Yusuf, a J.C. Bose National Fellow, is a senior professor at the Homi Bhabha National Institute, serving as director of the physics group at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai. He was the director of the Institute of Physics, Bhubaneswar, held a postdoctoral fellowship at Argonne National Laboratory (US), and was a visiting scientist at the Institute of Materials Science in Spain. His research expertise lies in condensed matter physics. He has published nearly 400 original research articles, and obtained several patents. He serves as president of Asia-Oceania Neutron Scattering Association, and vice-president of the Materials Research Society of India. In the past, he was appointed as president of the Indian Physics Association, vice-chair of the Division of Condensed Matter Physics of the Association of Asia Pacific Physical Societies, president of the Neutron Scattering Society of India, and council member of the National Academy of Sciences, India. His honours include MRSI Distinguished Lectureship Award, the P.K. Iyengar Memorial Award, the Raja Ramanna Prize Lecture in Physics (JNCASR), the MRSI Medal, and the DAE Homi Bhabha Science and Technology Award.

Venkataraman is a leading researcher in aerosol science, working at the intersection of technology and emissions, climate science, air quality, and engineering nanoparticles for drug delivery. Her group aims to use aerosol science to serve society, through a diversity of environmental and biomedical applications, with emphasis on locally relevant solutions. She has authored over 150 cited publications, a book and four patents, and has built academic and research programmes to advance climate and air quality studies in South Asia. She was the founding head of the Centre for Climate Studies, and led the multi-institutional COALESCE research network. She participates in global policy networks, as a member of the Science Advisory Panel of the Climate and Clean Air Coalition of the UNEP and the Global Burden of Disease working group. She has extensively mentored research students and supported the advancement of women in STEM. She is a Fellow of the National Academies of Science and Engineering in India, and has received a IIT Delhi Distinguished Alumni Award (2024), a Fulbright-Nehru Fellowship (2012), the Vikram Sarabhai Award (2006), and teaching excellence awards.

Turdikulova is a leading scientist in biotechnology, biochemistry, and human genetics. She holds a PhD in biotechnology (2001) and a Doctor of Sciences degree in biochemistry and cell biology (2008). She conducted postdoctoral research at UCLA (2002–2005) and earned a postgraduate diploma in organizational leadership from the University of Oxford, in 2025. A pioneer of human genetics research in Uzbekistan, she identified 1,450 genetic markers linked to 670 disease-susceptibility genes, and established a national DNA bank with 24,000 samples. She led the development of Uzbekistan’s first PCR test and co-led clinical trials of the ZF-UZVAC-2001 COVID-19 vaccine. She served as deputy minister of innovation and higher education (2021–2024) and currently directs the Center for Advanced Technologies. Since 2024, she has been vice-president of the Uzbekistan Academy of Sciences, leading national biotech and innovation programs. She is a recipient of the Order Dustlik for her service to science and society.

A medical doctor with 30 years of health research experience in Bangladesh, including a research track record in disease epidemiology, population studies and health systems research, Naheed joined the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b) in 1994 after earning a degree in medicine from the University of Dhaka (1992). She began a research career in infectious disease epidemiology after obtained a Master of Public Health degree from the Johns Hopkins University (US), in 2002. After obtaining a PhD from Tulane University (US) in 2012, she focused on noncommunicable diseases and, after postdoctoral training from the University of Melbourne, Australia (2015), focused on health systems research. She served as the head of the Initiative for Noncommunicable Diseases at the Health Systems and Population Studies Division at icddr,b for eight years (2015–2022) where she is currently a senior scientist with the Nutrition Research Division. She received the Bangladesh Academy of Science Sultan Ahamed Choudhury Science and Technology Gold Medal Award in 2021, and in 2022 was elected to the fellowship of the Bangladesh Academy of Sciences.

Kulkarni earned his PhD from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore in 1992, where he also conducted postdoctoral research. He moved to Cardiff University to work on a project funded by Unilever. In 1995, he joined the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR) as a faculty Fellow, serving there as a professor since 2008. Until 2011, he chaired the Materials Science Unit at JNCASR and held key administrative roles including dean of academic affairs and dean of faculty affairs. He later joined the Centre for Nano and Soft Matter Sciences (CeNS) as its director. In 2020, he returned to JNCASR as president, while continuing to serve as an adjunct professor at CeNS. Kulkarni has been a visiting scientist and professor at several prestigious institutions, including Cardiff University, the University of Tokyo, TASC-INFM in Trieste, Scuola Normale Superiore in Pisa, Purdue University, and the Institute of Molecular Sciences of Orsay at Université Paris-Sud. He also served as an adjunct professor at the Birck Nanotechnology Center, Purdue University (2009–2011), and held an international senior fellowship from the University of Bayreuth (2016–2018).