Shinwari (PhD, Kyoto University) was postdoctoral fellow, Japan International Research Centre of Agricultural Sciences, and reported two new family of genes (DREB) that respond to drought, cold and salt stresses. He is distinguish national professor and emeritus, and was vice-chancellor, secretary general of Pakistan Academy of Sciences; vice-president of Islamic World Academy of Sciences; CEO of herbal products company Qarshi. He published several books, policy documents, and 470 publications in journals of international repute with 18,000+ citations; h-Index 68 and i10-index 287. Shinwari organized and participated in ~450 international conferences and workshops. He received UNESCO Avicenna Prize for Ethics in Science; civil awards Tamgha-e-Imtiaz, Sitara-e-Imtiaz, and Best University Teacher from the President of Pakistan. He was member and vice-chair, UNESCO-World Commission for Ethics in S&T; treasurer, Association of Academies and Societies of Sciences in Asia. For his expertise he was appointed member InterAcademy Partnership (IAP)-Biosecurity Working Group; Open Science Working Group; IAP Elections Committee; special advisor, Alliance of International Science Organizations.

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.

Gamboa Vilela (PhD, 2008, Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp, Belgium, and University of Maastricht, The Netherlands) is professor at the Department of Cellular and Molecular Sciences, Faculty of Science and Philosophy (FACIEN), Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia (UPCH), and member of the Institute of Tropical Medicine Alexander Von Humboldt (IMTAvH-UPCH). She is director of the Malaria Laboratory, belonging to both FACIEN and IMTAvH-UPCH. Her group carries out multidisciplinary studies on the dynamics of malaria transmission in the Peruvian Amazon with over 90 articles published, and more than 40 under and postgraduate students who have graduated with a thesis within her group. She has been a member of the Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World (OWSD) since 1996. She received the L’Oréal-UNESCO Fellowship in 2003, the OWSD-Elsevier Foundation Award for Latin America & Caribbean (2013), and the L'Oréal-UNESCO-CONCYTEC-ANC National Award For Women in Science - Peru in 2015. She is a member of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene and since 2013 she has also been a member of the Peruvian National Academy of Sciences (ANC).

Gonzales has been professor for 42 years of the Faculty of Sciences and Philosophy of the Peruvian University Cayetano Heredia (1979-2021) with a wide and recognized scientific career at national and international level from 1977 to the present day. Physician and biologist by profession, he is the first Doctor of Science at the Peruvian University Cayetano Heredia (1985) and also holds a PhD in Medicine (1999) with a post-doctorate at Monash University, in Melbourne, Australia (1987-1988). He is an Academic of Number at both the National Academy of Medicine and the National Academy of Sciences. During his 44 years of scientific life, he has devoted himself to research on the endocrine aspects of adaptation to high altitude, in particular to the hormonal mechanisms that regulate erythropoiesis. In Peru, residents above 2000m account for 30% of the Peruvian population. Gonzales is the author of 355 scientific publications, including 12 books and 14 book chapters. He has received 72 national and international awards during his scientific career. He is a referee of more than 60 international journals. He has advised 30 Bachelor's, 19 Master's and 8 Doctor´s thesis.

Bernardo (PhD 1992, Yale, USA) is distinguished university professor and university fellow, De La Salle University, USA. His research relates to polyculturalism and intergroup relations in intercultural contexts, hope and well-being, socioeconomic and other social inequalities, and sociocultural aspects of learning and achievement. He was president, Asian Association of Social Psychology; president, ASEAN Regional Union of Psychological Societies; president, Psychological Association of the Philippines; editor-in-chief, Asian Journal of Social Psychology; editor, The Asia-Pacific Education Researcher. He received: International Prize for Literacy Research (UNESCO Institute for Education); Spencer Fellowship (US National Academy of Education); Fulbright Advanced Research Fellowship. In the Philippines, he received: Achievement Award (National Research Council of the Philippines), Outstanding Psychologist (Psychological Association of the Philippines), Outstanding Professional Psychologist (Professional Regulations Commission). Elected to National Academy of Science and Technology Philippines. He is consultant, Department of Education, Department of Science and Technology, et al.

Primavera (PhD in marine science, University of the Philippines Diliman; MA in zoology, Indiana University, USA) taught at Mindanao State University, but a rebellion made her growing family flee to relative peace in Iloilo, central Philippines, where she worked at Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Center, Aquaculture Department. Since her studies in the 1980s, she rang early warning bells on the perils of unplanned aquaculture. Her research shifted to the mangrove-penaeid shrimp connection and mangrove-friendly aquaculture for which she was conferred a PhD honoris causa by Stockholm University (2004). The citation read: … she has shown that mangroves are key areas for recruitment of fish and shrimp and that development of conventional shrimp farming may have far reaching negative economic and social implications… [To] create sustainable alternatives she is now doing research on … integrated farming of shrimp, fish, crabs and mangrove. She has published ~170 scientific papers, reviews, manuals, books and other publications, including the Handbook of Mangroves in the Philippines – Panay (2005 Outstanding Book Award by National Academy of Science and Technology, Philippines).

Medina (Dr. Ack., U. of Hohenheim, 1964) has worked as senior researcher and head of the Lab. for Plant Physiological Ecology, Instituto Venezolano de Investigaciones Científicas (IVIC), Caracas. He also served as: Dir., Intl. Ctr. for Tropical Ecol., IVIC-UNESCO; member, Intl. Scientific Adv. Board, Max-Planck-Inst. f. Limnologie; member, Adv. Comm., Scientific Comm. on Problems of the Environ. (ICSU); FAO adviser, Environ. and Develop.; and member, Coord. Comm. for Research, Int. Union of Biol. Sciences. His honours include: Carnegie fellow; Andres Bello Order; Lorenzo Mendoza Fleury Prize; Guggenheim fellow; hon. member, Ecol. Soc. of America; for. assoc., Natl. Acad. of Sciences, USA; for. member, Am. Acad. of Sciences; Bacardi chair, Univ. of Florida; for. assoc., Natl. Acad. of Sciences, USA; for. fellow, Am. Acad. of Arts and Sciences; and for. member, Am. Acad. of Sciences. Adjunct Scientist at IITF-USDA Forest Service

Kwon is professor emeritus, School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Seoul Natl. Univ. (SNU), where he was prof. from 1977 to 2008; chaired professor of Daegu Gyeongbuk Inst. of Science and Tech. (DGIST) from 2010 to 2014; visiting chair professor of DGIST since 2014. He obtained his BS (1966) and MS (1972) from SNU, and a PhD (1975) from Brown Univ. (BU). He received the Natl. Academy of Sciences Award, 1997; BU Engineering Alumni Medal Award, 2003; and Korea Highest Scientist and Engineer Award, 2007. He is a fellow of IEEE, 1999; National Acad. of Engineering of Korea (NAEK), 1995; Korean Academy of Science and Technology (KAST), 1998; and Intl. Federation of Automatic Control (IFAC), 2010. He was President of Institute of Control, Robotics and Systems (ICROS), 1999; Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers (KIEE), 2001; and IFAC, 2005-08. He was also vice president of NAEK, 2002-06; and vice president of KAST, 2007-10.

Lee (PhD 1991, Northwestern U.) is Dist. Prof. and Vice President for Research, Korea Advanced Inst. of Sci. and Tech. (KAIST), Daejeon. He is hon. prof., U. of Queensland, Shanghai JiaTong U., Wuhan U., Beijing U. of Chem. Tech., Chines Acad. Sci., and Chairman of Global Future Council on Biotech., World Econ. Forum. His honours include: Natl. Order of Merit; Natl. Sci. Medal; Ho Am Prize; POSCO TJ Park Prize; Citation Classic Award; Merck Metabolic Engg. Award; Marvin Johnson Award; Highly Cited Researcher. He is Fellow, AAAS; Am. Acad. of Microbiology; Soc. for Industrial Microbiology and Biotech.; Am. Inst. of Chem. Engg.; Am. Inst. of Medical and Biological Engg.; Korean Acad. of Science and Tech.; Natl. Acad. of Engg. of Korea; and International Member, Natl. Acad. of Engg. USA; Natl. Acad. Of Sci. USA. Foreign Member, Royal Society UK. He is editor-in-chief of Metabolic Engg., and editor of many intl. journals. He was Chairman of the Global Agenda Council on Emerging Tech and also Biotech. World Econ. Forum and Founding Chairman of World Councel on Indust. Biotech. He has published more than 710 journal papers and holds more than 800 patents

Prof. Ganeev is a principal scientist at the Voronezh State University, Russian Federation. He has obtained his PhD in 1987 and DSc in 1999 at the Institute of Electronics, Uzbekistan. He has served as a visiting professor at Standards and Industrial Research Institute of Malaysia; Centre for Advanced Technology, India; Institute for Solid State Physics, Japan; International Centre for Theoretical Physics, Italy; Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique, Canada; Imperial College London, United Kingdom; Saitama Medical University, Japan, and Changchun Institute if Optics, Fine Mechanics and Physics, China. Prof. Ganeev is the author of eight monographs and 350 papers published in peer-reviewed journals. His awards include the ICO Galileo Galilei Medal and the Khwarizmi International Award. He has made important contributions in the fields of high-order harmonic generation in laser plasmas and nonlinear optical characterization of various media.

Prof. Agnès Binagwaho, MD, MD (Ped), PhD, is pediatrician and the founding, retired vice-chancellor of the University of Global Health Equity (UGHE) in Rwanda. She previously worked as the executive secretary of Rwanda National AIDS Control Commission, as permanent secretary of the Ministry of Health, and as the Minister of Health. She served as a senior advisor to the Director General of the World Health Organization. She is a senior lecturer at UGHE, at Harvard Medical School, and adjunct clinical professor at Dartmouth College, in the Unites States. She is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Medicine and the World Academy of Sciences, and a fellow of the African Academy of Sciences. She is an Emerson Elder and has published over 250 peer-reviewed articles and was named among the 100 Most Influential African Women for 2020 and 2021.

Alouini is a Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. He received his PhD in Electrical Engineering from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), Pasadena, California, USA, in 1998. Alouini is a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and Optica (formerly the Optical Society of America (OSA)). Other recognitions include his selection as Fellow of the African Academy of Science in 2018 and Member of the Academia Europaea in 2019. Over the last years, Alouini has been addressing the uneven global distribution, access to, and use of information and communication technologies by studying and developing (i) new generations of integrated space-air-ground networks as a solution to provide connectivity to far-flung, less-populated, and/or hard-to-reach areas and (ii) novel thrifty wireless networks to achieve digital inclusiveness for low-income neighborhoods.

Gojobori (PhD, Kyushu U., Japan) is a Distinguished Professor, King Abdullah U. of Science and Technology (KAUST), Saudi Arabia, and Project Professor, Natl. Inst. of Genetics (NIG), Japan. He received Salvatore Gold Medal from Italy, Medal with Purple Ribbon from Japan. He is foreign honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences; fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science; Academician of the Pontifical Academy of Science; member of Academia Europaea. He is Vice-President of CODATA. He is: section editor, BMC Genomics; founding editor, Genome Biology and Evolution; editor, GENE and FEBS Letters; and associate editor, Molecular Biology and Evolution and PLoS Genetics. He has more than 400 publications in peer-reviewed international journals. He contributed to the DDBJ/GenBank/EMBL database and the H-Invitational human gene database.

Gaye is Professor of Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine of Cheikh Anta Diop University of Dakar; Director of the Malaria Research and Capacity Development Programme in West and Central Africa; Coordinator of the Network for Malaria Surveillance in West and Central Africa; a member of the Senegalese Academy of Sciences and Techniques, and a member of Malaria Consortium's Board of Trustees. He was: Head of the Department of Parasitology; Coordinator of the PhD training in human biology and pathology; Scientific Adviser on Malaria in WHO Regional Office for Africa, and a member of WHO headquaters' Expert Panel on Malaria Management; Malaria Technical Advisor at the Gates Foundation; and Technical Advisor at the Ministry of Health, Senegal, for many years. Gaye has coordinated research on malaria and several parasitic diseases in Africa, as the seasonal malaria chemoprevention, and the use of antimalarial and diagnostics tests at community level. He is a founding member of the West Africa Roll Back Malaria Network. He received the Senegal Presidential Award for Science in 2012, and International Distinguished Fellow by American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene in 2021.

Touré is currently Vice-President of The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) for the advancement of science in developing countries, representing the African Region. He is a founding and active member of the Senegalese National Academy of Science and the African Academy of Science. He served as scientist and science manager for 32 years, respectively in the Senegalese agricultural research system (1974-1988) at the Work Bank and at the Global Environment Facility headquarters in Washington, D.C. (1989-2006). He was educated at the University of Orleans (B.Sc.), and the University of Rennes (M.Sc and PhD in agronomy and soil sciences), France. As a researcher, Touré worked in the fields of agronomy, soil chemistry, desertification and sustainable land management. As a science manager, he was instrumental in the design and management of the nascent Senegalese agricultural research system. He spearheaded the establishment of regional collaborative platforms at both sub-regional and continental levels. Prior to and after retirement, he was actively involved in the discussion and implementation of the SDGs related to the protection of the environment and enhancing livelihoods.

Mihajlo Jakovljevic MD PhD MAE is the only representative of Serbia ever elected in UNESCO-TWAS Academy Membership. Since 2018, he is appointed to top tier EACHR Committee, World Health Organization. Holds Professorship at Hosei University Tokyo, Japan, funded by JSPS; Expert Affiliate of the Center for Health Trend and Forecasts, Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, University of Washington since 2016; held Forte-funded Senior Visiting position at Lund University, Sweden, 2018-2020. He published almost 400 papers in refereed journals (138,000+ citations, Hirsch factor 92). In 2015, he was the first ever nominated candidate based in Eastern Europe for the elections of the International Health Economics Association Board of Directors. In Editor-in-Chief capacity he leads prestigious CERA, BMC journal (IF=2.803) Founding Specialty Chief Editor of Frontiers in Health Economics 2016 - 2021 (IF=6.461). Ordinary Fellow of Academia Europaea, London as the first representative of Serbia Elected to the Section Clinical and Veterinary Medicine amongst app. 800 members. Jakovljevic’s long term focus remains on health financing and affordability issues in the emerging global markets.

Chen is Emeritus Professor at the National University of Singapore. He was Tan Chin Tuan Centennial Professor (2006-12), Distinguished Professor (2013-15), and served as Director, Institute for Mathematical Sciences (2000-12). He was President, Bernoulli Soc. for Mathematical Statistics and Probability (1997-99), President, Inst. of Mathematical Statistics (2004-05), and Vice-President, International Statistical Institute (2009-11). He has done fundamental work on Poisson approximation, now known as the Chen-Stein (or Stein-Chen) method. His research in discrete probability has broad applications ranging from molecular biology to probabilistic number theory. He is an elected fellow, Singapore Natl. Acad. of Science, and Inst. of Mathematical Statistics; elected member, International Statistical Institute. He has served as Associate Editor of the journals Bernoulli and Statistica Sinica.

Suresh is President, Nanyang Technological U., Singapore. Previously, he served as Pres., Carnegie Mellon U. (2013-17), Dir., Natl. Science Foundation of the United States (2010-13), and as dean of engineering (2007-2010) and Vannevar Bush prof. of engineering, Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT). He received his bachelor of technology (1977) from Indian Inst. of Technology, Madras; MS (1979) from Iowa State U.; and ScD (1981) from MIT. He is world renowned for his pioneering work on the mechanical properties of engineered and biological materials and for establishing connections between cell mechanics and human diseases. He has authored over 240 research articles, 20 patents and 3 books. A recipient of 11 hon. doctorates, he has been elected to 15 engineering/science academies incl. the US Natl. Acad. of Engineering, Natl. Acad. of Sciences, National Academy of Medicine, National Academy of Inventors, and the American Acad. of Arts and Sciences, as well as the French, Chinese and German science academies.

Paul Teng is Managing Director and Dean at the National Institute of Education International Pte. Ltd., Singapore; and concurrently senior fellow (food security), Rajaratnam School of International Studies, NTU. He also holds honorary appointments as Adjunct Professor, Murdoch University and Senior Fellow, Southeast Asian Regional Center for Research & Graduate Studies in Agriculture. He is Chair, board of trustees, International Service for Acquisition of Agribiotech Applications (ISAAA) and chairman of the board, Asia BioBusiness Pte. Ltd.. He graduated from Lincoln University, New Zealand, with a BSc in agricultural science (first class honours, 1972) and PhD in 1978. His honours include: CGIAR Excellence in Science Award, 2001; Outstanding Scientific Article; Eriksson Prize for Plant Pathology, Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences; Fellow, American Phytopathological Society; Honorary Doctor of Science, Murdoch University, Australia. Current interests are in andragogy, food security, urban agriculture, biotechnology, sustainability and inclusive agribusiness.

Abdool Karim is Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research) at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, in South Africa, and Director of the Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa. In the Unites States, he is a Professor of Clinical Epidemiology, at Columbia University and an Adjunct Professor of Medicine at Cornell University. He obtained his medical degree in 1983 and his PhD in 1999 from the University of KwaZulu-Natal. His scientific contributions are in HIV prevention (microbicides and vaccines) and AIDS treatment, including tuberculosis co-infections. His awards include the 2008 TWAS Prize in Medical Sciences; the 2011 Science-for-Society Gold Medals of the Academy of Science of South Africa; the 2015 African Union’s "Kwame Nkrumah Continental Scientific Award”, 2020, he received the Maddox Prize for his work defending science during both the HIV and Covid-19 pandemics, and the 2021 Special VinFuture Prize for Developing Country Innovators. He is a member of the World Health Organization Strategic and Technical Committee on HIV and Viral Hepatitis, the Academy of Science of South Africa, the African Academy of Science, the US National Academy of Medicine, among others.