Ahmed (PhD, 1987, Mines ParisTech, France) is Professor, School of Sciences, Maulana Azad National Urdu University, Hyderabad, India. An earth scientist, he worked extensively on groundwater hydrology in his 37 years’ career at CSIR's National Geophysical Research Institute, Hyderabad. Later he was Chair Professor in Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi. He led a large number of national and international projects on Earth science including the National Aquifer Mapping, India using heli-borne geophysics. He has more than 150 SCI publications and supervised 40 doctoral theses. He is Secretary of the Asian Global Network on Water and Development Information for Arid Lands. His awards include National Geoscience Award, International Prize for Water Sciences, National Mineral Award, INC-IAH Excellence Award, NGRI-AHI National Lecture Award, IGU-Annie Talwani Memorial Prize, Young Scientist Award. He is Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences of India. Ahmed has led the Indo-French Centre for Groundwater Research in Hyderabad for almost two decades as its founder head. He has been visiting Fellow to the Aligarh Muslim University and visiting professor to Kashmir University, India.

Bhargava is a world-renowned multidisciplinary scientist with decades of leadership in the academia and industry. His contributions in nanotechnology, catalysis and metallodrugs for cancer treatment are outstanding. His award-winning Global PhD programme with the laboratories of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research of the Ministry of Science and Technology broke new ground and established a unique connection between his native India with his adopted Australia. Regarded as the topmost researcher in mercury pollution control, Bhargava's achievements place him among the top 1 per cent scientists in mines and mineral engineering. He has co-authored over 600 highly-cited refereed journal articles, two books, 14 book chapters, 12 relevant patents, more than 120 lectures. He is known as a solution-provider to many industries. Holding distinguished professorships at top universities in six countries, he is an outstanding ambassador of Australian higher education around the world. An inspirational figure to many, he pushed boundaries and developed innovative ways for how universities should collaborate with industry, creating jobs and changing lives.

Chatterjee is a Professor of Pharmacology, Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research, Kolkata, India. Upon completing her MBBS and MD from University of Calcutta, she received her PhD from Jadavpur University, Kolkata, India. Her work as a medical immunopharmacologist includes multiple aspects of Leishmania biology that includes (i) delineating the immunopathology of Post Kala-azar Dermal Leishmaniasis (PKDL), a disease unique to South Asia, and especially challenging as it has no animal model; (ii) development of diagnostic/prognostic objective molecular tools for monitoring anti-leishmanial therapy; and (iii) studying redox-dysfunction as an effective leishmanicidal approach. In sum, the thrust of Chatterjee’s work is translational research in Indian Leishmaniasis with a view towards facilitating a greater understanding of disease pathogenesis through worldwide collaborations across geographic borders, and supporting the ongoing kala-azar elimination programme. She is a member of four Indian science academies and has over 175 publications in leading International journals (Clin Infect Dis, J Invest Dermatol, J Clin Invest, J Inf Dis).

Dube is Emeritus Scientist of Indian National Science Academy and Csir JC Bose National Fellow, Central Drug Research Institute, Lucknow, India. Her research focus is on the endemic organism Leishmania sp., a protozoan parasite causing Kala-azar, a neglected tropical disease and a major health problem in pockets in the Indian sub-continent. She identified novel vaccine and drug targets using functional genomics and proteomics, leading to the development of indigenous protein vaccines. This also led to the detection of new biomarkers for drug resistance in Leishmania. She developed and established the first non-human primate model for preclinical evaluation of a potential antileishmanial drug/vaccine, and generated fluorescent Leishmania organism for rapid drug screening which were recognized nationally and internationally. Member of the three Indian science academies, she has received awards such as Sir J.C. Bose National Fellowship, Indian Council of Medical Research Kshanika Oration, and Dr. B.N. Singh Memorial Oration among others.