Prof. Kayitesi is an Associate Professor in the Department of Consumer and Food Sciences, University of Pretoria (South Africa). She has expertise in various research areas of Food Science and Technology, particularly food chemistry/biochemistry and food processing. She undertakes fundamental and applied research relating to improved utilisation of underutilised African foods. Kayitesi has published more than 30 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters. She has earned several awards in recognition of her contributions to science. She received an African Women in Agricultural Research Development (AWARD) fellowship, TED global fellowship and is currently a TWAS young affiliate. Kayitesi has also been involved in a number of community-based projects. She serves as a Board member of Health Equity and rights organization (HERO) a non-government organization based in Rwanda and is an advisory Board member for the Food Evolution Research Laboratory (FERL). A virtual laboratory that is an that is an essentially go to guide to direct and influence the thinking, choices and decisions built around health and nutrition.
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).