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.

Atangana is Full Professor at the Institute for Groundwater Studies, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa. His research interests are, but not limited to, fractional calculus and applications, numerical and analytical methods, and modeling. He is the author of more than 270 research papers and five books in top tier journals of applied mathematics and groundwater modeling. He is the founder of numerous mathematical operators, for example fractional differential and integral operators with singular and nonlocal kernels (Atangana-Baleanu derivatives and integral), fractal-fractional calculus, piecewise calculus, and some numerical methods. He serves as Editor in top tier journals in various fields of study. He has been invited as plenary, keynote speaker in more than 30 international conferences. He has graduated more than 21 masters and 10 PhD students and has supervised several postdoctoral researchers from different countries. He was elected Highly Cited Mathematician in 2019, Highly Cited Mathematician with Crossfield Impact in 2020, and Highly Cited Mathematician in 2021. He is a recipient of the Obada Prize 2020, the TWAS-Hamdan Award 2020 and many others.

Biekpe is currently Professor of Development Finance and Econometrics, and Program Director of the MCom in Development Finance at the University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business. He is also President of Africagrowth Institute and Executive Chairman of the Chartered Institute of Development Finance. He has an MSc in Applied Statistics and Operational Research (London) and PhD in International Finance (Queens, UK). Biekpe is a Chartered Statistician and Fellow of the Royal Statistical Society of Great Britain and a Chartered Scientist of the Science Council of the United Kingdom. He is the Executive Editor of the African Finance Journal, Executive Editor of Review of Development Finance and Managing Editor Africagrowth Agenda Journal and Managing Editor of the Development Finance Agenda Magazine. Biekpe is a member of the Academy of Sciences of South Africa (ASSAf), a Fellow of the African Academy of Sciences (FAAS) and a Fellow of Royal Society of Arts (FRSA).

Coutsoudis is a public health scientist and a Professor in the Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, at the Nelson Mandela School of Medicine, University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. She obtained her PhD in 1993 from the same university, and made important contributions on child nutrition, breastfeeding and prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV/AIDS. Her awards include: the 2004 Nutrition Society of South Africa Award for her contribution to nutrition research in South Africa; the 2005 Amnesty International South Africa for protecting human rights in South Africa; the 2006 Convocation of University of KwaZulu-Natal for her outstanding contribution to medical science and society; and the 2009 Science for Society Gold Medal of the Academy of Sciences of South Africa, of which she is a Fellow. She is also a Fellow of of the University of KwaZulu-Natal. In 2000, she established the first community-based breastmilk bank in South Africa to provide donor breastmilk to AIDS orphans, and was one of the founding members of the Human Milk Banking Association of South Africa, which she chairs. She is involved in putting in place low-cost technology for human milk banks.

Crewe is a Senior Research Fellow, Centre for the Advancement of Scholarship, U. of Pretoria (UP); Em. Vice-principal of UP; former pres., Acad. of Science of South Africa; fellow, Royal Soc. of South Africa; fellow, African Acad. of Science, and Royal Entomological Soc. of London. He obtained degrees in chemistry and biochemistry at the U. of Natal in Pietermaritzburg. He obtained his PhD in entomology at the U. of Georgia where he developed his interest in chemical communication and social organization in social insects. He was director of the Communication Biology Research Group, U. of Witwatersrand, for 10 years; dean, Science Faculties at both the univ. of Witwatersrand and Pretoria, and pres., Entomological Society of Southern Africa. He has been awarded the Gold Medal, Zoological Society of South Africa, the Gold Medal, Acad. of Science of South Africa and Ordre National du Mérite rank Chevalier.

Diab is Emeritus Professor of Environmental Sciences at the Univ. of KwaZulu-Natal, the former Executive Officer of the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf) and currently serves as Special Advisor to GenderInSITE. She obtained her PhD from the University of Virginia, USA, in 1983. She is a fellow of the University of KwaZulu-Natal, the South African Geographical Society, the African Academy of Sciences and TWAS, and a member of ASSAf. She was a Fulbright Senior Scholar and has served on numerous international committees such as the International Ozone Commission. She currently chairs the Gender Advisory Committee of TWAS. She serves on the African Union High-Level Panel on Emerging Technologies and was recently Co-Chair of an OECD Expert Group on Reducing the Precarity of Young Researchers’ Careers.

Ellis is professor emeritus of applied mathematics, University of Cape Town, South Africa. An astronomer and expert in tetrad methods to study cosmological dynamics and Bianchi Universes, he enunciated the dynamical systems approach to cosmology and nonlinear dynamics of cosmic microwave background anisotropies. He has written on the philosophy of cosmology, in particular the multiverse idea. He now works on complexity theory and the nature of the brain. He is a fellow (former president) of the Royal Society of South Africa, Royal Astronomical Society, Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf), and Royal Society (London). He is former president of the Intl. Society of General Relativity and Gravitation. He has won: Star of South Africa Medal; Gold Medal, ASSAf; Natl. Science and Technology Forum Lifetime Award; and Templeton Prize. He is a founding member, Inter Academy Council.

Gevers is emeritus professor of Medical Biochemistry, U. of Cape Town (UCT), South Africa. He qualified in medicine at UCT (1960); was a Rhodes Scholar, Oxford U. (DPhil, 1966) under Sir Hans Krebs, and research associate of Fritz Lipmann, Rockefeller U. He was pres., exec. officer and gen. sec., Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf); senior deputy vice-chancellor, UCT. He directed MRC Research Units, universities of Stellenbosch and Cape Town, and established the Inst. of Infectious Disease and Mol. Medicine at UCT. Honours include: 3 hon. doctorates; Wellcome Gold Medal for Medical Research; Gold Medals, South African Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, MRC, Southern Afr. Assoc. for the Adv. of Science, and ASSAf. He was inducted into the Natl. Order of Mapungubwe in Silver in 2008. He is a member of 3 science academies and life fellow, UCT.

Gray is President/CEO of the South African Medical Research Council, Research Professor in Paediatrics at the University of the Witwatersrand, and Member (Professor) in the Vaccine & Infectious Disease Division at the Fred Hutch Cancer Research Center, in Seattle. A Medical Doctor, specialising in Paediatrics, she started her research career in the field of preventing mother to child transmission of HIV-1 (PMTCT). She was awarded a Fogarty Fellowship to study clinical epidemiology at Cornell and Columbia Universities (1999), enabling her to broaden her investigative interests to include: clinical trial design; vaccine. She developed her research in post-natal transmission, focusing on breast-feeding, infant survival and post-exposure prophylaxis. Gray collaborated in multi-country efforts to find short-course and affordable antiretroviral interventions for PMTCT. She co-founded with James McIntyre the Perinatal HIV Research Unit (PHRU) at Baragwanath Hospital, which is now a world-renowned research unit focused on HIV prevention and treatment with grants awarded through competitive international processes from the NIH, USAID, amongst others, amounting to over R120 million pa.

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).

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.

Momba is a citizen of the Democratic Republic of the Congo living in South Africa since 1991. She is a full research professor and holds the South African National Research Chair of Water Quality and Wastewater Management at Tshwane University of Technology. Her core research in these areas includes drinking water treatment, industrial wastewater and municipal wastewater treatment, health-related water microbiology, nanotechnology, environmental biotechnology, bioremediation and microbial ecology. After 31 years of specializing in the field of water research, she is a C1 rated scientist in South Africa, and an elected Member of the Academy of Science of South Africa. Her research has attracted global recognition as evidenced by numerous awards, publications in peer review journals, collaborations she has established with other universities beyond the borders of South Africa, and the number of students originating from many parts of Africa who obtained their master and PhD degrees under her guidance and mentorship. Momba is a member of 13 scientific committees and reviewer of about 15 refereed journals. She is a mother.

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

Okoh holds a PhD in microbiology from Obafemi Awolowo University in Nigeria, with over 30 years of experience in the university system. He was the head of the Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, University of Fort Hare, South Africa for seven years, leader of the Water Research Niche Area, deputy dean, and acting dean, as well as director of a research centre of excellence of the South African Medical Research Council, University of Fort Hare, South Africa. His research interests regard applied and environmental microbiology. He has published over 500 journal articles and graduated 59 PhD and 70 Master’s students. He is a recipient of the Gold Scientific Achievement Award of the South African Medical Research Council, amongst others. He also served as the president of the South Africa Society for Microbiology (2011–2013) and is a member of the board of trustees of the Biotechnology Society of Nigeria and a Fellow of seven national and international societies and academies. In the recent World Scientist and University ranking 2024, in the discipline microbiology, Okoh was ranked #1 in the University of Fort Hare, #3 in South Africa and Africa, and #130 globally.

Iqbal Parker is founding director of the ICGEB Cape Town Component (2007 - 2016); General Secretary of the International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (2021 - present); founder sec. gen. of the Federation of African Societies for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (1996 - 2012); vice President of Acad. Science of SA (2010 - 2016); Vice President of the African Academy of Sciences (2020 - present). He obtained his PhD from UCT in 1979. He and his team have identified a novel transcription factor responsible for transcriptional modulation of collagen gene expression and identified several genetic polymorphisms that are important in gene-environment interaction in the aetiology of oesophageal cancer. His awards include: DST/NRF research chair in cancer biology, an MRC funded Oesophageal Cancer Research Group; Outstanding Scientist Award by the Natl. Science and Technology Forum; Gold Medal from the South African Soc. for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Oettle Memorial Medal from the Cancer Association of SA. He is founding member of ASSAf and member of Islamic World Academy of Sciences.

Daya Reddy is Professor Emeritus of Applied Mathematics at the University of Cape Town (UCT), and previously held the South African Research Chair in Computational Mechanics. He completed a degree in civil engineering at UCT, and a Ph.D. degree at Cambridge University in the UK. The focus of his research is on is research focusing on mathematical modelling, analysis, and simulation, with applications in materials science and biomechanics. Reddy served as the inaugural President of the International Science Council (ISC). He is a fellow of the African Academy of Sciences, the South African Academy of Engineering, and a Member and former President of the Academy of Science of South Africa. He is also an elected Fellow of the International Association of Computational Mechanics and of the ISC. He is a recipient of the Order of Mapungubwe, awarded by the President of South Africa for distinguished contributions to science, and of the Georg Forster Award from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation of Germany.

Whitelock is an astronomer at, and former director of, the South African Astronomical Observatory and an honorary professor at the University of Cape Town. She obtained her BSc and PhD at the University of London. Her primary research interests are the late stages of stellar evolution, mass-loss and variability. She also works on galactic structure, near-by galaxies and the cosmic distance scale. She is involved in astronomy education, astronomy for development, and international coordination and collaboration. She has served as president of the International Astronomical Union’s Division VII (Galactic Systems), is a member of the Academy of Sciences of South Africa, an honorary fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society (UK) and an honorary member and fellow—and former president—of the South African Institute of Physics (SAIP). She is the recipient of the 2018 de Beers Gold Medal of the SAIP and a Doctor of Laws (honoris causa) from Rhodes University in 2020.

Dajczer is professor of mathematics at the Instituto de Matematica Pura e Aplicada (IMPA), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He has made several important contributions in Riemannian geometry. His work has dealt especially with many aspects of the rigidity and deformation problem for isometrically or conformally immersed submanifolds in Riemannian ambient spaces. A member of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences, he has been a Guggenheim fellow and a fellow of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science.

Chandrajith is working as a professor at the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka, and has more than 30 years of teaching and research experience. He is mainly involved in research in the field of environmental geochemistry, with a particular interest in bridging chemical, biological and geological sciences to address diverse environmental problems, including hydrogeochemistry and medical geology. His current projects include freshwater geochemistry, the application of isotopes in low-temperature geochemical processes, the study of environmental relationships with human and animal health, and the reconstruction of Holocene climate changes using geochemical proxies. Chandrajith has published over 160 research papers in reputed international journals and written three books and 11 book chapters with a Google H-index of 39. He co-authored the book “Introduction to Medical Geology” published by Springer, Germany. He received the prestigious Georg Forster Research Prize from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation in Germany in 2022 and is also a Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences, Sri Lanka.

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.

Munasinghe is founder chairman, Munasinghe Inst. for Development; Chairman, Presidential Expert Committee on Sustainable Sri Lanka 2030 Vision; distinguished guest prof., Peking Univ; and hon. senior adviser, Sri Lanka Govt. He has degrees in physics, engg. and economics from Cambridge U., UK; MIT, USA, and McGill and Concordia U., Canada. He was sr. energy adviser to the Pres. of Sri Lanka; advisor, US President's Council on Envir. Quality; sr. adviser/director, World Bank; vice chair, Intergov. Panel on Climate Change; chairman, Computer and Inf. Tech. Council, Sri Lanka; and chancellor, Int. Water Acad., Oslo. He shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize and won many major research awards, incl. 2021 Blue Planet Prize Laureate; Eminence in Engineering; award, Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka, 2014; Lifetime outstanding achievement in energy award from President of Sri Lanka, 2016; Officer of French Legion of Honour decoration from French President, 2018; and highest national award "Deshmanya" from Sri Lanka President, 2019. He has authored over 120 scientific books and 350 papers. He is fellow of 10 science academies, and editorial board member of 21 journals.

El-Khozondar (PhD 1999, New Mexico State U., Postdoc 1999, Max Planck Institute, Germany) is professor, electrical engineering dpt., Islamic U. of Gaza. She got her B.Sc. in Physics and joined the Physics faculty at BirZeit U., Palestinian Territory in 1987. She is recognized for her research on the behaviour of optical fibre grating sensors under different stress effects, magneto-optical isolators, metamaterial devices, electro-optical waveguides, and the microstructural evolution of polycrystalline materials, with relevance to integrated optical devices and the performance of metals and ceramics. Her honours include Fulbright Scholarship, DAAD award; Alexander von Humboldt Scholarship; Erasmus Mundus; senior member at ICTP; Islamic U. Deanery Prize for applied sciences and the Arab U. Union Award, TWAS medal lecture 2015 and ISESCO Prize in Science and Technology 2014.

Saad (PhD, 1987, University of Zürich, Switzerland) is Professor of cell biology and immunology at the Arab American University in Jenin, Palestine (AAUP), and past President of the Al-Qasemi Academic College, Baga Algharbiya, Israel. He was: Scientific Director of the Research and Development Regional Centre - The Galilee Society, Israel; Dean of Scientific Research at AAUP, Dean of Scientific Research Center at Al-Qasemi Academic College, Israel; Dean of the Faculty of Sciences and Research Centre at Al-Qasemi Academic College, Head of the Higher Education Council of Al-Qasemi Academic College, and member of the Palestinian Council for Higher Education. His prizes include the Best Research Award of the Swiss Surgical Society for the development of versatile biodegradable biomaterials, the Best Research Award of The Israeli Society for Complementary Medicine, and the Hijawi Awards of AAUP for best undergraduate research projects, and Best Researcher at AAUP. He is a member of the Middle East Cancer Consortium (MECC).

Hassan is president of the Sudanese National Academy of Sciences and was president of TWAS from 2019-22; and Chair of the Governing Council of the United Nations Technology Bank for the Least Developed Countries, and of the International Advisory Board of the Centre for Development Research, Germany. He covered many high-level positions, such as President of the InterAcademy Partnership (IAP); founding Executive Director of TWAS; President of the African Academy of Sciences; founding President of the Network of African Science Academies, and Chair of the Council of United Nations University. After obtaining his PhD in mathematics from the University of Oxford, he returned to the Sudan and later became Professor and Dean of the Faculty of Mathematical Sciences at Khartoum University. Among his honours are: Comendador and Grand Cross of the Brazilian Order of the National Scientific Merit, and Officer of the Order of Merit of Italy. He is a member of several scientific academies, including the Belgian, Colombian, Cuban, Moroccan, Pakistani, South African and the Pontifical. He is the recipient of the G77 Leadership Award and of the Abdus Salam Medal for Science and Technology.

Salih is a professor of Civil engineering at Khartoum University, Sudan. After his PhD and DIC at Imperial College, London, he returned to Sudan in 1973 and has since worked in various teaching, research and consulting capacities at the University and abroad. These positions include the deputy vice chancellorship of the University; UNESCO's environmental adviser (Arab Region), deputy secretary of the IHP and director of Cairo and Tehran Offices and director of Water Sciences Division in Paris. He initiated regional and international networks on water resources management in arid zones and served as a jury member of many international water prizes. He is a fellow of the African Academy of Sciences and the International Water Resources Association. He is a member of many International Scientific Associations (IAHR, IAHS, etc.).

Chen (PhD 1992, Joh.-Gutenberg-U., Mainz, Germany) is currently Chair Professor at University of Gothenburg, Sweden. He is an internationally renowned climate researcher with important contributions to the understanding of regional climate changes and their impacts in Sweden and China. His research includes Earth System Science, global environmental change, climate dynamics and modeling, and atmospheric circulation. He works on recent and future regional climate changes and their impacts on water, ecosystem, environment, and agriculture. He currently focuses on climate and environmental changes over the Third Pole (Tibetan Plateau) region. He has served as Executive Director of the International Council for Science (ICSU), Director of the Gothenburg Atmospheric Science Centre, and Science Director of the Beijing Climate Center. He is an elected member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences and the Royal Society of Arts and Sciences in Gothenburg, as well as TWAS Fellow. He has served on numerous international and national committees and boards, advising various governmental, intergovernmental and international non-governmental organizations as well as research funding agencies.

Rosswall is former Executive Director of the International Council for Science (ICSU). He has been Rector of the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) and is professor emeritus of water in environment and society at SLU. His research has focused on microbial regulation of nitrogen and carbon cycling from the micro- to the global scale. He has played an important role in the development of global change research as Executive Director of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP).He was the inaugural Director of START, the capacity building component of the global change research programmes. His memberships include: Academia Europaea; Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences; Royal Swedish Academy of Agriculture and Forestry; and The World Academy of Arts and Science. He is, among many appointments, past Chair of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) and past member of the Steering Committee of the High-level Expert Panel (HLPE) of the UN Committee on World Food Security (CFS)..