Atangana is Full Professor at the Institute for Groundwater Studies, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa. His research interests are, but not limited to, fractional calculus and applications, numerical and analytical methods, and modeling. He is the author of more than 270 research papers and five books in top tier journals of applied mathematics and groundwater modeling. He is the founder of numerous mathematical operators, for example fractional differential and integral operators with singular and nonlocal kernels (Atangana-Baleanu derivatives and integral), fractal-fractional calculus, piecewise calculus, and some numerical methods. He serves as Editor in top tier journals in various fields of study. He has been invited as plenary, keynote speaker in more than 30 international conferences. He has graduated more than 21 masters and 10 PhD students and has supervised several postdoctoral researchers from different countries. He was elected Highly Cited Mathematician in 2019, Highly Cited Mathematician with Crossfield Impact in 2020, and Highly Cited Mathematician in 2021. He is a recipient of the Obada Prize 2020, the TWAS-Hamdan Award 2020 and many others.

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.

Jaye (DVM, PhD) is a Professor of Global Health Education and Researcher Leadership at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), UK, and Head of Research Training and Career Development at the Medical Research Council (MRC), The Gambia Unit at LSHTM. He was HIV Immunology Group Leader at MRC (1998–2018) and Interim Head of the Viral Diseases Program (2008). He headed the MRC West Africa HIV Collaboration Platform from 2010–2015 based at Cheikh Anta Diop University in Senegal. He coordinated two major capacity building network programs (WANETAM & WAPHIR) for the West African region for multi-centre clinical trial collaboration in HIV, TB and Malaria. He is a member of the MRC Leadership Board. He received professional recognition awards: Elizabeth Glaser Paediatric AIDS Foundation Leadership Award (2007); Fellow of the African Academy of Sciences (2015); MRC Director’s Award for Inspirational Research Leader (2013); Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Science and Technology Award for outstanding contribution in the field of Viral Immunology and Research Training (2017); LSHTM Directors award for Excellence and Innovation in Developing Students as Researchers.

Mbacham is a Titular Professor of Public Health Biotechnology. He obtained a Doctorat de Specialité in Molecular Parasitology from the University of Yaoundé I, Cameroon (1989), and a PhD in Tropical Public Health from Harvard, USA (1997). His research focuses on host and pathogen genomics and the interaction between communicable and non-communicable diseases at the University of Yaoundé I. He has served in leadership positions in many national and international programmes. He has developed a philosophical approach to Professionalizing Planning Actions in Science & Technology Education & University-based Research (Pro-P.A.S.T.E.U.R.) that integrates platforms for bioscience, physical sciences and research-uptake. He won the 2017 TWAS Regional Prizes in Public Understanding and Popularization of Science for sub-Saharan Africa. He was elected Chair of the Programme Management Committee of the International Atomic Energy Agency-AFRA programme of 41 African member states (2015–2021). He has supervised some 95 graduates and 25 PhD students with more than 180 publications. He founded the Fobang Institutes for Innovations in Science and Technology (FINISTECH), Cameroon.

Mekonnen is a Professor of Cell and Human Physiology in the Department of Biology at the College of Natural and Computational Sciences of Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia. She has published extensively in different peer reviewed scientific journals on topics of respiratory physiology, medicinal plants and other related topics. She has advised many MSc and PhD students and she has also mentored young professionals, specially women, over the last three decades. She was involved in leadership positions and has initiated a number of national, continental and international research networks and collaborations. In 2013, she was able to establish with other colleagues the Society of Ethiopian Women in Science and Technology, to help empower and mentor women academicians and researchers in Ethiopia. In 2015, she received the African Union Kwame Nkrumah Regional Scientific Award for Women in Science. She was appointed as Ambassador Scientist by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation of Germany as part of a worldwide network for excellence from 2016 to 2021. Currently she is the Principal Vice-President of the Ethiopian Academy of Sciences.

Olago is Professor of Geology, Chairman of the Department of Earth and Climate Sciences, and Research Director, Institute for Climate Change and Adaptation, University of Nairobi. He has BSc and MSc degrees in Geology from the University of Nairobi and a DPhil degree in Physical Geography from the University of Oxford (Kenya Rhodes Scholar for 1990). His research interests are broadly in Quaternary and environmental geoscience, water resources and climate change. Olago has been involved in multi-disciplinary research, training and capacity building activities on global environmental change in sub-Saharan Africa for over 25 years. He has also contributed, as lead author, to the fourth and sixth Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Reports. He is a fellow of the Kenya National Academy of Sciences, the Geological Society of Kenya, and the African Academy of Sciences.

Sokona (PhD, 1981, Ecole nationale supérieure des mines de Paris, Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris VI, France), with over 40 years of experience addressing energy, environment and sustainable development in Africa, has been at the heart of numerous national and continental initiatives. He is currently a Vice-Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) after serving as Co-Chair of IPCC Working Group III, following being a Lead Author since 1990. He has a proven track record of organizational leadership and management, for example as Inaugural Coordinator of the African Climate Policy Centre and as Executive Secretary of the Sahara and the Sahel Observatory. He is affiliated with numerous boards and organizations, including, as Honorary Professor at the University College London, member of the African Academy of Sciences, and of the Science Advisory Committee of the International Institute for Applied System Analysis. In short, Sokona is a global figure, with deep technical knowledge, extensive policy experience and an unreserved personal commitment to African led development.