Victora (MD, 1976, Rio Grande do Sul; PhD, 1983, London) is Emeritus Professor, Federal University of Pelotas, Brazil; past-president, International Epidemiological Association; member, Brazilian Academy of Science. He holds honorary faculty appointments at Harvard, Oxford and Johns Hopkins Universities, and an Honoris Causa Doctorate from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul. His prizes include the Gairdner Global Health Award (Canada); Carlos Slim Prize (Mexico); Conrado Wessel Prize (Brazil); and National Order of Merit Medals in Medicine and in Science (Brazil). He has conducted extensive research in maternal and child health and nutrition, birth cohort studies, inequalities in health, and on the evaluation of the impact of major global health programs in a large number of countries. He coordinates the International Center for Equity in Health, which produces disaggregated analyses of indicators on women’s and children’s health and nutrition for the World Health Organization, Unicef and other international agencies. He has over 650 peer-reviewed publications and is a member of the editorial boards of several journals, including The Lancet.

Wasay is currently Alicharan endowed professor of neurology at Aga Khan University (AKU); past president, Pakistan Society of Neurology and Pakistan Stroke Society; president, Neurology Awareness and Research Foundation; chairman, advocacy and awareness task force of World Federation of Neurology; editor, Pakistan Journal of Neurological Sciences; chief editor, Jahan e Aasab (neurology public awareness magazine); chair, seed grants research committee at AKU; and co-chair, Non-Communicable Diseases Think Tank at AKU. Wasay received several national and international awards for educational, research and advocacy activities, including Teachers Recognition Award (American Academy of Neurology), Distinguished Teacher Award (Pakistan Society of Neurology), Outstanding Teacher Award (AKU), Gold Medal for Research (Pakistan Academy of Medical Sciences), Advocacy Leader of the Year Award (American Academy of Neurology), Victor Rivera Award (UT Southwestern Medical Center, USA) and Lester R. Bryant Founders Award (Marshall University, Huntington, USA). He was awarded fellowship of the Pakistan Academy of Medical Science and Gold Medal in Health Sciences by the Pakistan Academy of Sciences.

Wonkam is a professor of genetic medicine, and director of the McKusick-Nathans Institute and Department of Genetic Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, US. He is also director of GeneMAP (Genetic Medicine of African Populations), and immediate past-deputy dean of research at the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, South Africa. After an MD training with the Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Yaoundé I, Cameroon, he has completed a doctorate in medical sciences (cell biology) at the University of Geneva, Switzerland, and a PhD in human genetics at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. Wonkam also trained as a medical geneticist in genetic medicine at the University of Geneva. His scientific results are reflected in more than 230 peer-reviewed publications. His research focuses on genetic and genomic variations in the African population with a focus on 1) Genomics modifiers of Sickle Cell Disease (SCD); 2) Genetics of hearing Impairment, and 3) Ethical, Equity, and Educational Issues in Genetic Medicine Research. Wonkam is president of the African Society of Human Genetics.

Wyse (PhD, 1995, Porto Alegre, Brazil) is full professor of Biochemistry of the Institute of Basic Health Sciences at the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Member of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences. Her prizes include CAPES-Elsevier Award 2014, Pesquisador Gaúcho Award 2018 from the State Research Foundation and Scientist of the Year 2020 Award from International Achievements Research Center, USA. Her research work is focused on the neurotoxic mechanisms of homocysteine and neurometabolic and neurodegenerative diseases, as well as on neurobiology of menopause and neuroprotection, encompassing multiple experimental approach ranging from neurochemistry to behavior. Her studies have contributed to the understanding of biomolecule damage in hyperhomocysteinemic and homocystinuric patients and show potential to improve medical practice. She has published more than 400 scientific papers and has advised more than 70 masters and PhDs. Convinced that access to science and education are pillars to citizenship, she has launched a social project for underprivileged children of the public school system from the outskirts of her town, Porto Alegre. She published a book of poetry.

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.

Abidi is Distinguished Professor of Electrical Engineering at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). He received his BSc in electrical engineering from Imperial College, London, UK, in 1976, and his MS (1978) and PhD (1981) in electrical engineering from the University of California, Berkeley. He has also served in many other capacities including: Member, technical staff, Advanced LSI Development Laboratory, Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill, NJ, 1981-84; visiting faculty researcher, Hewlett Packard Laboratories, 1989; and editor, IEEE Journal of Solid-state Circuits, 1992-95. He has received several honours including the IEEE Donald O. Pederson Solid-State Circuits Award; Lockheed-Martin Award for Excellence in Teaching, UCLA; IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits Best Paper Award; IEEE Millennium Medal; and membership in the US National Academy of Engineering and IEEE. He specializes in the design of analog integrated circuits, and is credited with single-chip CMOS radios. Abidi is the inaugural holder of the Abdus Salam Chair at LUMS, Lahore, Pakistan.

Agarwal obtained his bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering in 1994, from Malviya Regional Engineering, Jaipur and his Master of Technology and PhD (both in energy, in 1996 and 1999 respectively) from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi. After his postdoctoral fellowship (1999–2001) at University of Wisconsin-Madison (US), he joined IIT Kanpur in 2001. His interests are internal combustion engines, alternate and conventional fuels, optical diagnostics, laser ignition, fuel sprays, lubricating oil tribology, and large-bore engines. He has developed laser-fired hydrogen and compressed natural gas engines in automotive sizes, and the first electronic fuel injection system equipped with a locomotive engine for Indian Railways. Agarwal has published 525+ journal and conference papers, 63 books, 129 chapters, 17300+ Scopus Citations, and 26000+ Google Scholar citations. He is an editor of Fuel. He is a Fellow of NASI (2018), RSC (2018), AAAS (2020), and Combustion Institute (2022), and the recipient of many awards including Sir J C Bose National Fellowship (2019), and Clarivate Analytics India Citation Award-2017.

Al-Nimr is Distinguished Professor at Jordan University of Science and Technology, Jordan. He obtained his Ph.D. (1991) in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Michigan/Ann Arbor - USA. He has published about 277 articles in different fields of energy and heat transfer. He was awarded the World Academy of Sciences Award (TWAS) in Engineering Sciences (2013), the Khalifa Award for Education (2012), the Khwarizmi International Award (2012), King Abdullah II Award for Innovation (2010), Scopus Award (2009), the Abed-Alhameed Shoman Award for Arab Scientists (1994) and many others. He is acting as an Editor-in-Chief of Energy Conversion and Management Journal – Elsevier since 2013. He is acting now as an Associate Editor for 12 other journals.

Al-Sulaiman (PhD, 1999, UK) is professor, Sultan Qaboos University (SQU), College of Engineering, Oman. She is a chemical Engineer experienced in environmental engineering, with an emphasis on environmental protection. She has received several awards and recognitions, the latest of which were Khalifa Award for Higher Education (2013), the WSO Education Award (2011), First Prize of the Saudi Arabia Environmental Management Award (2008), Distinguished Teaching Excellence Award from SQU (2007), Environmental Advocacy Award from the Arab Towns Organization (2007), Distinguished Researcher Award from SQU (2005). She has published many books/chapters in books, and more than 120 referred international journal articles. She has served as the Editor of many Special Issues. Also, she has been invited to be a member of editorial boards of many international environmental and engineering journals.

Azzam is distinguished professor of electrical engineering, University of New Orleans (UNO). After receiving his BSc (Cairo University, 1967) and PhD (University of Nebraska, 1971), he held postdoctoral and faculty positions at the University of Nebraska until 1979 when he joined UNO. He was Fulbright scholar and visiting professor at Université de Provence, France, and professor of physics at the American University in Cairo. He served as topical editor for the Journal of the Optical Society of America (OSA) and Applied Optics, and as member of the OSA Publications Council. His honours include: 2005 GG Stokes Award of SPIE, International Society for Optical Engineering; 1993 Photonics Circle of Excellence Award; 1993 R and D Award; 1988 Outstanding American Inventor; 1985 Fulbright Scholar (France); and fellow of the Optical Society of America and SPIE.

Balakrishnan (PhD 1979, Indian Inst. of Science, Bangalore, India) is an Hon. Professor, at the Supercomputer Education and Res. Centre, Indian Institute of Science (IISc). He was Associate Director IISc (2005-2014). He has made important contributions to Aerospace Electronics, Computational Electromagnetics, Language Technologies, Information Security, and Information and Communication Technologies. His awards include: Padmashree, Pres. of India; Prof SN Mitra Memorial Award, IETE Diamond Jubilee Medal; Jawaharlal Nehru Lectureship of INSA; JC Bose National Fellowship; Hari Om Prerit Dr. Vikram Sarabhai Res. Award; and JC Bose Medals of Inst. of Electronics and Telecommunication Eng. for best papers. He is a Fellow of: TWAS, Indian Natl. Acad. of Eng.; Indian Acad. of Sciences; Indian Natl. Science Acad.; National Acad. of Sciences; Institution of Electronics and Telecommunication Eng..

Banerjee is Professor at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Kolkata. He obtained his BE in 1981 from the Bengal Engineering College (Calcutta University), the M.Tech. in 1983 from the IIT Delhi, and PhD in 1988 from the IIT Delhi. He was in the faculty of the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur from 1986 to 2009. His recognition includes the SS Bhatnagar Prize, the Citation Laureate award of Thomson Reuters, and Fellowships of the Indian Academy of Sciences, the Indian National Academy of Engineering, the Indian National Science Academy, the National Academy of Sciences India, and the IEEE.

B. Noronha received his BS degree from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) in 1987, MSc degree in 1989, from the Alberto Luiz Coimbra Institute for Graduate Studies and Research in Engineering (COPPE)-UFRJ, and PhD degree in 1994 from COPPE-UFRJ and Institut de Recherches sur la Catalyse – Lyon, France. In 1996, he joined the catalysis group of the National Institute of Technology, Brazil. He worked in a postdoctoral position with Prof. Daniel Resasco at Oklahoma University from 1999–2000. He has been a visiting professor in a research chair at the Ecole Centrale de Lille in the Biomass Valorisation Group at Unité de Catalyse et de Chimie du Solide since 2019. He is a category 1A researcher of the Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq), and a researcher of the State of Rio de Janeiro (FAPERJ), Brazil. Since 2008, he has been one of the Brazilian representatives on the International Association of Catalysis Societies. In 2021, he was elected to the Brazilian Academy of Sciences.

Borkar is Institute Chair Professor, Dept. of Electrical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai (IIT, Bombay). He obtained a PhD degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from the University of California, Berkeley (1980). He has held positions at TIFR Centre, Bangalore, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, and Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai. He is a Fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences, Indian National Science Academy, National Academy of Sciences of India, Indian National Academy of Engineers, Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, and the American Mathematical Society. He has received the S.S. Bhatnagar Award, Homi Bhabha and J. C. Bose Fellowships, P.C. Mahalanobis Medal and TWAS Award in Engineering, and has been an invited speaker to the International Congress of Mathematicians, Madrid, 2006.

Chakravorty got his MSc (Tech) at Calcutta University and PhD (1965) from Penn State University USA. He is currently emeritus professor,SERB Distinguished Fellow of DST and INSA Emeritus Scientist at Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science, Kolkata, where he also served as director during 1993-1999. He was also Professor and Head, Advanced Centre for Materials Science, Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur during 1976-1982 His research contributions include a wide range of nanocomposites and their electrical,magnetic, magnetodielectric and multiferroic properties. He is a Fellow of Indian National Science Academy and the Indian Academy of Sciences, and has won the MRSI Medal, MRSI ICSC Prize,INSA Prize for Materials Science, Nano Science and Technology Award of DST, New Delhi and Materials Scientist of the Year Award of MRSI 2014.

C.Siva Ram Murthy earned his B.Tech. degree in Electronics and Communication Engineering from REC (now NIT) Warangal in 1982, M.Tech. degree in Computer Engineering from IIT, Kharagpur in 1984 and Ph.D. degree in Computer Science from IISc, Bangalore in 1988. Since September 1988, he has been with the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at IIT Madras where he is currently the Richard Karp Institute Chair Professor. He has held the INAE Chair Professorship and also short-term visiting appointments at several European and North American universities. He has authored many textbooks, and published research papers over 175 in peer-reviewed international journals and over 175 in refereed international conference proceedings. He is a recipient of Best Ph.D. Thesis Award from IISc, INSA Medal for Young Scientists, Dr. Vikram Sarabhai Research Award, IBM (USA) Real-Time Innovation Award, JC Bose Fellowship and several Best Paper Awards. He is an elected Fellow of Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE, USA), TWAS - Italy, Indian National Science Academy (INSA), National Academy of Sciences (NASI), and Indian National Academy of Engineering (INAE).

Guanrong Chen is the Shun Hing Education and Charity Fund Chair Professor in Engineering and the Founding Director of the Centre for Complexity and Complex Networks at the City University of Hong Kong. He was elected IEEE Fellow in 1997, received the State Natural Science Awards of China in 2008, 2012 and 2016 respectively, awarded the 2011 Euler Gold Medal from Russia, and conferred Honorary Doctor Degrees by the Saint Petersburg State University, Russia in 2011 and by the University of Normandy, France in 2014. He is a Highly Cited Researcher in Engineering in the past decade. In 2014, he was elected a Member of the Academia Europaea. In 2025, he was elected a Fellow of the Network Science Society.

Chen is an expert in control theory at the Institute of Systems Science, AMSS, of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) in Beijing. His research interests are mainly in stochastic systems, including system identification, adaptive control, and stochastic approximation and its applications to systems, control, and signal processing. In addition to his research, he is also active in writing educative reviews and monographs. He has authored/co-authored more than 200 journal papers and the following four monographs: Recursive Identification and Parameter Estimation, Stochastic Approximation and its Applications, Identification and Stochastic Adaptive Control, and Recursive Estimation and Control for Stochastic Systems. An academician of CAS, IEEE Fellow, IFAC Fellow, he has received the IFAC Outstanding Service Award.

B.Sc., Mech.& Nuclear Eng., Federal Univ. of Rio de Janeiro, UFRJ, Brazil, 1981, PhD, Mech.&Aerospace Eng., North Carolina State Univ., USA, 1985. Assoc. Professor, UFRJ, 1987, Professor, 1994. Author, 570 papers, 10 books, Supervisor, 49 MSc, 38 PhD, 17 PosDoc. 15 Editorial Boards incl. Int. J. Heat & Mass Transfer. Editor, Annals Braz. Academy of Sciences. President, Braz. Assoc. Mechanical Sciences, ABCM, 2000-2001, Scientific Council, Int. Centre for Heat & Mass Transfer, ICHMT, from 1993, Exec. Comm., from 2006, EC Chairman 2017-2018. Congress Comm., Int. Union of Theor. & Applied Mech., IUTAM, 2012-2018. Exec. Comm., Braz. Academy of Sciences, 2012-2015. ICHMT Hartnett-Irvine Award, 2009 & 2015. ICHMT Fellowship Award, 2019. Nat. Order of Scientific Merit, 2009 & 2018 (Grã-Cruz), Nat. Order of Naval Merit, 2018. Member, Braz. Acad. of Sciences, 2009, Nat. Eng. Acad., 2011, The World Acad. of Sciences, TWAS, 2012. Doctor Honoris Causa, Univ. de Reims, France, 2018. President, Nat. Comm. of Nuclear Energy, CNEN, 2015-2017. Leverhulme Visiting Prof,Univ. College London, UK. Senior Tech. Counselor, DGDNTM, Braz. Navy, from 2017. Member National Council of Energy Policy, 2020-2022

Daud obtained BEng First Class Honours in chemical engineering from University of Monash, Australia (1978), and PhD degree in chemical engineering from University of Cambridge, UK (1984). He is Principal Research Fellow at University of Malaya. He was Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM)-Petronas Professor of Sustainable Hydrogen Energy at Fuel Cell Institute, UKM (2019–2021); Professor of Chemical Engineering at Department of Chemical and Process Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment, UKM (1996–2019); Founding Director and Principal Research Fellow of Fuel Cell Institute, UKM (2007–2021); Fellow of Academy of Sciences Malaysia 2012. He won the Merdeka Award in 2016, Malaysia’s top award for scientist; Anugerah Tokoh Akademik Bahasa Melayu (2020) for advancing Malay as language of science; and Highly Cited Researcher Awards 2015–2022. His research areas are on green hydrogen energy, e.g. photoelectrochemical cells, electrolysis and microbial electrolysis cells; fuel cells technology, e.g. proton exchange membrane, solid oxide, direct methanol and microbial fuel cells; and sustainable industrial drying technology.

Dezotti (DSc, 1992, University of Campinas, Brazil) is Professor at COPPE, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. She received more than 30 awards, among which the COPPE Giulio Massarani Award - Academic Merit by COPPE/UFRJ (2010), in recognition of her scientific production of the highest level. She was awarded four times as Scientist of Our State from the Amparo Research Foundation of State of Rio de Janeiro (FAPERJ), Brazil. For the consolidation of the national research in Advanced Oxidation Processes (POAs), she received a tribute of the VIII Meeting on Oxidative Processes and II Iberoamerican Conference on POA (2015). She coordinated numerous projects with industries. She has published three books that are adopted as a reference in Brazilian universities. She has published in the best international journals, had outstanding performance in the training of MSc and DSc students and is one of the most cited researchers in Brazil, in the area of chemical engineering. Additionally, she is Founding Member of the COPPE Women Support Group. She was elected Full Member of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences in 2020 in recognition of her scientific production and its impact in Brazil.

Deen is a Distinguished University Professor, Senior Canada Research Chair in Information Technology and Director of the Micro- and Nano-Systems Laboratory at McMaster University, Canada. His current research interests include nano-/opto-electronics, nanotechnology and data analytics and their emerging applications in health and environment. His research records include more than 600 peer-reviewed articles and two textbooks “Silicon Photonics-Fundamentals and Devices” and “Fiber Optic Communications-Fundamentals and Applications”. He was awarded four honorary doctorate degrees in recognition of his exceptional research and scholarly accomplishments, exemplary professionalism and valued service, especially to the developing world. He is elected to Fellow status in twelve national academies and professional societies including the Royal Society of Canada (RSC), Chinese Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Sciences – India, IEEE, ECS and APS. He served as the elected President of the Academy of Science, RSC from 2015 to 2017. Most recently, he was elected to the Order of Canada (July 2018), the highest civilian honor awarded by the Government of Canada.