Narinder Mehra is the Vice President (international affairs) of the Indian National Science Academy, Hon Emeritus Scientist of the Indian Council of Medical Research, Former Dean (Res) and Founder Head Dept. of Transplant Immunology and Immunogenetics, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi. He is former Secretary General and Vice President of Federation of Immunological Societies of Asia Oceania (FIMSA) and Life member of Asia Pacific Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics Association (APHIA). He is council member, International Union of Immunological Societies (IUIS) and International Histocompatibility association. His honors include India’s highest S.S. Bhatnagar award, Ranbaxy Science foundation award, Chevalier of the National Order of Merit (France), IROST Khwarizmi international award (Iran) and B.R. Ambedkar award for excellence in Research (ICMR). He is member Honoris Causa of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, and Fellow of Indian Academy of Sciences, Indian National Science Academy and National Academy of Medical Sciences of India and holds Hon Fellowship of Royal College of Physicians (FRCP) of UK . He holds hon. professorship from four universities.

Mizrahi is the professorial director of the Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine at the University of Cape Town (UCT). She also directs the MRC/NHLS/UCT Molecular Mycobacteriology Research Unit and the UCT node of the DST-NRF Centre of Excellence for Biomedical Tuberculosis Research, which is co-hosted by the Universities of Stellenbosch, Witwatersrand, and Cape Town. Awards include the 2013 Christophe Mérieux Prize from the Mérieux Foundation and Institut de France; UNESCO-L'Oréal For Women in Science Prize (Africa and Middle East region, 2000); the Gold Medal of the SA Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (2006); and the Order of the Mapungubwe: Silver of South Africa (2006). She is fellow of the Royal Society of South Africa, a member of the Academy of Science of South Africa and a fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology and a Fellow of UCT.

Mohan is Chairman of Dr. Mohan’s Diabetes Specialities Centre and President of the Madras Diabetes Research Foundation, Chennai, India. He obtained PhD in 1987 and DSc in 1997. He has over 1530 publications including 986 original research articles in peer reviewed journals, 367 review articles and 186 chapters in text books. His work has a h-index of 145 and has over 174,000 citations. He has received Fellowships from all the four Royal College of Physicians of UK and Ireland, American College of Endocrinology and the American College of Physicians. He has received 200 awards including the prestigious Dr. B.C. Roy Award by the Medical Council of India and the Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Centenary Award from the Indian Council of Medical Research. In 2012 he was awarded the Padma Shri, one of the highest civilian awards given by the Govt. of India. He was conferred Hon. Doctorate from Deakin University of Melbourne in 2017. He has been conferred with the prestigious Harold Rifkin Distinguished International Service in the Cause of Diabetes Award by the American Diabetes Association in 2018 for his pioneering work in the field of diabetes and he is the first Indian to receive this award. He

Professor Moncada’s scientific career began at the Royal College of Surgeons, where he was part of the team that discovered the mechanism of action of aspirin-like drugs, thus explaining how they act to relieve pain, control temperature, reduce inflammation and cause gastric damage. During his time at the Wellcome Research Laboratories he led the team that discovered thromboxane synthase and the vasodilator prostacyclin. This work is the basis for the understanding of how low doses of aspirin prevent cardiovascular cardiovascular disease and events such as heart attacks and strokes. In the 1980’s he discovered nitric oxide as a biological mediator, the mechanism of its biosynthesis and many of its biological functions. As Director of Research at Wellcome, he also presided over the work that resulted in the development of several new medicines, including Lamotrigine, Atovaquone, Somig and La

Lynn Morris was appointed as the Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Research and Innovation at Wits University from 1 April 2021. Her previous positions include Interim Executive Director of the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) and Principal Medical Scientist and head of the HIV Virology Section at the NICD, Johannesburg, South Africa. She holds a joint appointment as Research Professor at the University of the Witwatersrand and an Honorary appointment as a Senior Scientist at CAPRISA. She completed her undergraduate studies at Wits University and obtained a DPhil from the University of Oxford in 1988. Lynn is an NRF A-rated researcher (leading international scholar) who has made significant contributions to our understanding of how the antibody response to HIV develops and her laboratory conducts validated end-point assays for HIV vaccine clinical trials. She has been recognised through several national and international awards including the Wits Vice Chancellor’s Research Award and The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) Prize in Medical Sciences. She has supervised 30 PhD and MSc students, has published over 270 papers holding a current author H-Index of 63

Musoke (MBChB, PhD) is a professor, pediatric infectious diseases specialist in the department of Paediatrics and Child Health, Makerere University, and has carried out research with the Makerere University-Johns Hopkins University research collaboration since 1995. She has conducted multiple perinatal HIV prevention clinical trials with US National Institute of Health Division of AIDS network (HIVNET/HPTN/IMPAACT), including the landmark HIVNET012 (Ugandan vice-chair), single dose nevirapine (NVP) to mother and infant for prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) of HIV, which have informed WHO guidelines for PMTCT. She has also conducted pediatric HIV treatment clinical trials to improve antiretroviral therapy for children in resource-limited settings, and pediatric TB diagnostics and treatment. In 1999, she received the Recognition Award, for outstanding contributions to advancing the prevention of perinatal HIV transmission, Canada, and in 2017 the National Bioethics Award, Uganda National Council for Science and Technology, Uganda. Musoke is a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics, and in 2016 she was appointed fellow of the Uganda Academy of Sciences.

Mutabingwa (MD 1979 University of Dar-es-Salaam, MSc. Communicable Diseases 1984 London University, PhD 1993 University of Amsterdam) is a professor at Hubert Kairuki Memorial University (HKMU), Dar-es-Salaam; Founder and president of Tanzania Non-Communicable Diseases Alliance, Founder and past-president of the East Africa Network for Monitoring Antimalarial Treatment. He was: WHO/Technical Expert Group (TEG) member on malaria chemotherapy, malaria prevention in pregnancy (IPTp) and in infants (IPTi), and is still a WHO Clinical Monitor. Was a Board member: Malaria Clinical Trials Alliance (MCTA), Malaria in Pregnancy Consortium (MiPc), and Board member, World Antimalarial Resistance Network (WARN). Recipient of NIMR Best scientist and International Society of Infectious Diseases travel awards. Founder and coordinator of Master of Science in Public Health degree at HKMU since 2012. Member of the Editorial Board of malaria and treatment Journal.

Nath was founder Head and Senior Prof. of Dept. of Biotechnology and has served in various capacities on the faculty of the All India Inst. of Med. Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi. After retirement she was SN Bose Research Prof., Ind. Natl. Science Acad.; Dean, of the School of Med. of the Asian Inst. of Med. Sci. and Techn., Sungai Petani, Malaysia; Dir., Blue Peter Research Centre (LEPRA), Hyderabad, Raja Ramanna Fellow of DST; She obtained her MBBS, MD(Pathology) from AIIMS, MRCPath, FRCPath (London). Her notable honours include: DSc (h.c), Pierre and Marie Curie U., Paris 6; SS Bhatnager Awd.; L'Oreal-UNESCO Awd. for Women in Science. Her civilian honours include: Padmashri (India) and Chevalier of Natl. Order of Merite (France). She is fellow of 4 national science academies and the Natl. Med. Acad. of India. Research areas are Immunology, leprosy. Current international activities include responsible research, biosafety and biosecurity and one health issues.

Osier's expertise is in malaria, where she believes we can "Make Malaria History" through vaccination. She previously led two core teams of over 25 scientists in Kenya and Germany, that focused on creating highly effective malaria vaccines through vaccine candidate discovery, identifying immune correlates of protection and unravelling important mechanisms underlying antibody-dependent protection. They designed an innovative protein microarray KILchip©, a first of its kind in Africa. Through the SMART partnership, they assembled 10,000 samples from across Africa to probe their chip, the largest study of this nature. They created a paradigm shift in the understanding of the mechanisms that underpin protective immunity to malaria. Osier is past president of the International Union of Immunological Societies (> 60,000 members globally)—the first African and only second woman in this role. She has won prestigious prizes including: Royal Society Pfizer; Sofja Kovalevskaja; and UK Medical Research Council - UK Department for International Development African Research Leader. She was honored with the prestigious British Society of Immunology Honorary Lifetime Membership Award (2022).

Prof. Osumi graduated Tokyo Medical and Dental University, was given PhD thesis from the same university, and now is a professor of Tohoku University School of Medicine since 1998. She was one of the 25 Distinguished Professors in Tohoku University from 2008 to 2011, and has become Vice President of Tohoku University as well as Director of Tohoku University Libraries from 2018. Her research background is developmental biology, and she has interest in brain development, evolution, and disease. More recently, she has much interest in gendered research focusing on sex differences in the brain. She was a representative of CREST project (2005-2010) supported by JST, and Global COE project (2007-2012) as well as Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Innovative Areas (16H06524) “Integrative Research toward Elucidation of Generation of Brain Systems for Individuality”. Currently, As the Director of Gender Equality Center at Tohoku University, Dr. Osumi is promoting the policy of diversity in academia, providing various information through the website and social media, and organizing various events networking female researchers.

Ovbiagele, MD, MSc, MAS, MBA, MLS, is professor of neurology and associate dean at the University of California, San Francisco. His primary research involves translation of evidence-based interventions into clinical practice and community settings, to improve stroke outcomes for underserved and vulnerable populations around the world. He currently leads several studies of stroke in the US and sub-Saharan Africa. Ovbiagele has published over 600 peer-reviewed articles (h-index 89) in the areas of stroke prevention, risk factors and outcomes. His work has been recognized with the Pessin and Wartenberg Awards of the American Academy of Neurology; Penn Award of the American Neurological Association; Mridha Humanitarian Award of the American Brain Foundation; Feinberg and Stroke Council Awards of the American Stroke Association; Haddock International and Distinguished Scientist Awards of the American Heart Association, and Meritorious Achievement Award of the National Medical Association. He chaired the International Stroke Conference (2016-2018) and is current editor-in-chief of the Journal of the American Heart Association. He serves on the board of the World Stroke Organization.

Prof. Mehmet Öztürk completed his undergraduate studies at the Faculty of Pharmacy, Gazi University (Turkey) and his PhD at the Faculty of Pharmacy, Paris XI University (France). He become Assistant Professor at Harvard Medical School (USA), Research Director at INSERM (France) and Professor at Bilkent University (Turkey). His seminal research work is on genetic causes of human cancer, including inherited and carcinogen-induced genetic mutations causing childhood cancers and liver cancer, respectively. His high impact research, including over 100 articles, referenced more than 9100 times (H-factor: 44), and nearly 10 patents, have made him a world known scientist. Prof. Öztürk was presented with the ‘Cecile Cerveux Cancer Award’ in France. He also received ‘Golden Mortar Award’ and ‘TÜBİTAK-TWAS Science Award’ in Turkey. The Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics that he created at Bilkent University received ‘Vehbi Koç Award’. Prof. Öztürk is an elected member to several science academies including EMBO, TWAS and Turkish Academy of Sciences.

Iqbal Parker is founding director of the ICGEB Cape Town Component (2007 - 2016); General Secretary of the International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (2021 - present); founder sec. gen. of the Federation of African Societies for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (1996 - 2012); vice President of Acad. Science of SA (2010 - 2016); Vice President of the African Academy of Sciences (2020 - present). He obtained his PhD from UCT in 1979. He and his team have identified a novel transcription factor responsible for transcriptional modulation of collagen gene expression and identified several genetic polymorphisms that are important in gene-environment interaction in the aetiology of oesophageal cancer. His awards include: DST/NRF research chair in cancer biology, an MRC funded Oesophageal Cancer Research Group; Outstanding Scientist Award by the Natl. Science and Technology Forum; Gold Medal from the South African Soc. for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Oettle Memorial Medal from the Cancer Association of SA. He is founding member of ASSAf and member of Islamic World Academy of Sciences.

Pena is professor of biochemistry at the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG) in Brazil, where he graduated in medicine in 1970. He became a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Canada in pediatrics in 1975 and obtained his PhD in human genetics at the University of Manitoba in 1977. He is member of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences and received the Great-Cross of the National Order of Scientific Merit of Brazil in 2006. is currently a member of the National Council of Science and Technnology of Brazil. Among other honours, he was awarded the 2007 TWAS Prize in Medical Sciences. He was president of the Brazilian Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and member of the Council of the Human Genome Organization (HUGO). He created and directs the Danilo Pena Foundation, which grants scholarships to poor students with high intellectual potential.

Qadri (PhD 1980, Liverpool) is Senior Scientist, Intl. Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Res., Bangladesh (ICDDR,B). Her work on infectious diseases and vaccines is carried out in collaboration with intl. and natl. organizations. She began her career (1981) as Asst. Prof., Dept. of Biochem., U. of Dhaka. She joined ICDDR,B in 1986 as a Post-doctoral Fellow and has remained there. She is overseeing a large feasibility study for introducing cholera vaccine in high risk people in the country. She has published +334 papers in peer-reviewed journals. Her honours include: Gold medal from the Bangladesh Academy of Sciences for outstanding research in Biological Sciences for 2006. Prof. C.N.R. Rao Prize for Sci. Res., TWAS; Hon. Intl. Fellow, ASTMH; Ambassador, Am. Soc. for Microbiology (ASM) for Bangladesh; Christophe and Rodolphe Mérieux Found. Grand Prize, French Acad. of Sci.; Fellow, Bangladesh Acad. of Sci.; Member of the UN Secretary-General's High-level Panel on Tech. Bank for the LDCs.

Qiao is academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, vice-president of the China Association for Science and Technology, executive vice-president of Peking University, director of Peking University Health Science Center, academician of American Academy of Arts and Sciences (International Honorary Member), and Honorary Fellow of Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. She has a high reputation in the field of reproductive medicine in China and worldwide. For more than 30 years, she has endeavored to unravel the profound mystery of human reproduction and achieved a number of theoretical and technical breakthroughs in the systematic study of gametogenesis and embryo development, infertility causes and clinical treatments, the protection and preservation of female fertility as well as developing a series of new pre-implantation diagnosis (PGT) methods, which greatly reduces the cost and improves the efficiency in identifying inherited diseases. She also continuously pays attention to the construction of the maternal and child public health system, and the health of women and children throughout their entire life cycle.

Raqib, received her MSc degree in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from Dhaka University and her degree of Doctor of Philosophy, Faculty of Medicine from Karolinska Institute, Sweden (1990-1995). She then returned to Bangladesh in 1995, to join as assistant scientist the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b), where she was promoted associate scientist and then scientist in 2002 and 2006, respectively. Raqib received post-doctoral fellowship award from the Ellison Medical Foundation in 2005. She was appointed as the head of the Nutritional Biochemistry Lab in 2008 and was promoted to senior scientist in 2010, and to international senior scientist the next year. Raqib developed an immunological method to diagnose active tuberculosis which was patented in the USA (co-inventor David Sack). Her work on host directed therapy in infectious diseases with Agerberth and Guðmundsson generated first human data of successful clinical recovery, leading to two patents. Her studies on arsenic-mediated immune modulation generated new human data. She has published over 153 peer reviewed articles and mentored several MSc, PhD and post-doctoral students.

Savino was graduated in Biological Sciences at the University of the State of Rio de Janeiro (1974), got his MSc degree in Histology and Embryology at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (1979), PhD degree in Cell and Tissue Biology at the University of São Paulo (1982), and had a post-doc training in Cellular Immunology at Necker Hospital, Paris (1983-1985). Presently, he is full researcher at the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation. He is a member of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences; Editor-in-Chief of the journal NeuroImmunoModulation and Associated Editor of Frontiers in Immunology. He received international awards, namely the title of Chevalier dans l'Ordre des Palmes Académiques (France), Doctor Honoris causa by Sorbonne Université (France), the Luis Federico Leloir Medal (Argentinian government), Guest of Honor (National University of Rosário, Argentina) and Eduardo Charreau Award (Argentinian Government). His research is focused in cellular immunology, with emphasis in cell migration in the hemopoietic system; neuroimmune interactions; cell therapy and immunotherapy in neuromuscular diseases.

Sekaran, head of research and development at UCSI Hospital, is a Fellow of the Academy of Science Malaysia (since 2017) and of the Royal Society of Pathologists, London (since 2019). Her main expertise is in infectious diseases, with more than 270 published papers, over 6,000 WoS citations, and a h-index of 42. To date, 24 Masters and 23 PhDs have graduated under her supervision. The main areas of investigation are on Dengue and other infectious organisms. She has received multiple awards for kits developed, owns more than 20 patents, and was awarded Woman Bioinnovator of the year (2008) and “Anugerah Innovasi Negara 2009 for Molecular Diagnostics of Dengue Infections". She investigates the effects of diabetes and obesity on severe dengue, setting up serological assays to differentiate flaviviruses and vaccine development. Recently, she ventured into stem cells for regenerative medicine. She directed the WHO collaborating centre (2003–2007), a member of the faculty committee for postgraduate degrees, counsellor and coordinator for various degree programmes. Sekaran was also the head of the virology diagnostic laboratory at the University Malaya Medical Centre (2001–2007).

Serwadda is a leading scientific expert in Africa's HIV response since early 1980's. Current research focuses on evaluation of population based HIV intervention and strengthening provision of comprehensive HIV services in Uganda. Previous roles included head of Department of Disease Control and Environmental Health, dean of School of Public Health and executive director of Rakai Health Science Program. He is a Fellow of the Uganda National Academy of Science and the National Academy of Medicine, US. He received a Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery from Makerere Medical School, Masters in Public Health and an honorary doctorate from Johns Hopkins University. Currently he is a professor in Department of Disease Control, Makerere University School of Public Health. He chairs and serves in a number of boards, and is also on a number of editorial boards.

Dr Peter Singer has dedicated his career to building innovative institutions with high social impact. Since 2017, he has been Special Advisor to the Director General, supporting Dr Tedros to transform WHO into an Organization focused on measurable impact in countries. Dr Singer co-chaired the transition team; was the architect of WHO’s strategy and its “triple billion” target; supports strategy implementation; and during the pandemic was a strong advocate for vaccine equity. From 2008-2018 Singer was Chief Executive Officer of Grand Challenges Canada, and from 1996-2006 he was Sun Life Financial Chair and Director of the University of Toronto Joint Centre for Bioethics. He is Professor of Medicine at University of Toronto In 2011, Dr Singer was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada, recognized for his contributions to health research and bioethics and for his dedication to improving the health of people in developing countries, and in 2007 he received the Michael Smith Prize as Canada's Health Researcher of the Year. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences, U.S. National Academy of Medicine, and TWAS.

Sur is Newton Professor of Neuroscience and Director of the Simons Center for the Social Brain at MIT. He studies the cerebral cortex of the brain, and has discovered fundamental principles by which cortical circuits are wired during development and change during learning. He received his BTech from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, and his PhD from Vanderbilt University, Nashville. His awards include: Charles Judson Herrick Award, American Association of Anatomists; A.P. Sloan Fellowship; McKnight Neuroscience Development Award; Sigma Xi Distinguished Lectureship; Distinguished Alumnus Award, IIT, Kanpur; Distinguished Alumnus Award, Vanderbilt University. He has been elected to the Royal Society, UK; National Academy of Medicine, USA; American Academy of Arts and Sciences; National Academy of Sciences, India; Indian National Science Academy; Neurosciences Research Program, USA; and Rodin Academy, Sweden.

Teixeira (MD) is full professor at the Department of Biochemistry and Immunology at the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG). He obtained his PhD in 1994 at the National Heart and Lung Institute, University of London. He was president of the Brazilian Society of Pharmacology (SBFTE, 2011-2014), Brazilian Society of Inflammation (SBIN, 2018-2020), Member of the Brazilian Academy of Science (currently vice-President responsible for Regions Minas Gerais and Center-west) and Commander of the National Order of Scientific Merit. He is currently Vice President of the International Association of Inflammation Societies (IAIS, 2023-). Teixeira demonstrated the crucial role of the microbiota and microbial-derived products in controlling inflammatory and behavioural responses, and the relevance of inflammation in mediating tissue damage and lethality during infectious diseases, especially arboviral infections. This knowledge has led to mechanistic molecular studies which have led to new targets for anti-inflammatory drug development. Special focus is given to molecules which bind and block the function of 7-TM chemotactic receptors and induce the resolution of inflammation.