Zhu is a Boya Chair professor, former dean of College of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, and founding director of the Institute of Tibetan Plateau, Peking University. He has made exceptional contributions to fundamental research in atmospheric chemistry and science-based air pollution control in developing countries, by identifying sources, revealing physical and chemical mechanisms, and assessing health impacts of atmospheric pollution. His findings have greatly supported China’s Air Pollution Prevention and Control Action Plan, which drastically improved the air quality over the past decade in China. His research on the health effects of air pollution and climate change has greatly promoted the interdisciplinary research and education of environmental health. A member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, he is a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union for his “exceptional contributions to advancing fundamental atmospheric chemistry and assessing impacts of megacity air pollution on human health and climate”.

Tan is a distinguished full professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering, and a university Fellow at De La Salle University. He is an academician of the Philippine National Academy of Science and Technology. His research focuses on the development and use of models to enhance the sustainability of industrial systems. Tan is internationally recognized as the co-developer of the carbon emissions pinch analysis algorithm. He serves as an editor-in-chief of Process Integration and Optimization for Sustainability, associate editor of Sustainable Production and Consumption, and is a member of the editorial boards of Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy, Chemical Engineering Transactions, and Cleaner Engineering and Technology. He has received numerous scientific awards from various Philippine organizations, has been listed in the Scopus database of the world’s top 2% of scientists since 2019, and is included in Reuters’ Hot List of the world’s 1,000 most influential climate researchers.

Sun graduated with a bachelor’s degree in biology from Yunnan University (1983), and earned his master’s degree (1988) and his PhD (1994) from the Kunming Institute of Botany (KIB), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), under the University of CAS. He began his scientific career at KIB in July 1983, and was promoted to assistant researcher in December 1990, associate researcher in June 1995, and senior research Fellow in November 1997. In November 2023, he was elected a CAS Academician. He has participated in international academic exchanges, serving as a visiting scholar at Harvard University (April–July 1999) and conducting advanced studies at the Jodrell Laboratory of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (January–July 2001). He held several leadership positions at CAS, including vice-president of the Kunming Branch (2002–2005 and 2012–2014), and served as director of the Kunming Institute of Botany (July 2014 to November 2023). His research focuses on phytotaxonomy, phylogeny, and biogeography. He has published 430 scientific papers, including 280 as first author or corresponding author, and contributed to 13 monographs as chief editor or co-chief editor.

Sambanthamurthi was the founding director of the Advanced Biotechnology and Breeding Centre at the Malaysian Palm Oil Board. Inducted a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2025, she is also a Fellow of the Academy of Sciences Malaysia, and currently chairs its biological, agricultural, and environmental sciences discipline group. She led the groundbreaking Oil Palm Genome Project, producing the crop’s first publicly available reference genome, published in Nature. This milestone enabled scientific advances, including discovering the SHELL gene, the most important genetic determinant of oil yield. She also uncovered phenolic bioactive compounds in palm oil mill effluent and developed an innovative process for their extraction that led to the establishment of the first production facility in Mexico. She has published three papers in Nature and one in Nature Communications, and is the holder of over 40 patents. Her accolades include: the Malaysian Invention and Design Society Luminary Award, Lifetime Achievement Award from the Oils and Fats Congress 2022, and the Knight of the International Order of Merit of Inventors, from the International Federation of Inventors' Associations.

Rahman, a professor and researcher at Universiti Putra Malaysia, is recognized internationally for her expertise and pioneering work in microbiology, which led to the naming of a new bacterium, Geobacillus zalihae, in her honor. She has made notable contributions to space research, playing a key role in projects under the Malaysian Space Programme. In collaboration with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, she has facilitated the successful delivery of 24 protein samples to KIBO, the Japanese Experiment Module aboard the International Space Station (ISS). Rahman also contributes to higher education quality assurance as a member of the Malaysian Qualifications Agency’s programme evaluation panel, and serves on the council of the Asia Pacific Protein Association. Her work has been recognized with numerous academic honours, including: Top Research Scientist Malaysia, Fellow of the Academy of Sciences Malaysia, and Knight Degree Conferment from the International Federation of Inventors' Associations.

Qin has dedicated more than 40 years to research in laboratory animal science and comparative medicine. She established the China’s first international repository with multiple species and strains—the National Repository of Animal Models of Human Diseases. Her work includes the development of animal models for major disease outbreaks such as SARS and COVID-19, which played a key role in the early evaluation of emergency therapeutics and vaccines. Qin is a strong advocate for advancement of laboratory animal science, but also a committed supporter of animal welfare and ethics. She led the design of national standards for laboratory animals in China, contributing to improved animal welfare and the standardized training of laboratory personnel. She has authored 183 scientific papers as first or corresponding author, including eight papers on Cell, Nature, and Science. She is the editor in chief of six national unified textbooks for Laboratory Animal Science and Medical Laboratory Animal Science, and has published 31 monographs. She was selected as a highly-cited scientist by Clarivate (2022–2023), and won several national-level awards of China.