Vasconcelos is a senior research scientist at Brazil’s National Laboratory for Scientific Computing, the first bioinformatician to be elected to the Brazilian Academy of Sciences, a scientist of the State of Rio de Janeiro, and a Fellow of the International Society for Computational Biology. In recognition of her contributions, she has received the Medal of Academic and Scientific Merit from the Brazilian Society of Bioinformatics and Computational Biology. She coordinates the Bioinformatics Laboratory and the Computational Genomics Unit. Her research focuses on developing computational methods for analyzing high-throughput sequencing data to address challenges in genetics, with applications in human and animal health, agriculture, the environment, and biotechnology. She has mentored dozens of students and made significant contributions to the advancement of bioinformatics in Brazil and Latin America. In addition to her scientific work, she serves on the board of the Brazilian Society for the Advancement of Science and previously served as vice-president of INTERCIENCIA, an association dedicated to advancing science across the Americas.

Silva-Filho earned his PhD in 1994 from the University of Louvain, Belgium. He is a professor of genetics at the Luiz de Queiroz School of Agriculture, University of São Paulo (USP), Brazil, and a former director of international relations and graduate programs at the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES), the Brazilian federal agency responsible for supporting and evaluating graduate education. He also served as dean of graduate studies at USP, and currently serves as scientific director of the São Paulo Research Foundation. His honors include the National Order of Scientific Merit, Commander Class. He is a member of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences, the São Paulo Academy of Sciences, and a Fellow of the Royal Entomological Society. As a leading scientist in plant genetics, particularly in plant–multitrophic interactions, he has made groundbreaking contributions to elucidating the complex relationships among plants, herbivorous insects, and fungal pathogens from a holistic perspective. His pioneering work has demonstrated how fungal phytopathogens manipulate plants, their primary insect pests, and their microbiomes to enhance their transmission.

Nardi is a full professor of psychiatry at the Faculty of Medicine, Institute of Psychiatry, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) since 2010, and a full member of the National Academy of Medicine since 2012, where he also served as vice-president from 2017 to 2019, and for the 2024–2025 term. A Fellow of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences and the Brazilian Academy of Military Medicine, he is an honorary member of the Fides et Ratio Academy, the Brazilian Academy of Rehabilitation Medicine, and the Maranhão Academy of Medicine. Nardi is also an international distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, and a member of the board of the policy advice committee of the InterAcademy Partnership (2025–2028). The founder and coordinator of the Panic and Respiration Laboratory and the Treatment-Resistant Depression Outpatient Clinic at the Institute of Psychiatry (UFRJ), he is also a visiting professor at the University of Cagliari, Italy, since 2017, and at the University of Florence since 2020. He is currently president of the National Academy of Medicine, Brazil, for the 2026–2027 term.

Ludermir is a full professor of Artificial Intelligence at the Center for Informatics of the Federal University of Pernambuco. She is a pioneering researcher in machine learning, recognized for her groundbreaking contributions to neural networks. She has developed novel automated machine learning algorithms that simultaneously learn neural network weights and architectures. Her work has demonstrated the equivalence between weightless neural network models (WNNMs) and classical computing, including a Turing machine implementation within WNNMs. She has also introduced quantum neural networks and hybrid methods for time-series forecasting. Her optimization techniques have been applied to real-world problems, including gas leak detection in the oil industry, wine classification, wind power forecasting, and water quality assessment. She is a member of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences, and the Asia-Pacific Artificial Intelligence Association, and a recipient of the Brazilian National Order of Scientific Merit.

De Figueiredo earned a BSc (1982) and an MSc (1984) in mathematics from the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro, an MSc (1987) in mathematics from the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology, and a DSc (1991) in computer science from COPPE, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ). She joined UFRJ in 1989 as an assistant professor in the Department of Computer Science at the Institute of Mathematics, and is currently a full professor in the Systems Engineering and Computer Science Program at COPPE, with which she has been affiliated since 1991. In 1995, she spent a year as a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Combinatorics and Optimization at the University of Waterloo. She has been a CNPq Research Fellow in computer science since 1992 holding the highest fellowship level (1A) since 2012. She has also been a Carlos Chagas Filho Foundation for Research Support of the State of Rio de Janeiro ’Scientist of Our State’ Fellow since 2005. Her honors include the Giulio Massarani COPPE Award for Academic Merit (2006) and the COPPE Fifty Years Award (2013). She is also a full member of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences since 2023.

Crispino was born in Belém, in the state of Pará, in the Brazilian Amazon, where he completed his early education. He holds a bachelor's degree in physics from the University of San Paulo and a master's and doctoral degrees in physics from San Paulo State University. He joined the Federal University of Pará (UFPA) in Belém as an assistant professor, remaining at the institution throughout his academic career. He is currently a full professor at UFPA, a member of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences, and a CNPq research productivity fellow. Crispino previously served as coordinator of the graduate program in physics at UFPA. He has also been an affiliate member of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences, a member of the Council of the Brazilian Society for the Advancement of Science, of the Council of the Brazilian Physical Society, of the Council of the UFPA publishing center, of the Higher Council of the Amazon Foundation for the Support of Studies and Research, of the Board of Directors of the Research Support and Development Foundation, and an associate member of the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics in Trieste, Italy.

Cardia Simões obtained his PhD in 1990 from Cambridge University (UK). He is a professor at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, Brazil, and an adjunct professor at the Climate Change Institute, University of Maine (USA). A member of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences, he is a past vice-president of the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR/ISC), and a past vice-provost for research at UFRGS. A leading Latin American polar scientist, he introduced glaciology to Brazil, and created the Polar and Climatic Centre at UFRGS, an institution that leads research on snow and ice in this country. Presently, he is the general coordinator of the virtual Brazilian National Institute for Cryospheric Sciences. He is a recipient of the Brazilian National Order of Scientific Merit. A polar explorer, he led several international scientific expeditions to the Antarctic ice sheet, including one that established the southernmost Latin American scientific laboratory on the planet, the Criosfera 1 module (84°S, 79.5°W). He has mainly published on the paleoenvironmental ice-core record and changes in subpolar and tropical ice masses.