Prince is a leading South African cancer biologist, former deputy dean of research and head of the Department of Human Biology, at the University of Cape Town (UCT). She heads a cancer biology laboratory focused on understanding the molecular mechanisms that drive aggressive and treatment-resistant cancers, which pose a significant health burden in Africa, particularly among women living with HIV. She has pioneered drug repurposing to identify affordable agents suitable for rapid translation in low-resource settings, and developed innovative patented anticancer compounds, marine-derived therapeutics, and aptamer-based inhibitors. With more than 100 peer-reviewed publications and over 100 emerging scientists mentored, she has made significant contributions to national and international cancer research. She was appointed to the South African Medical Research Council board and has received the A.G. Oettlé Memorial Award from the Cancer Association of South Africa, the SAMRC Gold Medal, and the National Research Foundation Hamilton Naki Award. She is a Fellow of the African Academy of Sciences, the UCT College of Fellows, and the Academy of Science of South Africa.

Meyer is a professor of computer science at the University of Cape Town (UCT) and holds the Department of Science, Technology and Innovation/National Research Foundation–University of Cape Town research chair in symbolic Artificial Intelligence. Previously, he held positions at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in Pretoria, National ICT Australia (now Data61), the University of New South Wales in Australia, the University of Pretoria, and the University of South Africa. Meyer is internationally recognized as an expert in knowledge representation and reasoning, and one of only three South African computer scientists to have obtained an A-rating from the South African National Research Foundation. A member of the South African Institute of Computer Scientists and Information Technologists, the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence, and the Association for Computing Machinery, he is also an elected member of the Academy of Science of South Africa and a Fellow of the African Academy of Sciences. In 2025, he has received the South African Institute of Computer Scientists and Information Technologists Pioneer Award.

Gledhill is an honorary adjunct professor of flow physics at the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa, and an applied computational physicist with 30 years expertise in aerodynamics. She worked on magnetic plasma confinement at the University of California, Los Angeles, and at Stanford University (USA), where she developed a massively parallel plasma simulation for space shuttle physics. Back to South Africa, she moved into the field of computational fluid dynamics at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). She actively sought collaborations, providing physical insight across a wide range of scientific and engineering disciplines. Her work has included methane explosions in coal mines, molecular modelling for the treatment of HIV and tuberculosis, and the quantification of storm damage to ocean breakwaters. She has a strong commitment to gender equity in science and to improving the work environment for both women and men. She is vice-president of the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics, serves on the Council of the Academy of Science of South Africa, and recently served as vice-president of the Network of African Science Academies.

Zühlke is vice-president of the South African Medical Research Council, responsible for extramural research and internal portfolio and directs the Children’s Heart Disease Research Unit focusing on relevant pediatric heart diseases in Africa. She has authored more than 250 publications, including conference proceedings and book chapters, with an h-index of 58. She has more than 74,000 citations and was a finalist for South Africa in the Women in Science Award. In 2018, she received the MRC/DFID African Research Leader Award, the winner of the NRF award for Social Impact in Research, the International Metrodora Award for Public Health and Research and the UCT vice-chancellors Alan Pfifer Award for research. She was recently inducted into the prestigious University of Cape Town College of Fellows, the university’s highest academic honour, and is a member of the South African Academy of Sciences. She a fellow of the American College of Cardiology, European Society of Cardiology and American Heart Association. She is a B-1 rated researcher by the National Research Foundation, past-president of the Paediatric Cardiac Society of South Africa and the South African Heart Association.

Winkler is a professor in Policy Research in International Services and Manufacturing, a research unit in the School of Economics at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. His research explores the intersection of development, climate, social justice and economics, with future work focusing on equity and inequality between and within countries; just (energy) transitions and just adaptation; implications of the global stocktake; and low emission development strategies and nationally determined contributions. His over 100 academic publications can be accessed on Scopus. He has led transdisciplinary research on mitigation action plans and scenarios in several developing countries. Winkler is a member of both the South African Academy of Sciences and African Academy of Sciences, and serves on the South African delegation to the negotiations under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. He has recently served as joint editor-in-chief of the international journal Climate Policy, a coordinating lead author for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and as a co-facilitator of the technical dialogue of the global stocktake under the Paris Agreement.

Ntusi, president and CEO of the South African Medical Research Council, is a distinguished leader in medical research. Prior to this role, he served as chair and head of the Department of Medicine at the University of Cape Town (UCT) and Groote Schuur Hospital. His groundbreaking research has significantly advanced the understanding of heart failure and cardiomyopathy, the cardiovascular phenotype and pathophysiology of autoimmune inflammatory heart disease, as well as HIV-associated cardiovascular disease across diverse global clinical settings. More recently, he led pioneering studies on the biology and immunology of COVID-19, with impact extending beyond South Africa’s borders. A member of the South African Academy of Sciences and a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, the Royal Society of South Africa, and the UCT College of Fellows, Ntusi's accolades include the prestigious South African Medical Research Council Gold Medal, the Walter Siegenthaler Medal and Memorial Lecture from the University of Zurich, and the University of Oxford's Oppenheimer Fund Academic Exchange Award.

Lewis is the dean of the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment at the University of Cape Town (UCT), where she previously served as head of the Department of Chemical Engineering. She is the first woman to hold the position of dean in the faculty's history. She holds a Bachelor of Science, Master of Science, and a PhD in chemical engineering, all from the University of Cape Town. During her academic career, she has supervised more than 200 master’s, PhD, and honours students. In addition, she is the co-author of more 160 peer-reviewed scientific articles. Lewis is a registered professional engineer (PrEng), an international member of the US National Academy of Engineering—one of only five African members—and a Fellow of both the Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE) and the UCT College of Fellows.Her many accolades include the Distinguished Woman Scientist award from South Africa’s Ministry of Science and Technology (receive in 2012 and 2015), the Rockefeller Fellowship (2018), and the Water Research Commission Legends Award (2021).

Wonkam is a professor of genetic medicine, and director of the McKusick-Nathans Institute and Department of Genetic Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, US. He is also director of GeneMAP (Genetic Medicine of African Populations), and immediate past-deputy dean of research at the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Cape Town, South Africa. After an MD training with the Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Yaoundé I, Cameroon, he has completed a doctorate in medical sciences (cell biology) at the University of Geneva, Switzerland, and a PhD in human genetics at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. Wonkam also trained as a medical geneticist in genetic medicine at the University of Geneva. His scientific results are reflected in more than 230 peer-reviewed publications. His research focuses on genetic and genomic variations in the African population with a focus on 1) Genomics modifiers of Sickle Cell Disease (SCD); 2) Genetics of hearing Impairment, and 3) Ethical, Equity, and Educational Issues in Genetic Medicine Research. Wonkam is president of the African Society of Human Genetics.