Noushin Arfatahery is a dynamic researcher and advocate with a Doctor of Biology (PhD) from Freie Universität Berlin, Germany, in collaboration with the Alfred Wegener Institute and Charité University. She also holds a Master’s in Food Microbiology and a Bachelor’s in Medical Science from Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Iran. Her research focuses on aquaculture, microbiology, antibiotic resistance, and sustainable seafood production. She conducted advanced research on the symbiotic interactions of oysters and sea cucumbers during a fellowship at Vancouver Island University, Canada, with a focus on sustainable aquaculture. She presented her work at major international conferences, including the IAFP 2024 in the USA. Dr. Arfatahery was a John Maddox Prize nominee (2017–2019) and a 2022 Aquaculture Award finalist for environmental impact. She is a member of Aquaculture Europe and has published extensively on sustainable aquaculture and seafood safety. Her multidisciplinary expertise and advocacy for women in STEM and food sustainability make her a key contributor to advancing global scientific collaboration.

Amer Ahmed Al-Qaaod is a collaborative physicist with more than eight years of international experience, who is researching in reactor physics, nuclear systems design, particle transport simulations, application in low energy neutron physics, dosimetry and radiation shielding-detection modelling. He completed his doctoral and post-doctoral training in nuclear physics in Cairo, Egypt, and then moved to the International Centre for Theoretical Physics in Trieste, Italy, where he started a two-year postdoctoral fellowship in 2018. During his fellowship, he worked as a consultant in shielding design in the Nuclear Science and Instrumentation Laboratory, part of the Physical and Chemical Science Division at the International Atomic Energy Agency, before moving to the German National Metrology Institute (PTB), in September 2020. He is an expert in Monte Carlo simulation tools for modelling nuclear processes, Python programming language, and has a solid knowledge of radiation measurements equipment. He published more than 10 peer-reviewed publications and one scientific book in particle physics, and delivered oral and poster presentations at several international conferences.

Allan Xavier Pernudy Ubau is a professor of hematology. Until 2018 he was teaching at the National Autonomous University of Nicaragua (UNAN), and was the director of the laboratory for molecular biology at the Polytechnic Institute of Health, UNAN-Managua. He started his career at UNAN where he earned his BSc degree in clinical bio-analysis (2002). Then he obtained an MSc in hematology, from the University of Costa Rica (2008). He expanded his academic education in Germany, studying leukemogenesis, and earned his PhD from the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE), in 2013. Both his Master and PhD studies were financed by scholarships (German Academic Exchange Service - DAAD). Back home, he established the first molecular biology laboratory on leukaemia and anemia diagnosis at UNAN-Managua. He started a successful collaboration with an international pharmaceutical company resulting in free-treatment access for patients in Nicaragua. He is a member of the Caribbean Network of Researchers on Sickle Cell Disease and Thalassemia, and the recipient of awards and honours including a three-month Visitor Training Program, with the American Society of Hematology (2015).