Dr. Olamide Adebiyi is a senior lecturer at the University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria. Her PhD thesis focused on ameliorating cognitive deficits and central nervous system damages induced by vanadium (a metal in Nigeria’s crude oil) was awarded the best PhD thesis at the University of Ibadan in 2017.  She was a visiting researcher at Cornell University, Ithaca, USA under the Fulbright Program sponsored by the US Department of States where she investigated the role of adenosine receptor subtypes in regulating oligodendrocytes functions in cuprizone model of multiple sclerosis. Her research is focused on search for cognitive enhancing and neuroprotective agents from medicinal plant that could serve as novel therapies in heavy metal-induced neurotoxicity and neurodegenerative disorders such as multiple sclerosis. To accomplish this, she uses variety of methodological approaches and rodent species (behavioral assessment, immunological (IHC/IFA) assays, microscopy and genetically modified mouse model) and techniques for the specific question at hand.

Another primary area of her research is investigating the effects of changing climate on neurodevelopment and behaviour. The goal is to investigate changes associated with fluctuations in climatic condition in utero till adulthood. This study is very important as the findings will add to the epidemiological evidence of global warming on health risks with reference to pregnant subjects and neonates.

Amongst several awards, she recently received the Young Investigator Education Enhancement Award by the American Society of Neurochemistry (2020). Her laboratory is being supported by grants from International Brain Research Organization and International Society of Neurochemistry.

Dr Olumuyiwa Adegun is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Architecture, Federal University of Technology, Akure. Nigeria. He completed his PhD at University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (Wits), South Africa with a thesis that explored Just Sustainability at the nexus of Informal Settlement Intervention and Green Infrastructure. He is Visiting Research Fellow in the School of Architecture and Planning, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg; was Guest Researcher at Nordic Africa Institute, Uppsala, Sweden (2018); and Visiting Scholar, Canada Centre for Architecture, Montreal (2016). He is currently a DAAD ClimapAfrica Scholar where he moderates the international Working Group on ‘Climate Change and Land Use’.  

Dr Adegun’s main research interests and engagements have dealt with issues related to environmental sustainability in low-income housing and slums/informal settlements within cities in sub-Sahara Africa. His recent works, supported through the Climate Research for Development (CR4D) Programme, Africa Academy of Sciences (AAS) and within framework of DAAD ClimapAfrica Programme, focus on climate adaptation within informal urban settlements in Nigeria and other parts of sub-Sahara Africa. He has authored many peer-reviewed and popular articles in this research area; and presented his work internationally.

Dr Omamuyovwi Ijomone is a dynamic biomedical researcher with keen interests in translational neuroscience research. He is presently a Senior Lecturer and Researcher at the Federal University of Technology Akure, Nigeria. He completed his PhD degree in 2015 at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria.

His research activities are focused in the area of neurodevelopment, neurodegeneration and neurotoxicology. Particularly, he aims to understand how the brain is affected by an interplay of genetic and environmental factors that trigger neuronal death at critical stages of development. His research could potentially help to identify new treatments targets for neurological disorders and drive national policies towards improved environmental measures to safeguard the overall brain health of the population. Presently, he has authored over 55 peer-reviewed articles, 2 book chapters and has given both oral and poster presentations in many international and local conferences. He is a member of several professional bodies including the Anatomical Society of Nigeria (ASN), Neuroscience Society of Nigeria (NSN), Society of Neuroscientist of Africa (SONA), International Society for Neurochemistry (ISN), as well as an Alumni of the International Brain Research Organization (IBRO).

In addition to his research activities, Dr Ijomone is involved in the mentorship and supervision of undergraduate and postgraduate students, as well as early-career scientists. Dr Ijomone has received several awards and fellowships including IBRO-ISN Research Fellowship (2017), IBRO Return Home Fellowship (2018), Young IBRO Regions Connecting Award (2019), Alexander von Humboldt Georg Foster Research Fellowship for Experienced Researchers (2020), among others.

Dr Ossénatou Mamadou is a lecturer at the Institute of Mathematics and Physical Sciences, she is also a member of ‘Laboratoire de Physique du Rayonnement’ within the University of Abomey-Calavi (Bénin). Graduated in Energy and Atmospheric from University of Abomey-Calavi and University of Grenoble (France), she held a postdoctoral position in Biosystem Physics Unit at the University of Liege (Belgium) where she investigated impact of climate and management on the carbon balance of an intensively managed grassland. Her research mostly emphasizes on the underlying physical processes in the Atmospheric Boundary Layer and their relationship with the climate, to propose a better parameterization tools of these processes. She is the lead researcher of an AIMS NEI Women in Climate Change Science (WiCCS) funded project that is investigating the dominant modes in the Beninese high frequency turbulent fluxes. Dr Mamadou is also leading a regional project, funded by Organization for Women in Sciences for the Developing World (OWSD) Early Career Fellowship that intends to identify the role of these exchanged fluxes between various ecosystems and atmosphere in the West African Climate. She is co-directing the WP2 of the French initiative LMI REZOC. Dr Mamadou has received a number of prestigious prizes, awards and research fellowships among which one has: the AIMS WiCCS and IPCC awards, an OWSD EC and a Wallonia Region Fellowships, IFS and ARES research grants, 1st prize of the best oral presentation at the 26th conference of AIC, 3rd UNESCO prize for the promotion of young students to embrace studies in basic science. Overall, she enjoys teaching and loves sharing her experiences with the young generation for motivating them.

Dr. Pedi Obani is a Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Nigeria. She has garnered substantial experience in higher education from working as a lecturer in the University of Benin and the Edwin Clark University, both in Nigeria. Between 2019 and 2020, she worked with the United Nations University – Institute for Natural Resources in Africa (UNU-INRA) as a Research Fellow in Environmental Policy, developing and leading the workstream on knowledge for quality natural resource governance in Africa. Pedi regularly engages in mentoring and continuous professional development activities. She currently co-supervises a PhD candidate in the University of Ghana, Legon, on a research project that is focused on the sustainability of wood fuel production in the Afram Plains. She has keen interest in sustainability, particularly the science and policy interface and how this can be navigated to promote human rights standards and inclusive development across various levels of governance. She therefore collaborates extensively with academics from diverse disciplinary backgrounds in higher education institutions, even across Europe, North America, and Canada. Her research is focused on climate change adaptation and mitigation, the human rights to water and sanitation, and gender inclusiveness. She has authored several high impact peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters, and a thematic report on the interrelations between the rights to education, and water and sanitation which was presented to the UN General Assembly in October 2020. Pedi belongs to the editorial boards of reputable international academic journals, including Water International and Springer Nature Journal: Discover Sustainability.

Prof. Petra Obioma Nnamani is a Pharmacist, Lecturer and Researcher. She is currently a Georg Forster Research Awardee (Alexander von Humboldt Foundation) at Helmholtz-Institute for Pharmaceutical Research Saarland (HIPS), Saarland University, Saarbrücken, Germany, and Senior lecturer at the Department of Pharmaceutics, University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN). She studied Pharmacy in UNN (B. Pharm; 2001) and M. Pharm (2004). During her Ph.D (2006-2010), Petra joined the nanotechnology group at ICS-UNIDO Trieste, Italy (2009) for Early Research Training in Nanotechnology. She obtained her Ph.D (2010) in Drug Delivery and has had postdoctoral trainings as a CV Raman Researcher in Shivaji University Kolhapur, India (2012) and TWAS-DFG Cooperation Visits Programme at HIPS, Saarland University, Saarbruecken Germany (2013). Petra is a Member of the Controlled Release Society USA, New York Academy of Sciences, Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World (OWSD) and Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria. Petra is co-author of over 75 original papers and reviewer for a number of top journals. She has attended well over 40 international/local conferences with over 40 contributions. She is recipient of several awards: 1) TechWomen USA (2017). 2) Stars in Global Health Round 4 Phase 1 Award (Ref. 0251-01) by the Grand Challenges Canada, etc. She has other on-going grant works funded by TETFund Nigeria. Petra has two registered patents. Her research focuses on exploring the biological barriers of gastrointestinal tract and the skin, using nanotechnology-based drug carriers capable of crossing epithelial barriers and sustaining drug release in different disease conditions. Petra is happily married and a mother of five lovely children.

Dr Prinessa Chellan completed her PhD in Chemistry in 2013 at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. She followed this with a post-doctoral position at the University of Warwick, United Kingdom, working on the preparation and study of new metallo-drugs for cancer, malaria and TB. In 2016, she  was appointed as Lecturer in the Department of Chemistry and Polymer Science at Stellenbosch University, South Africa, where she  continue to build on the research path she started during her post-doctoral studies. She is also involved in teaching undergraduate chemistry in several of the chemistry modules offered at the University. 
Her current research focuses on new metallo-drug candidates using one of two design approaches, target-specific or derivatisation of ‘repurposed’ drugs, with the aim of overcoming resistance. In her group, they also study the stability and chemical reactivity of new complexes under physiological conditions with a variety of analytical and computational techniques to link this data to their activity in vitro and in vivo against infectious diseases, including P. falciparum and M. tuberculosis. She is committed to not just developing her own research career but also training the next generation of scientists, particularly women and individuals from previously disadvantaged backgrounds, in her home country, South Africa.

 Dr. R van der Sluis completed her undergraduate qualifications and master’s degree in Genetics at the University of Pretoria. She started her career as a Senior Laboratory Technician in the Focus Area for Human Metabolomics (FHM) at the North-West University (NWU) in 2007. After working fulltime for three years, she enrolled for a PhD in Biochemistry in 2011. The successful completion of herPhD, resulted in a promotion to Subject Group specialist in Molecular Genetics in July 2015. She is currently a Senior Lecturer (promoted in 2017) and since 2019 she is also the Subject Group leader for Biochemistry. She is the principal investigator for two main research focus areas: The genetic and enzymatic characterisation of the phase II glycine conjugation pathway as well as the development of molecular diagnostic methods for application in animal breeding. The glycine conjugation pathway is involved in the metabolism of natural substrates as well as the detoxification of xenobiotics. They have registered a patent on the use of glycine N-acyltransferase as a therapeutic recombinant enzyme therapy. Furthermore, they were the first group to sequence the de novo genome of any Lovebird species and the first group to develop a parentage verification test for Lovebirds for which a patent application has been submitted. The Lovebird genome data also formed part of a big data article entitled “Dense sampling of bird diversity increases power of comparative genomics” that was published in Nature

Chika Ejikeugwu holds a PhD in Pharmaceutical Microbiology and Biotechnology from Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Nigeria (2017). He is a Senior Lecturer & Researcher with Enugu State University of Science & Technology (ESUT), Nigeria. Dr. Ejikeugwu is the Founder of www.MicrobiologyClass.net, an online platform for microbiology resources.

Dr. Ejikeugwu has authored over 100 research papers in the area of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). He has demonstrated leadership in the field of Microbiology, and has contributed to research development in the area of AMR, generating data, with potentials to inform policies and programmes aimed at forestalling the spread of drug-resistant pathogens.

Dr. Ejikeugwu was selected for Membership in the Global Young Academy (GYA), Germany, for a period of 5 years beginning June 2020. He is an active member of the Global Health (GH) Working Group and Science Education for Youth (SEY) Working Group of the GYA.

Dr. Ejikeugwu have been active in programmes through which he impart the knowledge and skills in the field of microbiology he has accumulated over the years from both national and international institutions, on both students and researchers in Africa. He has worn several national and international recognitions including Rising Star Fellowship to Freie Universität (FU) Berlin, Germany; The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) Young Affiliateship Award; Young Investigator Award on Antimicrobial Resistance from Institute Mérieux, France; DAAD Postdoctoral Fellowship Award to BAM Institute, Berlin, Germany; and Matsumae International Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship to Kyoto University.

Dr. Motunrayo Ganiyat Akande is an Associate Professor of Veterinary Toxicology in the Department of Veterinary Pharmacology and Toxicology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Abuja, Federal Capital Territory, Nigeria. Also, she is a Consultant Veterinary Toxicologist at the University of Abuja Veterinary Teaching Hospital. Dr. M.G. Akande obtained a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria in 2005, and a Master’s Degree in Aquatic Toxicology in 2008 from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden. Her PhD degree in Veterinary Toxicology was earned at the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria in 2014.

She has published scientific articles in several peer-reviewed journals and has presented her research endeavours at National and International conferences. Moreover, she has supervised and examined undergraduate and postgraduate students in Pharmacology and Toxicology. Her research interests are pesticide and heavy metal toxicities, oxidative stress and risk assessment, and she reviews for some Toxicology Journals.

Dr. M.G. Akande is a recipient of the Fulbright Junior Scholar Development Award, Carnegie African Diaspora Fellowship, Swedish Government Grant for a Master’s Programme, among others. She has served as the Deputy Director of the Academic Planning Unit of the University of Abuja, and as a member of the University of Abuja Senate and numerous committees. Her professional affiliations include Nigerian Veterinary Medical Association, Nigerian Society for Toxicological Sciences, African Society for Toxicological Sciences, American College of Toxicology, Society of Toxicology (USA), and Toxicologists Without Borders Incorporation (USA).

Dr. Amy Kristine Bei is an Assistant Professor at the Yale School of Public Health and leads a G4 research group at the Institut Pasteur de Dakar on Malaria Experimental Genetic Approaches and Vaccines.  She received her BA in Biochemistry, served as a Fulbright Fellow in Tanzania, received her PhD in Biological Sciences in Public Health, and pursued her postdoctoral research through the Harvard Malaria Initiative based at University Cheikh Anta Diop and Hôpital Aristide Le Dantec in Dakar, Senegal.  Her research has been focused on tropical diseases of public health importance, with a strong emphasis on malaria, for the last two decades. Dr. Bei's research interests in Plasmodium – the causative agent of malaria - lie at the intersection between genetics, genomics, epidemiology, and immunology. Her scientific contributions span malaria transmission, drug resistance, mechanisms of invasion and pathogenesis, and immunity – including understanding the mechanisms by which the malaria parasite evades natural or vaccine-induced immune responses. Throughout her career she has sought to understand the underlying mechanisms of the malaria parasite’s virulence while ensuring that such findings translate into knowledge that can influence prevention, diagnosis, and treatment.  Dr. Bei is passionate about training and mentoring the next generation of African scientist leaders – specifically in genomics applied to vaccinology. Her dream is for African scientists to lead the way in the discovery, production, testing, and implementation of a highly effective vaccine for malaria.

Dr. Anthony Afum-Adjei Awuah is a lecturer at the Department of Molecular Medicine and postdoctoral research fellow with the Global Health and Infectious Disease Research Group at the Kumasi Centre for Collaborative Research in Tropical Medicine (KCCR), in KNUST.

Anthony started his career with a degree in Biochemistry from the Department of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, KNUST and joined the EOD working group at KCCR to do his PhD in Immunology, investigating the role of immune modulatory molecules in the immunopathogenesis of tuberculosis. After his PhD, he started his postdoc with the same group at KCCR where he developed means to improve the use of interferon gamma release assay (IGRA) to diagnose TB in children. He continued to do another postdoc training at Centre Muraz in Burkina through the West Africa Health Research Network where he trained in clinical research and worked with hidden population who are at a higher risk for HIV/AIDS. From there, he won a WHO/TDR fellowship grant to train in vaccinology and vaccine trials at the GSK vaccine s.r.l in Siena, Italy. He worked with a preclinical vaccine group investigating the mechanism of action for novel vaccines and how to improve candidate vaccine immunogenicity. He was part of the 2017 cohort of the Next Generation Scientist program to train young emerging scientists in clinical research at the headquarter of Novartis Pharma in Basel. He has extensive experience in the design, planning and conduct of clinical research. His research areas include infectious diseases, immunology, vaccinology and clinical research. He is currently involved in running several studies. This includes studies in clinical characterization of COVID-19, seroprevalence study on COVID-19 and a clinical trial to test the safety and efficacy of existing therapies for COVID-19 among others.