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.

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.

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 the 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 app.300 papers in refereed journals (app109,500 citations, Hirsch factor 78). 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 market

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.

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.

Prof. Agnes 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.

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.

Huang has made fundamental contributions to dynamics of nonlinear systems, neuromorphic computing, intelligent control and smart grid. Member of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts, academician of the International Academy for Systems and Cybernetic Sciences, Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), the International Association for Pattern Recognition, and the Asia-Pacific Artificial Intelligence Association, he is Highly Cited Researcher named by Clarivate Analytics, and distinguished lecturer of IEEE Computational Intelligence Society. Huang received the Outstanding Achievement Award from Asia Pacific Neural Networks Society; the Changjiang chair professorship awarded by China’s Ministry of Education; the Best Research Project Award presented by Qatar National Research Fund; and The Association of Former Students Distinguished Achievement Award for Research, the highest honor bestowed by Texas A&M University to its faculty, among others.

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

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).

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.

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.