct professor in the department of biology at UC San Diego; Editor-in-Chief of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (USA). His honours include: Medal of Outstanding Scientist, North American Scientists of Indian Origin; NIH Merit Award; NIH Outstanding Investigator Award; and the American Cancer Society Professor of Molecular Biology. His membership includes: National Academies of Sciences, USA; Institute of Medicine; American Academy of Arts and Sciences; the Indian National Science Academy; and the American Philosophical Society.

Vijayan is NASI Platinum Jubilee Senior Scientist, Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore. PhD from IISc and postdoctoral work at Oxford. Since 1971, worked in different capacities at IISc. Honours include: SS Bhatnagar Prize; GN Ramachandran Medal, JL Nehru Centen. vis. fellow, KS Krishnan Memorial Lecture, all of Indian National Science Academy (INSA); Alumni Award Excell. Res., IISc; FICCI Award; Ranbaxy Res. Award; Om Prakash Bhasin Award; JL Nehru Birth Centen. Award, Indian Science Congress Assoc.; Padma Shri; Distinguished Biotechnologist, DBT; DAE Homi Bhabha Professor; INSA Albert Einstein Professor; Goyal Prize; first CSIR/Science Congress GN Ramachandran Medal; Distinguished Alumni Award, IISc.; Singhania IIM National Leadership Award; Sarvadhikari Medal, Calcutta Univ.; Champion of CSIR and Kerala Science Award. Fellow of 3 science academies of India; President, Asian Crystallographic Asso., 2004-2007; Co-editor, Acta Crystallographica, 1993-2002; President, INSA, 2008-10.

VijayRaghavan is Emeritus Professor at the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS) of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) in Bangalore, India and Principal Scientific Adviser, Government of India. He studied engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, from which he received the Distinguished Alumnus Award. He pursued his doctoral work at TIFR, Mumbai, India, and postdoctoral work at the California Institute of Technology, USA. He is a fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences, the Indian National Science Academy, Associate Member of the European Molecular Biology Organization, a Fellow of the Royal Society and a Foreign Associate of the US National Academy of Sciences. He was awarded the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Biology, the Infosys Science Prize in the Life Sciences and is a JC Bose fellow of the Indian Government.

Villa is an Associate Professor at the Department of Radiology and Oncology of the Faculdade de Medicina of the Universidade de São Paulo (USP) and Head of the Innovation in Cancer Research of the Center for Translational Research in Oncology of the Instituto do Câncer do Estado de São Paulo (ICESP), São Paulo, Brazil. She graduated in Biological Sciences, USP and has a PhD in Sciences from the Institute of Chemistry of USP (1978). She was a researcher at the São Paulo branch of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research from 1983 to 2011, and was its director from 2006 to 2010. She is a full member of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences. In 2018 she received the Biology Prize from The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) in Trieste, Italy. Her research involves studies about human papillomavirus (HPV), cervical cancer, anogenital cancer, head and neck cancer, HPV infections in women and men, prophylactic HPV vaccines. As of end-2019, she had published 334 scientific articles (h-index: WOS 60). She made more than 500 presentations as invited speaker in meetings throughout the world. She has mentored 13 MSc, 20 PhD students and 8 Pos-Doctoral fellows.

Wang is a biochemist and molecular biologist. She is research professor at the Inst. of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). She obtained her MSc (enzymology, 1981) at the former Shanghai Inst. of Biochemistry. She has studied the interaction between enzyme and nucleic acid and has made an essential contribution to the study on interaction between aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases（aaRSs） and tRNAs. Using biochemical and molecular biological methods, she has explored amino acid and nucleotide residues in aminoacylation and editing functions of aaRSs from prokaryote to human. Her research has advanced understanding about the accuracy of protein biosynthesis based on interaction between aaRSs and tRNAs, the co-revolution of aaRSs/tRNA, and the mechanism of disease-associated mutations of tRNAs in mitochondria.

Prof. Dr. Xiyun Yan (CAS Engineering Laboratory for Nanozyme, Institute of Biophysics Chinese Academy of Sciences) is a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, focusing on precision cancer treatment. She introduced the concept of "Nanozyme" and used nano-materials as enzyme mimics to create new methods for tumor diagnosis and nanozyme-strip for rapid local detection of infectious diseases. She has also established the standard for determining nanozyme catalytic activity, founded Nanozyme Academic Subgroup of Biophysical Society of China and developed world's first nanozyme product. Dr. Yan's original research on nanozyme has paved the way for the emergence of the interdisciplinary field of nanozymes, bridging the disciplines of enzymology, chemistry, materials science, biology, and medicine. Now, more than 1,000 nanozymes have been reported by 490 laboratories across 40 countries. The significance of nanozymes has been acknowledged by Clarivate, which designated it as a "key hot frontier" in 2022. Additionally, the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) recognized Nanozyme as one of the top ten new technologies in 2022.

Yang is the Co-Founder and Chair of BGI-China. He and his partners have made a significant contribution to the international Human Genome Project, the HapMap Project, and the project referred to as G1K, with many publications in internationally prestigious journals, such as "Science" and "Nature", among others. Yang obtained his PhD from the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, and had postdoctoral trainings in France and the US. In 2006, he became Associate Member of the European Molecular Biology Organization; in 2007, academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences; in 2008, TWAS Fellow; in 2009, 2012 and 2014, Foreign Associate of the national academies of India, Germany and of the US, respectively. Since its inception in June 2021, Yang chairs TWAS Advisory Committee on COVID-19.

Yusoff is a Senior Professor of microbiology at the Faculty of Biotechnology at the Universiti Putra Malaysia. In 2010, La Trobe University awarded her DSc (honoris causa). Her research on the Newcastle disease virus (NDV) won her many awards including the 2005 Carlos J. Finlay UNESCO Prize for Microbiology, the National Young Scientist Award in 1990 by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment, and the Malaysian Merdeka Award in 2015. Her current research interest is in the development of NDV as a therapeutic oncoviral vaccine through the use of reverse genetics. She is a Fellow of the Academy of Sciences Malaysia and Vice-President of TWAS for East and South-East Asia, as well as of the Islamic World Academy of Sciences. She also sits on the Council of Science Advisers of the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB). She was formerly a Board of Trustee member for the International Livestock Research Institute and a member of the Board of Governors for SEAMEO-BIOTROP. She is the Acting Chairperson for Greentech Malaysia, and a member of the Board of Directors for VentureTech and the Steinbeis Malaysia Foundation.

Yuthavong (BSc 1966, London; DPhil 1969, Oxford U., UK) is TWAS Vice-President for East and Southeast Asia, 2013-15. Following a career at Mahidol U., he became Director of National Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (1985), and the first president of the Natl. Science and Technology Devel. Agency (NSTDA) of Thailand (1992). He is past pres. of the Thai Acad. of Sci. and Techn.; chairman, Foundn. for Promotion of Sci. and Techn.; and elected for. fellow, Australian Acad. of Technol. Scs. and Engg. His honours include: Outstanding Scientist of Thailand Award; ASEAN Science and Technology Meritorious Service Award; Outstanding Govt. Scholar Award; Nikkei Asia Prize for Sci., Techn. and Innovation, Japan; and Person of the Year Award, Natl. Identity Board. He served as Minister of Science and Technology, Thailand, 2006-08 and Deputy Prime Minister, Thailand, 2014-15.

Ya-ping was educated at Fudan University and Kunming Institute of Zoology (KIZ), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). He is a professor of KIZ, CAS; vice president, CAS; honorary president, Yunnan University; president, Chinese Society of Genetics. His awards include Prizes for Young Scientists of China; Science and Technology Prizes for Youth in China; Qiu Shi Science and Technologies Prizes for Outstanding Young Scientists, Hong Kong; Natural Science Prizes of China, Second Grade; Biodiversity Leadership Awards, Bay and Paul Foundations, USA; May 4th Youth Medal of China; Ho Leung Ho Lee Prize for Science and Technology, Ho Leung Ho Lee Foundation; Natural Science Prizes of China, Second Grade; and Cheung Kong Scholars Achievement Award, Ministry of Education of China, and Li Ka Shing Foundation. He is a member of CAS.

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.

Agarwal is professor at the Texas A&M U.. He was educated at Banaras Hindu U., India, and the U. of Rochester where he obtained his PhD in 1969. He retired from Oklahoma State U where he held the regents professorship and Noble Foundation chair. His previous positions include dist. scientist and director of the Physical Res. Lab. in Ahmedabad; Indian Natl. Science Acad. Albert Einstein research professor; and professor (1977-95), School of Physics, U. of Hyderabad. His awards include Bhatnagar Award; Max Born Award of the Optical Soc. of America; GD Birla award; RD Birla award; Humboldt Research award, Eminent Faculty award of Oklahoma State U and TWAS Physics Prize. His fellowships include: The Royal Society, UK; 3 science academies of India; American Physical Soc.; Optical Soc. of America. He is also the recipient of honorary doctorates. He is the author of nearly 700 research publications, edited books and monographs. His recent text book "quantum optics" was published by the Cambridge University Press. He is an authority in quantum optics as well in nano photonics and plasmonics.

Ahmedov (PhD, 1993, Inst of Nucl Phys, Tashkent; DSc, 2001, Natl Univ Uzb (NUUz), Tashkent; Member of Uzbekistan Acad Sci (2023); Fellow of Islamic Acad Sci, 2020. Head, Theoretical Astrophysics Dept. in Ulugh Beg Astronomical Institute and Professor at NUUz. The Researcher of the Year 2018 in Uzbekistan, by Scopus; Science Leader Web of Science award (2017) as highly cited author in Uzbekistan; Uzbekistan State Order Glory of Labor, 2012; Award of TWAS for Young Scientists in Physics in Uzbekistan, 2001; NATO Reintegration Grant, 2004-2007; Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) Regular Associate, Italy, 2005-2010; Volkswagen Stiftung Grant, Germany, 2013-2016; King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Saudi Arabia Grant 2020-2021, Erasmus+ Gant 2017-2019, DAAD (Germany) Grants 2017, 2012, 2009, 2006; UNESCO-TWAS Regular Associate at Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (Mumbai, India), 2012-2014, at Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (Pune, India), 2010-2012, 2002-2004; Fudan Fellowship, China, 2017, 2019; Coordinator ICTP Affiliated Center, Network/Project, Chief Editor Uzbek J Phys, Editor Arabian J Math (Springer).

Altshuler Alvarez graduated summa cum laude from the Physics Faculty, University of Havana, Cuba in 1986, and got his PhD in 1994. Among his research interests are superconductivity, complex systems, granular matter and porous materials. Altshuler is Professor at the Physics Faculty, University of Havana. He has been Invited Researcher at the Texas Center for Superconductivity (USA), the Ecole supérieure de physique et de chimie industrielle (ESPCI) Paris (France), the Norwegian Academy of Sciences and Letters (Norway), and the Rockefeller University (USA) among others. Altshuler is Editor in Chief of the Cuban Journal of Physics, and an editorial board member of Granular Matter and Physical Review Applied. He has authored several books, such as Guerrilla Science: Survival Strategies of a Cuban Physicist (Springer, 2017). Among his hobbies are guitar playing (and composition), cartoon drawing, writing of short stories, elderly caregiving, snorkeling, plumbing, car fixing, tasteless cooking, and a dangerously long etcetera performed with different levels of love, audacity and mediocrity. He is also an avid science communicator–where a vitriolic sense of humor often plays a key role.