Karunaweera is the chair, senior professor of parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka and honorary visiting fellow at the School of Public Health, Harvard University, USA. Trained as a medical parasitologist she has extensive teaching and research experience in tropical diseases, with special emphases on vector-borne diseases. Elected Fellow of National Academy of Sciences of Sri Lanka, she is the first Sri Lankan elected as an honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and as a Distinguished International Fellow of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. She received several research grant awards, both international and local, including Tropical Medicine Research Centre Award, by National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institute of Health, US. Fellowship awards received include Harvard University’s Senior Research Scholar Award (2005/6); Fulbright Advanced Research and Lecturing Award (2005). She is the founder president of Sri Lanka National Chapter of Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World (OWSD) and current president of Sri Lanka College of Microbiologists.

Kayanja is chancellor of Gulu University in Uganda. Doubly qualified in veterinary and human medicine, he attended undergraduate courses at the Universities of London and Oxford, was a postdoctoral researcher at the Nuffied Orthopaedic Unit, University of Oxford, and obtained his PhD from the University of Cambridge, UK. He has received an honorary causa doctorate and was a gold medalist of the Royal College Medical Association. He was also awarded The Commendeur de l'Ordre des Palmes Académiques by the Republic of France and the Science Research Excellence Award of the Republic of Uganda. He is a member of the African Academy of Sciences and the Uganda National Academy of Sciences. Research interests: Mammalian reproduction; the vascular role in osteogenesis; Zoonotic diseases; Ecology and the Environment.

Graduated in Medicine in 1953. From 1957 to 1985, worked at the Medical School of Ribeirão Preto-USP. From 1985 to 2010: chaired the Hypertension Unit, Heart Institute of the Medical School of the University of São Paulo (InCor-FMUSP). His main research field is experimental and clinical hypertension, especially the neurogenic mechanism. From 1993 to 2007: President of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences. From 1998 to 2002: Chairman of the Committee on Science and Technology in Developing Countries (COSTED) of the International Council of Science. From 2000 to 2003: co-chairman of the InterAcademy Pannel-IAP, representing Brazil at the Executive Committee of the InterAcademy Council-IAC (2000-2010), and the Inter-Academy Medical Panel (2010-).He is currently the director for International Relations of the Medical School of the University of São Paulo, member of the National Council of Science and Technology, and the Vice-President of São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP).

Krishnaswamy is EX- director, Natl. Inst. of Nutrition, Hyderabad, and past president, Nutrition Society of India (NSI). Her work on the prevention of cancer by turmeric highlights the role of malnutrition in cancer and on antimutagens and anticarcinogens in Indian diets. Her awards include: Dr. VN Patwardhan Prize; Dr. Kamala Menon Medical Res. Award, Internal Medicine; Shakuntala amir chand ward; Basant Devi Amirchand ,all 4 of ICMR, Glaxo oration, INSA; Chopra, IPS; BC Guha, IASc; Sita Mahalakshmi Memorial Orations; Best Medical Person Award, AP Akademi of Sciences; SG Srikantia Memorial Lecture Award, NSI; ASTC-Eminent Women Scientist Award; Cert. of Excellence, Indian Medical Assoc.; and Dr. Rajammal P. Devadas Annual Oration Award, Avinashilingam Deemed Univ., Honoured as eminent pharmacologist by IPS,Ramachandran oration of NFI She is fellow of several academies including IUNS.In 2022, she received the"living legend "from IUNS.

Kwok, MD, PhD, graduated at University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine. After residency in dermatology and postdoctoral training at Washington University School of Medicine, USA, he joined its faculty in 1993. He was Distinguished Fellow and Director of the Institute of Biomedical Sciences at Academia Sinica from 2017-2023, and Henry Bachrach Distinguished Professor at University of California San Francisco from 2002-2024. Kwok’s research focused on developing tools and strategies to study the human genome and the role of human variation in common diseases. He holds several patents on genomic analysis tools and played key roles in many large consortia, including the SNP Consortium, the International HapMap Project, the NSIGHT Consortium, and the CSER Consortium. He led the Taiwan Precision Medicine Initiative, where a reference database with genetic profiles and clinical data of 500,000 people was built to improve health through disease risk prediction and tailored heath management guidelines. Kwok is a Fellow of the AAAS and the recipient of the 2022 Chen Award for Distinguished Academic Achievement in Human Genetic and Genomic Research by the Human Genome Organization.

Dr. Laurencin is the University Professor of the University of Connecticut (the 8th in history). He is the Albert and Wilda Van Dusen Distinguished Endowed Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery, Professor of Chemical Engineering, Professor of Materials Science and Engineering and Professor of Biomedical Engineering. He did his B.S.E. degree in Chemical Engineering at Princeton, his M.D. from Harvard Medical School (Magna Cum Laude) and his PhD from M.I.T.. He is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine and the National Academy of Engineering in the U.S.. He is an elected Fellow of the African Academy of Sciences, the Indian National Academy of Sciences. the Indian National Academy of Engineering, and an Academician and Foreign Member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering. He has been honored three times by U.S. Presidents. He received the Presidential Faculty Fellow Award from President Bill Clinton and the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Math and Engineering Mentoring from President Barack Obama. He received the National Medal of Technology and Innovation, the United States' highest honor for technological achievement in ceremonies at the White House.

Leke Gana Fomban Rose is Professor of Immunology and Parasitology, Fellow, Cameroon Academy of Sciences, Chair Board of Directors of the National Medical Research Institute, IMPM, Vice President of the Scientific Committee of Cameroon First Lady’s Research Centre (CIRCB). Until March 2013, she was Head of Department, Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Yaounde 1, and Director of the Biotechnology Centre. She was 2014 Aggrey-Fraser-Guggisberg Memorial Lecturer, University of Ghana and awarded Doctor Honoris Causa. One of six women awarded the 2011 African Union Kwame Nkrumah Scientific Award for Women, received the 2012 award for Excellence in Science from The Cameroon Professional Society (CPS), elected International Honorary Fellow of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, ASTMH, 2015. Has and still serves as consultant on many WHO committees. Chair of the African Regional commission for Polio eradication, member of the Global Commission. Was Vice-Chair of the (TERG),The Global Fund, is Chair of the MIM Secretariat Initiator of HIGHER Women Cameroon, a consortium of women researchers, she works to empower and mentor young female scientists.

Limonta-Vidal is Regional Director of the Internatonal Science Council (ISC) Reg. Off. for Lat. Am. and the Caribbean. He was head of biotechnology and science adviser, Natl. Inst. of Haematology, Cuba and prof., Medical U. of Havana. He was the founder director general of both the Centre for Biological Research, Cuba (1982-86) and the Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Cuba (1986-99) and founder of the Centres for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, provinces of Camaguey (1989) and Sancti Spiritus (1990). His honours include: two Dr. (h.c.), Universidad Central, Ecuador and Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, Mexico; 2 Medals Comendador Merito Cientifico, Brazil; 3 medals, Natl. Sciences Trade Union, Cuba; member, editorial board, 7 scientific journals; member, 13 natl. and intl. scientific and medical associations; and fellow, Caribbean Acad. of Sciences and Cuban Acad. of Sciences. Member of teh academy of Sciences of The Caribbean (since 2000) of the World Academy of Science (TWAS, since 1995). In the last 28th TWAS General Assambly Meeting in Trieste, Italy, Prof. Manuel Limonta was elected Vice President of TWAS for the period 2019 - 2031.

Lopes-Cendes is a physician who earned her medical degree at UNICAMP, Brazil. She completed her specialty training in pediatrics before obtaining her Master of Science and PhD in neuroscience at McGill University, Canada. Her research focuses on neurogenetics, specifically epilepsies, with a keen interest in the molecular mechanisms underlying the disease. Using advanced multi-omics techniques, her team is renowned for its expertise in next-generation sequencing, bioinformatics analysis of complex genomic data, non-coding RNAs, and single-cell methodologies. For her scientific achievements, Lopes-Cendes has received numerous awards and distinctions including membership in the Brazilian Academy of Sciences, and TWAS. She founded the Brazilian Initiative on Precision Medicine (www.bipmed.org), launching Latin America's first public genomic database, and contributing to the development of LatinGen (www.latingen.org), a platform for sharing genetic and genomic information in the region. These projects have laid the groundwork for adopting genomic testing in Brazil. Beyond her research, she is an attending physician at UNICAMP University Hospital.

Shabir Madhi (MD, PhD) is Dean of Health Sciences and Professor of Vaccinology at University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa. He is also Director of the South African Medical Research Council Vaccines and Infectious Diseases Analytics Research Unit (Wits-VIDA) and co-director of the African Leadership in Vaccinology Expertise (ALIVE). He is a member of the Academy of Science of South Africa (2012) and Royal Society of South Africa (2016). He is past-president of the World Society for Paediatric Infectious Diseases; and past Director of the National Institute for Communicable Diseases. He is recipient of the European Society for Infectious Diseases Young Investigators Award (2006), National Science and Technology Forum: TW Kambule Award (2009), National Research Foundation: Transformation of the Science Cohort (2010), South African Medical Research Council: Life Time Achievement Award (Platinum Medal; 2013) and European and Developing Countries Clinical Trial Partnership award for Scientific Leadership (2016); Academy of Science South Africa (ASSAf) Gold Medal (2021) and National Science and Technology Forum Life Time Award (2022).

Malekzadeh is Distinguished Professor in Internal Medicine and Director, Digestive Disease Research Institute in Tehran University of Medical Sciences. He obtained his MD, specialty board of medicine and subspecialty board of gastroenterology from Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Iran. He has worked in various capacities in Iranian medical education and research system. He was chancellor of Shiraz University; Minister of Health and Medical Education (MOHME); secretary of Iranian Academy of Medical Sciences and Vice Chancellor of MOHME. He has received 14 national awards including Razi, Avicenna, Yalda, Hadavi, Tabatabaei and Iranian Science awards. He has obtained International Agency for Research on cancer (IARC/WHO) Medal of Honor for outstanding contribution in research on cancer (2018). He is a member of 18 national and international academies and scientific societies. He has published 660+ papers in scientific international journals with 65,800+ citations and is among the top 1% world highly cited scientists in clinical Medicine based on Essential Science Indicators. His h-index is 90 in Scopus. He has established the Golestan Cohort and Persian cohort study in Iran.

Chitra (PhD 1978, Indian Inst. of Sci., Bangalore) is Sir J.C. Bose National Fellow. She is an elected fellow of The Indian Natl. Science Acad. (New Delhi), Indian Acad. of Sciences (Bangalore), The Natl. Acad. of Sciences (Allhabad), Natl. Acad. of Medical Sciences and West Bengal Acad. of Science and Technology. Her autobiography was published in the book 'Lilavati’s Daughters: Women Scientists of India' by the Indian Acad. of Sciences. Her awards include: Natl. Woman Bioscientist; Prof. S.S.Katiyar Endowment Lecture; Dr. Yellapragada SubbaRow Memorial; Senior Scientist Oration; BioTech Product and Process Development and Commercialization; Kshanika Oration; Smt Chandaben Mohanbhai Patel Industrial Research; and The PB Rama Rao Memorial.

Narinder Mehra is the Vice President (international affairs) of the Indian National Science Academy, Hon Emeritus Scientist of the Indian Council of Medical Research, Former Dean (Res) and Founder Head Dept. of Transplant Immunology and Immunogenetics, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi. He is former Secretary General and Vice President of Federation of Immunological Societies of Asia Oceania (FIMSA) and Life member of Asia Pacific Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics Association (APHIA). He is council member, International Union of Immunological Societies (IUIS) and International Histocompatibility association. His honors include India’s highest S.S. Bhatnagar award, Ranbaxy Science foundation award, Chevalier of the National Order of Merit (France), IROST Khwarizmi international award (Iran) and B.R. Ambedkar award for excellence in Research (ICMR). He is member Honoris Causa of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, and Fellow of Indian Academy of Sciences, Indian National Science Academy and National Academy of Medical Sciences of India and holds Hon Fellowship of Royal College of Physicians (FRCP) of UK . He holds hon. professorship from four universities.

Mizrahi is the professorial director of the Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine at the University of Cape Town (UCT). She also directs the MRC/NHLS/UCT Molecular Mycobacteriology Research Unit and the UCT node of the DST-NRF Centre of Excellence for Biomedical Tuberculosis Research, which is co-hosted by the Universities of Stellenbosch, Witwatersrand, and Cape Town. Awards include the 2013 Christophe Mérieux Prize from the Mérieux Foundation and Institut de France; UNESCO-L'Oréal For Women in Science Prize (Africa and Middle East region, 2000); the Gold Medal of the SA Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (2006); and the Order of the Mapungubwe: Silver of South Africa (2006). She is fellow of the Royal Society of South Africa, a member of the Academy of Science of South Africa and a fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology and a Fellow of UCT.

Mohan is Chairman of Dr. Mohan’s Diabetes Specialities Centre and President of the Madras Diabetes Research Foundation, Chennai, India. He obtained PhD in 1987 and DSc in 1997. He has over 1530 publications including 986 original research articles in peer reviewed journals, 367 review articles and 186 chapters in text books. His work has a h-index of 145 and has over 174,000 citations. He has received Fellowships from all the four Royal College of Physicians of UK and Ireland, American College of Endocrinology and the American College of Physicians. He has received 200 awards including the prestigious Dr. B.C. Roy Award by the Medical Council of India and the Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Centenary Award from the Indian Council of Medical Research. In 2012 he was awarded the Padma Shri, one of the highest civilian awards given by the Govt. of India. He was conferred Hon. Doctorate from Deakin University of Melbourne in 2017. He has been conferred with the prestigious Harold Rifkin Distinguished International Service in the Cause of Diabetes Award by the American Diabetes Association in 2018 for his pioneering work in the field of diabetes and he is the first Indian to receive this award. He

Professor Moncada’s scientific career began at the Royal College of Surgeons, where he was part of the team that discovered the mechanism of action of aspirin-like drugs, thus explaining how they act to relieve pain, control temperature, reduce inflammation and cause gastric damage. During his time at the Wellcome Research Laboratories he led the team that discovered thromboxane synthase and the vasodilator prostacyclin. This work is the basis for the understanding of how low doses of aspirin prevent cardiovascular cardiovascular disease and events such as heart attacks and strokes. In the 1980’s he discovered nitric oxide as a biological mediator, the mechanism of its biosynthesis and many of its biological functions. As Director of Research at Wellcome, he also presided over the work that resulted in the development of several new medicines, including Lamotrigine, Atovaquone, Somig and La

Lynn Morris was appointed as the Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Research and Innovation at Wits University from 1 April 2021. Her previous positions include Interim Executive Director of the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) and Principal Medical Scientist and head of the HIV Virology Section at the NICD, Johannesburg, South Africa. She holds a joint appointment as Research Professor at the University of the Witwatersrand and an Honorary appointment as a Senior Scientist at CAPRISA. She completed her undergraduate studies at Wits University and obtained a DPhil from the University of Oxford in 1988. Lynn is an NRF A-rated researcher (leading international scholar) who has made significant contributions to our understanding of how the antibody response to HIV develops and her laboratory conducts validated end-point assays for HIV vaccine clinical trials. She has been recognised through several national and international awards including the Wits Vice Chancellor’s Research Award and The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) Prize in Medical Sciences. She has supervised 30 PhD and MSc students, has published over 270 papers holding a current author H-Index of 63

Morshed is a leading authority in microbiology, specializing in zoonotic and vector-borne diseases, diagnostic microbiology and public health. With over 150 scientific publications and $20 million in research funding, he has addressed a broad range of topics, including SARS-CoV-2, and syphilis. His career began at the Teknaf Dysentery Project, where he established a microbiology laboratory in a remote, power-deprived area using innovative methods. He helped establish microbiology labs in Dhaka Children Hospital and Jahangirnagar University, which later was turned into a full department. Before moving to Canada, he pursued a PhD in Japan. He has been a key scientist at the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control and University of British Columbia, mentoring students and managing outbreaks like SARS-CoV-2 and West Nile Virus. He has delivered over 50 international lectures. His accolades include UBC’s Excellence in Education (2023), the Distinguished Microbiologist Award (2018), Top 25 Canadian Immigrants People’s Choice Award (2017) and Excellence in Clinical Services Award from UBC (2016). Morshed’s contributions highlight resilience and dedication in public health.

Musoke (MBChB, PhD) is a professor, pediatric infectious diseases specialist in the department of Paediatrics and Child Health, Makerere University, and has carried out research with the Makerere University-Johns Hopkins University research collaboration since 1995. She has conducted multiple perinatal HIV prevention clinical trials with US National Institute of Health Division of AIDS network (HIVNET/HPTN/IMPAACT), including the landmark HIVNET012 (Ugandan vice-chair), single dose nevirapine (NVP) to mother and infant for prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) of HIV, which have informed WHO guidelines for PMTCT. She has also conducted pediatric HIV treatment clinical trials to improve antiretroviral therapy for children in resource-limited settings, and pediatric TB diagnostics and treatment. In 1999, she received the Recognition Award, for outstanding contributions to advancing the prevention of perinatal HIV transmission, Canada, and in 2017 the National Bioethics Award, Uganda National Council for Science and Technology, Uganda. Musoke is a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics, and in 2016 she was appointed fellow of the Uganda Academy of Sciences.

Mutabingwa (MD 1979 University of Dar-es-Salaam, MSc. Communicable Diseases 1984 London University, PhD 1993 University of Amsterdam) is a professor at Hubert Kairuki Memorial University (HKMU), Dar-es-Salaam; Founder and president of Tanzania Non-Communicable Diseases Alliance, Founder and past-president of the East Africa Network for Monitoring Antimalarial Treatment. He was: WHO/Technical Expert Group (TEG) member on malaria chemotherapy, malaria prevention in pregnancy (IPTp) and in infants (IPTi), and is still a WHO Clinical Monitor. Was a Board member: Malaria Clinical Trials Alliance (MCTA), Malaria in Pregnancy Consortium (MiPc), and Board member, World Antimalarial Resistance Network (WARN). Recipient of NIMR Best scientist and International Society of Infectious Diseases travel awards. Founder and coordinator of Master of Science in Public Health degree at HKMU since 2012. Member of the Editorial Board of malaria and treatment Journal.

A medical doctor with 30 years of health research experience in Bangladesh, including a research track record in disease epidemiology, population studies and health systems research, Naheed joined the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b) in 1994 after earning a degree in medicine from the University of Dhaka (1992). She began a research career in infectious disease epidemiology after obtained a Master of Public Health degree from the Johns Hopkins University (US), in 2002. After obtaining a PhD from Tulane University (US) in 2012, she focused on noncommunicable diseases and, after postdoctoral training from the University of Melbourne, Australia (2015), focused on health systems research. She served as the head of the Initiative for Noncommunicable Diseases at the Health Systems and Population Studies Division at icddr,b for eight years (2015–2022) where she is currently a senior scientist with the Nutrition Research Division. She received the Bangladesh Academy of Science Sultan Ahamed Choudhury Science and Technology Gold Medal Award in 2021, and in 2022 was elected to the fellowship of the Bangladesh Academy of Sciences.

Nath was founder Head and Senior Prof. of Dept. of Biotechnology and has served in various capacities on the faculty of the All India Inst. of Med. Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi. After retirement she was SN Bose Research Prof., Ind. Natl. Science Acad.; Dean, of the School of Med. of the Asian Inst. of Med. Sci. and Techn., Sungai Petani, Malaysia; Dir., Blue Peter Research Centre (LEPRA), Hyderabad, Raja Ramanna Fellow of DST; She obtained her MBBS, MD(Pathology) from AIIMS, MRCPath, FRCPath (London). Her notable honours include: DSc (h.c), Pierre and Marie Curie U., Paris 6; SS Bhatnager Awd.; L'Oreal-UNESCO Awd. for Women in Science. Her civilian honours include: Padmashri (India) and Chevalier of Natl. Order of Merite (France). She is fellow of 4 national science academies and the Natl. Med. Acad. of India. Research areas are Immunology, leprosy. Current international activities include responsible research, biosafety and biosecurity and one health issues.

Ntusi, president and CEO of the South African Medical Research Council, is a distinguished leader in medical research. Prior to this role, he served as chair and head of the Department of Medicine at the University of Cape Town (UCT) and Groote Schuur Hospital. His groundbreaking research has significantly advanced the understanding of heart failure and cardiomyopathy, the cardiovascular phenotype and pathophysiology of autoimmune inflammatory heart disease, as well as HIV-associated cardiovascular disease across diverse global clinical settings. More recently, he led pioneering studies on the biology and immunology of COVID-19, with impact extending beyond South Africa’s borders. A member of the South African Academy of Sciences and a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, the Royal Society of South Africa, and the UCT College of Fellows, Ntusi's accolades include the prestigious South African Medical Research Council Gold Medal, the Walter Siegenthaler Medal and Memorial Lecture from the University of Zurich, and the University of Oxford's Oppenheimer Fund Academic Exchange Award.

Osier's expertise is in malaria, where she believes we can "Make Malaria History" through vaccination. She previously led two core teams of over 25 scientists in Kenya and Germany, that focused on creating highly effective malaria vaccines through vaccine candidate discovery, identifying immune correlates of protection and unravelling important mechanisms underlying antibody-dependent protection. They designed an innovative protein microarray KILchip©, a first of its kind in Africa. Through the SMART partnership, they assembled 10,000 samples from across Africa to probe their chip, the largest study of this nature. They created a paradigm shift in the understanding of the mechanisms that underpin protective immunity to malaria. Osier is past president of the International Union of Immunological Societies (> 60,000 members globally)—the first African and only second woman in this role. She has won prestigious prizes including: Royal Society Pfizer; Sofja Kovalevskaja; and UK Medical Research Council - UK Department for International Development African Research Leader. She was honored with the prestigious British Society of Immunology Honorary Lifetime Membership Award (2022).

Prof. Osumi graduated Tokyo Medical and Dental University, was given PhD thesis from the same university, and now is a professor of Tohoku University School of Medicine since 1998. She was one of the 25 Distinguished Professors in Tohoku University from 2008 to 2011, and has become Vice President of Tohoku University as well as Director of Tohoku University Libraries from 2018. Her research background is developmental biology, and she has interest in brain development, evolution, and disease. More recently, she has much interest in gendered research focusing on sex differences in the brain. She was a representative of CREST project (2005-2010) supported by JST, and Global COE project (2007-2012) as well as Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Innovative Areas (16H06524) “Integrative Research toward Elucidation of Generation of Brain Systems for Individuality”. Currently, As the Director of Gender Equality Center at Tohoku University, Dr. Osumi is promoting the policy of diversity in academia, providing various information through the website and social media, and organizing various events networking female researchers.