Professor Dhanjay Jhurry was appointed Vice-Chancellor of the University of Mauritius
(UoM) in March 2017. He is championing the vision of a research-engaged and entrepreneurial
university working in close partnership with the public and private sectors as well as with the
community to foster innovation. He is putting a lot of emphasis on organizing research at the
University around the SDGs and is leading various initiatives to develop human, intellectual,
business and social capital through an inclusive and openness approach. Under his leadership
over the past 3 years, the University of Mauritius has championed the concept of international
education diplomacy and built strong partnerships with Universities worldwide.

He held previously (2012 to 2017) the post of National Research Chair in Biomaterials and Drug
Delivery under the Mauritius Research Council, while heading the Centre for Biomedical and
Biomaterials Research (CBBR), a centre attached to the University of Mauritius which he
founded.

Prof Jhurry studied at Bordeaux University (France) and received his PhD in Polymer Chemistry
in 1992.   After spending three years as Research Chemist at Flamel Technologies Company in
Lyon, France working on biomedical polymers, he joined the Dept. of Chemistry at the
University of Mauritius as Lecturer and was appointed Professor in 2005.

Prof Jhurry worked on sucrose-based polymers for his PhD. His mainstream research in polymer
science, biomaterials and tissue engineering, nanotechnology/nanomedicine and drug delivery
has led to over 75 papers in scholarly journals, with an h-index of 20.

He has received various national and international awards and recognition including the first
Best Mauritian Scientist Award in 2011, the ‘Grand Officer of the Star and Key of the Indian
Ocean’ and the ‘Commander of the Star and Key of the Indian Ocean’ insignia by the Rep. of
Mauritius in 2019 and 2012 respectively as well as the ‘Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Palmes
Académiques’ insignia by the Rep. of France in 2007. 

Prof Jhurry is an elected member of the Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU) since
July 2017 and a member of the Scientific Council of the Francophone Association of
Universities (AUF) since September 2019. He is a Board member of the Regional
Multidisciplinary Centre of Excellence (Mauritius) since January 2020. He was appointed Chair
of the ACU SDG Network in January 2020. He is also a member of Ashinaga’s Kenjin-Tatsujin
International Advisory Council (Ashinaga Africa Initiative) and he was Vice-President of the
COMESA Innovation Council from 2013 to 2015.
 

I am Professor of Molecular Microbiology and Global Health at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, and based full-time at the MRC Unit The Gambia where I am MRC Principal Investigator and Director of the WHO Collaborating Centre for New Vaccines Surveillance.  I am also a member of the Unit’s Senior Strategic Leadership Board and Chairs the West Africa Strategy and partnership. In this role, I represent the Unit at most regional meetings in Africa including the West Africa Global Health Alliance, ECOWAS, AU's Africa CDC, WHO AFRO and West Africa Health Organisation.

I serve on numerous Scientific Advisory Boards & Committees including Board member of the West Africa Global Health Alliance (WAGHA), member of The Gambia Government/MRC Joint Ethics Committee (and acted as Scientific advisor on the ethics committee), member of the MRC Unit The Gambia Scientific Coordinating Committee, Co-Chair of The Gambia Government MDR-TB National Committee, member of the International Human Microbiome Consortium, member of WHO technical working group for Invasive Bacterial Vaccine Preventable Disease Surveillance Network (Geneva), Expert Panel Member on Antimicrobial Resistance, Department of Health, UK, Special Advisor to WHO on Meningitis Outbreaks in Africa,  a member of Board of Trustees SOS Children's Villages The Gambia. Additionally, served as Expert Panel Member on diarrheal diseases, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF).

Previously served as a member of European Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP) Developing Countries Coordinating Committee (TB expert for West Africa Region), member of International Scientific Advisory Board, University of Cape Town Clinical Infectious Diseases Research initiative (CIDRI). Published more than 200 peer-reviewed scientific publications and supervised eleven PhD students in UK and African Universities

I am currently advising on the COVID-19 pandemic ‘rapid support team’ in The Gambia and also in West Africa via Africa CDC, LSHTM and with WHO AFRO.

Dr. Lewis R. Roberts is the Peter and Frances Georgeson Professor in Gastroenterology Cancer Research and Consultant in Gastroenterology and Hepatology at the Mayo Clinic, where he is Co-Chair of the Hepatobiliary Cancer Disease Group of Mayo Clinic Cancer Center, Co-Principal Investigator of the Mayo Specialized Program of Research Excellence (SPORE) in Hepatobiliary Cancers, Associate Director of Pre-Doctoral Programs in the Center for Clinical and Translational Sciences, and Director for Research at Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine. Dr. Roberts earned his medical degree from the University of Ghana Medical School, a PhD in Physiology and Biophysics from The University of Iowa, and completed postgraduate training in Internal Medicine, Gastroenterology and Hepatology, and Cancer Genetics at Mayo Clinic.

Dr. Roberts practice is focused on liver and biliary cancers and gastrointestinal endoscopy. His research focuses on molecular mechanisms of liver and biliary carcinogenesis; biomarkers for diagnosis of liver, bile duct and pancreas cancers; and prevention, diagnosis and treatment of hepatitis and liver cancer in Africa as well as in immigrant African communities in the USA. He has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, American Gastroenterological Association Foundation, American College of Gastroenterology, The Cholangiocarcinoma Foundation and PSC Partners Seeking a Cure. He has authored over 380 articles, book chapters and letters, and the book “Evaluation and Management of Liver Masses”.

Dr. Roberts is currently Deputy Editor of Hepatology and is on the Editorial Board of Liver Cancer. He serves as President of Africa Partners Medical, a non-profit organization focused on improving healthcare delivery in Africa through medical education, practical skills training, provision of medical equipment and supplies, and health advocacy, as President of the West Africa Institute for Liver and Digestive Diseases Foundation, and as a member of the Advisory Council for The Hepatitis Fund.

Professor Yahya E. Choonara (BPharm; MPharm; PhD) is currently Chair and Head of the Department of Pharmacy and Pharmacology at the University of the Witwatersrand (WITS), Johannesburg, South Africa (SA). He is also a Full Professor of Pharmaceutics, Co-Director and Principal Researcher of the Wits Advanced Drug Delivery Platform (WADDP) (http://www.wits.ac.za/waddp) responsible for blueprinting innovation since 2007. His research is at the forefront of producing targeted and personalized medicines to treat infectious, hereditary and lifestyle diseases in which he continues to make a major impact on generating intellectual property in the pharmaceutical sciences pertinent to Africa and globally.

Prof. Choonara received many prestigious awards in recognition of his pioneering research including an African Union-The World Academy of Science Award for advancing pharmaceutical technology and innovation, the National Science and Technology Forum Award for his seminal research in designing first-in-the-world optimization frameworks for drug delivery, neuro-pharmaceutical devices, biomaterials and nanomedicines, the SAMRC Award for challenging conformist thinking on neuro-pharmaceutical interventions, the DSI Top Intellectual Property Creator Award for his 21 international granted patents including a WaferMat - the world’s fastest dissolving matrix, drug-eluting devices, 3D-bioprinted platforms, nanomedicines, neuro-therapeutics and bio-inspired tissue engineering scaffolds.

He is a member of several prestigious academies including the Academy of Science of SA, AIM Advisory Committee Member of the International Pharmaceutical Federation, the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists, the Academy of Pharmaceutical Sciences of SA, the BRICS Business Council Manufacturing Working Group, Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine International Society, European Peptide Society and Founding Member of the SA Young Academy of Science (SAYAS).

Prof. Choonara is an author of more than 280 publications in ISI-accredited journals, 41 book chapters, 10 editorials, editor of 2 books, filed 43 patents and serves as an expert Reviewer of over 53 leading journals, books and funding organizations. He has also graduated more than 65 postgraduates and mentored 12 postdocs from 9 different countries with many of his students conferred with prestigious emerging researcher awards such as the Young African Researcher, Mail & Guardian Top 200 Young South Africans, African-German Network of Excellence in Science and candidates for the Novartis Next Generation Scientists Program.

Ali S. Hadi is a Distinguished University Professor and Chair of the Department of Mathematics and Actuarial Science, Founder of the Actuarial Science Program at the American University in Cairo (AUC), former Vice Provost and Director of Graduate Studies and Research at AUC, and a Stephen Weiss Presidential Fellow and Professor Emeritus at Cornell University, USA.

Hadi has a very untraditional career path. He was born and raised in Saft El-Nour, a tiny village in Upper Egypt. He lived with his mother as his father passed away when he was two months old. His mother was poor and illiterate but dedicated her life to raising her child. Upon completion of his Bachelor degree from Ain Shams University in 1972, he worked as a customs officer at Cairo International Airport before leaving for the United States in 1975 to pursue his graduate education on his own expense with about $215 in his wallet. While attending the graduate school, Hadi worked in restaurants to support his family and to pay for his graduate education. Starting as a dishwasher, over the next 8 years – as he pursued his doctorate at NYU – Hadi was promoted to cook, then to first cook, to assistant chef, and, finally, to head chef, where he specialized in French-Continental cuisine.

Hadi obtained his Ph.D. with honors from NYU in 1984. Hadi served as Assistant, Associate, and full Professor, as well as a Department Chair at Cornell. Hadi served as a Distinguished Visiting Professor at several universities in USA and Europe.

Hadi won several excellence-in-teaching awards. He has written 5 books, 6 book chapters, and more than 100 articles. He was elected fellow of the American Statistical Association and member of the International Statistical Institute. He received more than 16,000 citations, http://scholar.google.com.eg/citations?user=-8xAh5IAAAAJ&hl=en. For more information, see his Website http://www1.aucegypt.edu/faculty/hadi/.

Dr. Kétévi Adiklè Assamagan is a tenured physicist at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL). After the BSc from the University of Lomé, he won a scholarship—sponsored and managed by the African-American Institute—to continue higher education in the US. In 1987, he went to the Southern Illinois University to improve his English proficiency before he started the MSc program at Ball State University. After the MSc, he continued with a PhD program at the University of Virginia. During the doctorate program, he went to the Paul Scherrer Institute where he collected the data for his thesis; he obtained the PhD in 1995.

He then accepted a post-doc offer from Hampton University to work at Jefferson Lab where participated in the commissioning of CEBAF­—Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility. He then went to CERN—European Organization for Nuclear Research—as a research scientist to work on the ATLAS Experiment.

In 2001, he accepted a position at BNL.  He continued working on the ATLAS Experiment where he held several positions. He was the coordinator of the physics analysis tools; then the coordinator of the Muon Spectrometer software. Later on, he became the ATLAS Higgs Working Group convener, and was a member of the ATLAS Collaboration that discovered the Higgs boson.  He was visiting scientist at SACLAY, and at the University of Johannesburg, Witwatersrand and UNISA.

He is a co-founder of the African School of Physics, www.africanschoolofphysics.org. His research interests focus on the searches for physics beyond the Standard Model of particle physics. In this context, he organizes a physics workshop on “Dark interactions: perspective from theory and experiments”, www.bnl.gov/di2018. He is a member of NSBP, APS, AAAS, and SAIP.

He plays African drums. He published a book in English, “Citizen and Traveler” ISBN: 978-0-692-97479-7,  and in French, “Citoyen et Voyageur” ISBN: 978-0-692-08639-1.

Zouheir Sekkat is Professor at the Department of Chemistry of the Faculty of Sciences of Mohammed V University in Rabat (UM5R), and the director of the Optics and Photonics Centre of the Moroccan Foundation for Science, Innovation and Research (MAScIR), and a full professor of the Department of Applied Physics of Osaka University (Handai) by the cross-appointment program between Handai and UM5R. Sekkat completed his Master, in 1988, and PhD, in 1992, and Habilitation, in 1998, degrees, all from Paris-Sud University, Orsay. Sekkat did postdoctoral research stays at the Max-Planck Institute for Polymer Research in Germany, and in the US jointly between the University of California-Davis and IBM Almaden at San Jose, and Stanford University. In 1999 Zouheir Sekkat joined Handai as an Associate Professor of Applied Physics. Sekkat organized several conferences in photonics, and gave keynote and invited talks in many conferences around the world. He is now the chair of Molecular and Nano Machines as a part of SPIE Optics and Photonics in San Diego, USA.

Sekkat received several prizes and recognitions, including nomination as one of the first members of the Hassan 2 academy of sciences and technology, Morocco, and the Elsevier prize for the most cited paper of Morocco, and the distinction prize of the Moroccan ministry of research. He is 2020 SPIE Fellow member; and Senior member of OSA since 2016; and vice-chair of the African Laser Center; he served as member of the international Council of OSA (2010-2012); he served at SPIE as Conference Committee and Sessions Chair; he organized a conference in 2014 in Morocco with participation of 36 African countries to promote optics and photonics in Africa; he organized events and participated to meetings in Morocco for the International Year of Light 2015; as well as many other activities in optics and photonics. Regarding capacity bulding in Africa: Sekkat, conceived and built the Optics and Photonics center in Morocco; deveopped related activities, including training of young scientists (PhDs and PostDocs), and networking with Africa, Europe, US, and Japan.

Sekkat returned to Africa, after several education and professional stays in Europe, France and Germany, US and Japan, and took the challenging task to develop Optics and Photonics in this area of the world. The impact of Sekkat on the community is two-folds: in science, his research led to a new field of research interfacing nonlinear optics and photochemistry; and his pioneering activities in Optics and photonics in Africa, especially, Morocco, including capacity building; e.g. infrastutructure and programs and education. Sekkat made seminal contributions to light-induced molecular orientation in polymers, and to interfacing nonlinear optics with photochemistry; i.e. photo-induced second and third order nonlinear optical phenomena.  He made seminal contributions to the field of optically assisted poling of photonic polymers that is caused by photo-induced molecular movement below the glass transition temperature of the polymer by photoisomerization.  Also, he developed the theories of light-induced both polar and nonpolar orientation as well as manipulation of second-and third order optical nonlinearities in NLO polymers. More recently he contributed, in the field of plasmonics; i.e. coupled surface plasmons and waveguides, at a pioneering level to the prediction and observation of Fano resonances in layered media. A strong indication of the impact of his research is the ISI citations to his work. Total citations: ~ 4200; h-index: 34; and 165 publications with the top 5 most cited papers: 472, 295, 257, 220, 187 citations.

Collins Ouma is a Professor in the Department of Biomedical Sciences and Technology, School of Public Health and Community Development.  He holds a Doctoral degree in Human Genetics from Kenyatta University, Kenya and has previously been involved in public health research to address issues associated with spread and control of human diseases. Previously, Prof. Ouma was the Dean, School of Public Health and Community Development, a position he held until he was appointed the Director of Research, Publications and Innovations of Maseno University, Kenya. As a Dean and a Director, he has been involved in Strategic Planning and Management, Enterprise Development and Program Management for over 10 years. Voted as the Best African Scientist for the year 2010 by the Pfizer Royal Society, UK, Prof. Ouma has wide experience in research especially in areas of strategic planning and management, evaluation and research, health sector, program management, resource governance, business plans and feasibility studies. As part of his extension services, Prof. Ouma has supported various enterprises in the communities which include being the Director of a ‘Watoto Musiliye’, an organization whose main goals is to ensure that the girl-child gets a formal education. Several vulnerable local members of the communities have greatly benefitted from his social and economic support. Prof. Ouma serves as a Board Chair, National Reproductive Health Services (NRHS), based in Kisumu, Kenya. He has also been in the scientific and ethical committees of both Kenya Medical Research Institute and Maseno University. He has worked and consulted with large donor funded programs and organizations like World Vision, IntraHealth International, Kenya Medical Research Institute, Kenya Medical Laboratory Technicians and Technologists Board (KMLTTB) and Strategic Safety Consultants. He has also consulted for National Institute of Health (NIH)-funded baseline studies in western Kenya and recently for Christian Aid (in Narok County). Prof. Ouma has a number of publications in across various multidisciplinary fields. He has also mentored to completion over 100 postgraduate students including 30 Doctoral graduates.  

Harald Winkler is Professor at the University of Cape Town (UCT), South Africa, with research interests in development and climate change, inequality and mitigation.

Prof Winkler’s research interests are at the intersection of sustainable development and climate change mitigation. His approach is transdisciplinary, seeking to understand how to accelerate mitigation and shifting development pathways towards sustainability. Specific focus areas for future research include equity and inequality between and within countries; just transitions; the global stock-take; and low emission development strategies. He will continue to build on his past work on narrative storylines and modeling of scenarios; carbon pricing and social value of mitigation actions; transparency and MRV; and renewable energy. His transdisciplinary research has informed energy and climate policy at the national level and multi-lateral negotiations. Harald led the research work underpinning South Africa’s Long-Term Mitigation Scenarios (LTMS) from 2005-8. From 2010 to 2015, he co-directed a large programme called MAPS – Mitigation Action Plans and Scenarios, sharing the LTMS experience with governments, researchers and facilitators in other developing countries. Prof Winkler has published extensively and is joint Editor-in-Chief of the journal Climate Policy. He is a coordinating lead author lead author for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and has been a member of the SA delegation to the negotiations under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and its Paris Agreement. He is located in UCT’s Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment. Prof Winkler is an engaged scholar, who seeks to make a difference to the grand challenges facing South Africa, Africa and the world, based on excellent research and a passion for sustainable development.

De Wet Swanepoel is full professor in the Department of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology, University of Pretoria and senior researcher at the Ear Science Institute Australia. Prof Swanepoel’s research capitalises on the growth in information and communication technologies to explore, develop and evaluate innovative technologies and service delivery models to improve ear and hearing care. This translational area of research is primarily focussed on making ear and hearing health accessible, especially in low- and middle-income countries.  

Professor Swanepoel has 20 years of experience in ear and hearing research and is widely recognised as a leading international scholar with more than 160 peer-reviewed articles, books and book chapters. He has served as adjunct and visiting professor at several institutions including the University of Texas at Dallas, University of Orebro in Sweden, and the University of Western Australia. Professor Swanepoel is funded by various international organizations including the NIH, UK Academy of Medical Sciences, National Research Foundation and industry. His innovations have been patented and has received numerous international awards including the ITU Global innovation award, Philips Innovation Fellowship, AU-TWAS National Award and the Silver British Association Medal (S2A3). He has ongoing collaborations with colleagues from around the world including the VU Medical centre, The Netherlands, The University of Cincinnati, Children’s Medical Centre and at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in London. 

Prof Swanepoel also serves as Editor-In-Chief of the International Journal of Audiology, past-president of the International Society of Audiology and co-founder of a digital health tech company called the hearX group. 

Dr. Janice Limson is affiliated to Biotechnology, Rhodes University, where Dr. Janice Limson is currently working as Director & Professor. Dr. Janice Limson has authored and co-authored several national and international publications and also working as a reviewer for reputed professional journals. Dr. Janice Limson is having an active association with different societies and academies around the world. Dr. Janice Limson made his mark in the scientific community with the contributions and widely recognition from honourable subject experts around the world. Dr. Janice Limson has received several awards for the contributions to the scientific community. Dr. Janice Limson major research interest involves Biosensors, Biofuel cells and Nanobiotechnology.

Professor Okonofua obtained the fellowships of the West African College of Surgeons in 1984 and the Nigerian Postgraduate Medical College in Obstetrics and Gynecology in 1985. He obtained PhD in public health from the Karolinka University in Sweden in 2005. He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, a Takemi Fellow in International Health at Harvard University, and a Fellow of the Nigerian Academy of Science.  He joined the services of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife (Nigeria) in 1986, and rose through the ranks to become full professor in 1992. 

His research interests include reproductive health, especially maternal, child and adolescent reproductive health. His research focuses on identifying the causal pathways for reproductive health mishaps, and pinpointing innovative solutions through interventional and translational research.   

He has been the head of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Obafemi Awolowo University and the University of Benin (Nigeria), Dean of the Faculty of Medicine in the two Universities, and Provost of the College of Medical Sciences at the University of Benin. He is currently the pioneer Vice-Chancellor of the  University of Medical Sciences in Ondo City, Nigeria.  He has been the Adviser on health to President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria, the Executive Director of the International Federation of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and Program Officer at the Ford Foundation. He is the Editor in Chief of the African Journal of Reproductive Health, founder of the Women’s Health and Action Research Centre, the Centre Leader of the World Bank African Centre of Excellence in Reproductive Health Innovation at the University of Benin (Nigeria), and a member of the editorial board of the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. He has 277 publications (2018). 

Prof. Elmazar obtained his B Pharm in 1970 and M Pharm (Pharmacology) in 1973 from Cairo University, and his PhD (Pharmacology) in 1978 from Guy’s Hospital Medical School, London University.

Elmazar was a Professor and Chairman of Pharmacology Department, Mansoura University (1989), vice Dean (2001) & Dean (2003) of Faculty of Pharmacy, Helwan University, Founding Dean of Faculty of Pharmacy, Ahram Canadian University (2005, & 2007 to 2012), Founding Director of the Centre for Community & Consulting Services at BUE (2006).

Prof. Elmazar is a member of several national & international scientific societies, he is also:

- U.S. Citizen Ambassador Program (Birth Defects), Washington.

- An Alexander von Humboldt Fellow

- Fellow of The Egyptian Academy of Sciences, FEAS (2010)

- Fellow of The African Academy of Sciences, FAAS (2018)

- Member of Medical & Nutritional Council, Academy of Scientific Research & Technology - Ministry of Scientific Research June 2010 – Dec. 2015.

- Member of Drug Research Council, Academy of Scientific Research & Technology - Ministry of Scientific Research Jan. 2016 – to date. - Advisor to the Industrial Modernization Center (IMC) – Ministry of Industry and Foreign Trade 2006- to date.

- Member of Drug Technical committee from 2011 to 2014, Pharmacology from 2008 to 2015, Bioequivalence, and Non-Reference Drugs Committees, Central Administration for Pharmaceutical Affairs, Ministry of Health & Population, Oct 2011 – to date.

- A Leading Scientist of the 57 member states of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC).

Editor and reviewer of several national & international scientific journals. Prof. Elmazar also has six international Patents.

Major research interests are in reproductive toxicology especially teratology (anticonvalsants, retinoids, foods like potatoes as well as on the mechanism of teratogenicity of caffeine).

Publications: 178 (As per Scopus, 81 International Publications, h-index 21, total citation 1302, cumulative IF 218).

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Mohey_Elmazar

Andrew Anthony Adjei obtained his PhD in 1997 from the University of The Ryyuus, Okinawa, Japan and then joined the Department of Parasite Immunology, Tucson Medical Centre, USA.  In August 2000, he relocated to Ghana and joined the Pathology Department, University of Ghana School of Medicine and Dentistry (UGSMD) as a Senior Research Fellow and rose through the ranks to become full Professor in 2004. 

His research interests include the Pathogenesis of cerebral malaria; epidemiology of cryptosporidiosis; human papilloma virus types and its association with cervical cancer; transfusion-transmitted pathogens; viral infections (HIV/AIDS, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, hepatitis E), epidemiology of prostate and breast cancers, host-parasite interactions.   

Professor Adjei has been Head of Department of Biomedical and Allied Health Sciences, Deputy Provost UG College Of Health Sciences (CHS), Director of Research, Innovation and Development (UG), Editor-in-Chief, Ghana Journal of Allied Health Sciences, Coordinator of Research, UG School of Medicine and Dentistry, President of Ghana Association of Medical Laboratory Scientists, Project Coordinator, Transdisciplinary Training for Resource Efficiency and Climate Change Adaptation in Africa (TRECCAfrica), Project Coordinator, Building Stronger Universities (Partnership between UG and Universities in Denmark), and several other professional activities, 

Currently, he is the Coordinator of the Vice Chancellor’s Strategic Teams, Coordinator of the Worldwide Universities Network, Coordinator of the Australian-Africa Universities Network, Chairman of the Ethics and Protocol Review Committee, Editor-in-Chief, CHS Journal, Chairman of CHS Scientific Conference Planning Committee, Coordinator, MPhil programme in Immunology, and a Professor of Immunology and Pathology at the Department of Pathology.  He has 129 publications. 

Salah S A Obayya joined Zewail City of Science and Technology (ZC) in 2012 where he is now Chair Professor and Founding Director of Center for Photonics and Smart Materials (CPSM). He occupied the positions of the Vice Chairman of ZC and Director-General of Research Institutes at the same institution. Prior to Zewail City, he took up several academic posts at Brunel University UK (tenured Associate Professor, 2002), University of Leeds, UK (tenured Professor, 2006) and University of South Wales, UK (tenured Chair Professor, 2008) where he was the Founding Director of Photonics and Broadband Communications (PBC) Research Center and also he was the Director of Postgraduate Programs at the same institution.

He has established an outstanding international reputation in the area of green nanophotonics with focus on the intelligent computational modeling of modern nano-photonic devices enabling technologies needed to realise low-carbon green society. He has published 248 journal publications, mostly in OSA, IEEE and IET/IEE, authored 3 books (Computational Photonics, Wiley 2010 and Computational Liquid Crystal Photonics, Wiley 2016, Computational of Photonic sensors, 2018) both are adopted references for Graduate Programs in Photonics at international Universities such as MIT, Purdue University, Indian Institute of Technology, National University of Singapore, Mansoura University and Zewail City, and 254 conference papers in international conference in photonics, many of these are invited talks, and keynote lectures, attracted external funding, from both industry and Research Councils, in the region of $ 4M, and supervised to successful completion 35 PhD students, over 70 MSc/MRes/MPhil students and 15 postdoctoral research fellows. He led the team that developed one of the world’s best comprehensive numerical packages for the analysis, design and optimization of nano-photonic devices, and subsystems, where a number of “world-first” numerical approaches have been developed. His five key papers introducing his novel numerical package; have been cited more than 400 times.  His publications also have been cited more than 3350 times, with an h-index of 31 and i10-index of 100. His numerical package has been widely adopted by both academic and industrial Photonics communities to analyze, design and optimize the performance of a wide range of nano-photonic devices employed for applications in solar cells, optical telecoms, sensing, optical imaging and encryption and other applications.

He has served the International Photonics Society through active contribution to the organization and technical committees of a number of international conferences. Since 2007, he has been an Associate Editor-in-Chief of the IEEE Photonics Technology Letters, and Associate Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Optical and Quantum Electronics, and served as Guest Editor-in-Chief of J Optical and Quantum Electronics (2010), and founding member of Editorial Board of Materials Theory Journal (Springer) and acted as Reviewer for many international Photonics Journals such as IEEE J Lightwave Technology, IEEE Photonics Journal IEEE J Quantum Electronics, IEEE J Selected Topics in Quantum Electronics, IET Optoelectronics, OSA Optics Express, OSA Optics Letters, and many others. Moreover, he acted as Technical expert and Reviewer for a number of research funding councils and learnt societies such as Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), UK, Royal Society, UK, Royal Academy of Engineering, UK, National Academy of Arts and Sciences, Holland, Science and Technology Development Fund, Egypt, National Telecom Regulatory Authority (NTRA), Egypt and others.

Recently, Dr. Obayya was elected as the first Arab and African Fellow of Optical Society of America (OSA) in Sep. 2019. He was elected Fellow of African Academy of Science (AAS), 2018, and Chairman of Nanotechnology Group of AAS. Also, He was elected as a board member of Egyptian Society of Optical Science and Applications (ESOSA), elected Fellow of the Institute of Engineering and Technology, IET (formerly FIEE), UK, 2010, elected Fellow of The Institute of Physics (IoP), UK, 2010, elected Fellow of The Higher Education Academy, UK, and Senior member of IEEE, USA, 2005, member of Board of Academy of Scientific Research and Technology (Egypt’s National Academy of Science), Member of Wales Institute of Mathematical and Computational Sciences (WIMCS), UK, Member of Optical Society of America (OSA), Member of International Society for Optical Engineering (SPIE), USA and Member of Applied Computational Electromganetic Society (ACES).

As remarkable recognition of his research achievements, he was the recipient of many national and international awards and recognitions such as Order of Science and Arts of the first class, the most prestigious medal awarded by President of Egypt, President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, in the National Science Day, Egypt, 2019, Best Scientific Book, COMSTECH-Awards-2017, 2019, State Appreciation Award, Egypt, 2019, UNESCO Chair, Paris, 2019, Honorary Special Chair Professor of Photonics, University of Nottingham, UK, 2017, for his outstanding world-class research record, elected Senior Associate by Board of Directors, International Center for Theoretical Physics (ICTP), Italy, 2017, for his pivotal role in photonics research and education in Egypt, The Region and Africa and elected Senior Member by Board of Directors, Optical Society of America, OSA, 2017 for his internationally recognized research in Photonics, UAE President Khalifa Award for Distinguished Arab Professor in Scientific Research in April 2017, Doctor of Science (DSc) degree in Photonics from City University of London in Jan 2016; a degree awarded only to those who gained international distinction in their own fields, Arab Thought Foundation Award in Scientific Creativity (Lebanon), Dec. 2015; only one award in all fields of Science and Engineering is granted each year for one Arab Scientist, Egyptian Academy of Scientific Research and Technology (ASRT) Award in Engineering Sciences Creativity, Sept. 2014; only one award is granted each year for an Egyptian Scientist in Engineering Sciences, Abdul Hameed Shoman Foundation (Jordan) Award for Arab Scientists in Engineering Sciences, Oct. 2014; only one award is granted each year for one Arab Scientists in Engineering Sciences, State Award of Excellence for Engineering Sciences from the Egyptian State, Sept. 2013; only one scientist is awarded this prestigious award every year, Incentive State Award for Engineering Sciences from the Egyptian State, Sept. 2005, and many others. 

Jean Nachega, MD, PhD, MPH, FRCP: Associate Professor of Medicine, Infectious Diseases, Microbiology and Epidemiology, at Graduate School of Public Health, Pittsburgh University. Dr Nachega is also an Adjunct Associate Professor of Epidemiology and International Health at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health; and Professor Extraordinary of Medicine and Director of the Center for Infectious Diseases, at Stellenbosch University, Cape Town, South Africa.  
 
He received his training in Belgium (University of Louvain), UK (London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine), USA (Johns Hopkins University & Harvard University). He has over 20 year-experience in patient care, teaching, designing and implementing HIV/AIDS and Tuberculosis studies or programs funded by NIH/NIAID, PEPFAR, EDCTP, and Wellcome Trust. He is a lead HIV Investigator within AIDS Clinical Trial Group (ACTG) and an ad hoc consultant at WHO, CDC, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, as well as a member of South African Academy of Sciences. 

Prof Hassan was born in Sudan in 1953. He holds BSc (1977) and MSc (1982) degrees in agric. economics from University of Khartoum, Sudan, and MSc (1988) and PhD (1989) degrees in economics from Iowa State University, USA. He is currently Emeritus Professor at the University of Pretoria. He served as Professor and founding Director of the Centre for Environmental Economics and Policy in Africa (CEEPA) till 2016. Previously worked at the CSIR in S. Africa, CIMMYT International in east Africa, and University of Juba, in Sudan.  

Main research expertise covers the economics and policy of agriculture, natural resources and environmental management with current special interest in environmental accounting, climate change economics and sustainable management of natural ecosystems, particularly the economics and policy of governing the commons. 

Served as member of many national and international Boards & Science Councils including: The UN Committee for Development Policy, The CGIAR Science Council, GEF Science and Technical Advisory Panel, Science Panel and Working Group Co-Chair of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, High Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Climate Change of the UN CFS, Academic Advisory Panel for the World Development Report (WDR 2009) on climate change, Stockholm Resilience Centre Board, Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) Science Advisory Council, Human Sciences Research Council of SA Board. Research Fellow of the Economic Research Forum (ERF), Senior Fellow of ZEF at Bon University, Senior Fellow of the African Association of Agricultural Economists. Founding Chief Editor of the African Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, and associate editor and member of editorial Boards of many international journals and has published over 160 articles and chapters and 14 books. 

Susan Bourne is the Professor of Physical Chemistry at the University of Cape Town. Her PhD, obtained at the University of Cape Town, was a study of organic inclusion compounds undertaken under the supervision of Luigi Nassimbeni.  After a postdoctoral period in Texas, USA, she joined the Chemistry Department at the University of Cape Town and rose through the ranks to become full Professor in 2008.   

Her research interests include the application of physicochemical methods to inclusion compounds and crystal engineering of metal-organic materials, all with the aim of correlating solid state structure with physical properties and reactivity.  She has published over 140 papers and has supervised over 20 postgraduate students.   

She has served as Head of Department, Deputy Dean, and as interim Dean of the Faculty of Science.  She has held several offices in the European Crystallographic Association, and is currently Chair of the Structural Chemistry Commission of the International Union of Crystallography.  She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry and a Fellow of the University of Cape Town. 

Tolu Oni is a Public Health Physician and Epidemiologist at the University of Cambridge MRC Epidemiology Unit. She was until June 2018 an Associate Professor at the School of Public Health and Family Medicine, University of Cape Town, where she retains an honorary appointment. She leads the Research Initiative for Cities Health and Equity (RICHE), and her urban health research takes a pan-African approach to providing evidence to support implementation of healthy public policies, and translation of research findings into policy and practice through collaboration with researchers and practitioners across disciplines and sectors. 

She has published her work on HIV, TB, infectious/NCD multimorbidity and urban health (H-Index 20; Citations 2955) in high impact journals including Nature and PLOS Medicine. Profiled in the Lancet in 2016 (Tolullah Oni: public health specialist with a global ambition. Lancet. 2016;387:1712), and featured in Science in 2018 (http://science.sciencemag.org/content/360/6387/391.full), she has received several awards in recognition of her research including the South African National Science and Technology Forum (NSTF) Emerging Researcher award, and the Carnegie Corporation “Next Generation of African Academics award. She is a Next Einstein Forum Fellow, a Stellenbosch Institute of Advanced Studies (STIAS) Iso Lomso Fellow, a member of the World Economic Forum Africa Strategic Group, and co-Chair of the Global Young Academy. She serves on several steering committees including the International Science Council Programme on Urban Health and Wellbeing, and the Future Earth Advisory Council. She is an Editorial Board member of several international journals including Cities and Health journal, the Journal of Urban Health, and Lancet Planetary Health. She also works to promote science and research as key drivers of development in Africa through a coordinated approach between science, policy and society role players, to identify creative strategies to address complex population health and broader societal challenges. 

Prof Sokona obtained his PhD in 1981 from Ecole Nationale Superieure des Mines of Paris and Universite Paris VI Jussieu (France). He is currently Special Advisor for Sustainable Development at the South Centre. With over 35 years of experience addressing energy, environment and sustainable development in Africa. Reflecting his status, Prof Sokona was elected Vice-Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in October 2015. Prior to this, Prof Sokona was Co-Chair of IPCC Working Group III on the mitigation of climate change for the Fifth Assessment Report after serving as a Lead Author since 1990. In addition to these achievements, Prof Sokona has a proven track record of research coordination, organisational leadership and management, for example, leading the conception, development and initiating the Africa Renewable Energy Initiative, as the first Coordinator of the African Climate Policy Centre (ACPC) and as Executive Secretary of the Sahara and the Sahel Observatory (OSS). Prof Sokona’s advice is highly sought after, and as such, he is affiliated with numerous boards and organisations, including Honorary Professor at the University College London (UCL), Member of Science Advisory Committee of the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), Member of the Advisory Board of the Payne Institute at the Colorado School of Mines, and as a Special Advisor to the African Energy Leaders Group. In short, Prof Sokona is a global figure, with deep scientific and technical knowledge, extensive policy experience and an unreserved personal commitment to African led development. 

Dr. Omowunmi “Wunmi” Sadik serves as Professor of Chemistry and (inaugural/founding) Director of the Center for Research in Advanced sensing Technologies and Environmental Sustainability (CREATES) at the State University of New York at Binghamton (SUNY Binghamton), where she has been a member of the faculty since (August) 1996. She is also the President and Co-Founder of the Sustainable Nanotechnology Organization (SNO) (www.susnano.org), a non-profit, international professional society dedicated to advancing sustainable nanotechnological solutions around the world through education, research, and the promotion of the responsible growth of nanotechnology. Sadik received her BS and MS in chemistry from the University of Lagos (Nigeria) and her PhD in chemistry from the University of Wollongong (Australia). She has held appointments at Harvard University, Cornell University and the Naval Research Laboratory.  Professor Sadik is the author/co-author over 170 scientific publications, and she has given over 400 invited lectures and conference contributions across the world. Sadik holds five U.S. patents for her work on biosensors.

Her inventions are helping to drive changes in many areas such as the early diagnosis of cancer, genetic testing, pain management in hospital patients and environmental analysis. Her team has translated basic research in biosensors to design a portable, fully autonomous, and remotely operated sensing device, known as U-PAC. Sadik has received several honors and awards and is a fellow of several organizations. Sadik is the first person of Nigerian origin to receive the distinguished Harvard University Radcliffe Fellowship. She was chosen as one of 14 members of the 2017-2018 Jefferson Science Fellowship program. As a fellow, Sadik will spend a year as a senior adviser to the U.S. Secretary of State, providing information on scientific advancements to be used to make policy decisions. She is only the fourth woman and the first female scientist to be conferred with the Nigerian National Order of Merit (NNOM) Award, Nigeria’s highest national honor for academicians. Out of the 35 plus PhD students that she has mentored to date, 15 of them have gone on to hold tenure-track faculty positions in the US and around the world. Sadik is recognized for her research innovation (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omowunmi_Sadik) and sustainable nanotechnology.

Moffat Nyirenda is a Diabetologist/Endocrinologist and Professor of Medicine (Global Non-Communicable Diseases) at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), and leads the non-communicable disease (NCD) research theme at MRC/UVRI and LSHTM Uganda Research.

Moffat was among the first graduates from the College of Medicine in Malawi, with “hybrid” training between University College London and University of Malawi. He subsequently trained and worked at the University of Edinburgh, supported by a prestigious MRC Clinician Scientist Fellowship award. In 2010 Moffat returned to Malawi where he was Professor of Research at the College of Medicine and Associate Director of Malawi-Liverpool-Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Programme, before taking up his current position at LSHTM in August 2013. Moffat’s research interests lie in mechanistic understanding of the aetiology of chronic non-communicable diseases (NCDs), including i) investigating the association between early environmental insults and the risk of obesity, diabetes and hypertension in adulthood; ii) using cross-cutting approaches to examine the interactions between infection and NCDs; iii) contributing to genomics studies of NCDs in sub-Saharan Africa. Moffat has particular interest in research capacity building in Africa, and is Director of the Southern Africa Consortium for Research Excellence (SACORE), funded through the Wellcome Trust’s African Institutions Initiative, which aims to establish a vibrant research culture in medical schools in Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Kawango Agot is a Kenyan research scientist. She obtained her PhD and MPH from the University of Washington, Seattle and proceeded to coordinate the trial on male circumcision for HIV prevention at the Kisumu site, Kenya.  She then led community engagement activities to obtain buy-in for voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC). The organization she founded – IRDO (Impact, Research, and Development Organization) – has provided over 600,000 male circumcisions to date.  In addition to VMMC trials and studies, Dr. Agot has conducted multiple studies on various topics, including on pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), multipurpose technologies (MPT) and HIV self-testing. She has worked with other colleagues to explore and promote the concept of secondary distribution of HIV self-tests (HIVST) to promote partner testing and inform sexual decisions. She is studying the impact of HIVST on enrollment of female sex workers into HIV prevention programs and optimal ways of promoting testing among adolescent girls and young women.

Prof Brett I. Pletschke received his PhD in Biochemistry in 1996 at the University of Port Elizabeth (now Nelson Mandela University) and joined Rhodes University in 2000. Prof Pletschke is currently a Professor of Biochemistry and the previous Head of Biochemistry in the Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology at Rhodes University. 

His research interests lie in the fields of enzyme biotechnology and enzymology - and in how we can use enzymes to generate bioproducts (for the African and South African bio-economies in particular). More specifically, he is interested in cellulose- and mannan-degrading enzymes and the production of biofuels and prebiotic manno-oligosaccharides (MOS). He is also interested in seaweed polysaccharides for addressing diabetes, obesity and cancer, and, lastly, in enzymes which can break down non-starch polysaccharides (NSPs) in animal feeds. 

He has been a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the European Federation of Biotechnology (EFB), the American Chemical Society (ACS) and the Royal Society of South Africa (RSSA). Prof Pletschke has served as the Vice-President (2008-2010) and President (2010-2012) of the South African Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (SASBMB). In this capacity, he has acted as a voting member for the SASBMB at the International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (IUBMB). He has also contributed several chapters to the UNESCO EOLLS program, which is an integrated on-line compendium of twenty encyclopaedias, which is made freely accessible to disadvantaged individuals and minority groups worldwide.  

He has published more than 85 papers in peer-reviewed international journals or books. He has also hosted and supervised several Postdoctoral Fellows, and has successfully supervised and graduated more than 35 (PhD and MSc) students. 

Prof. Bahei‐El‐Din is currently the Vice President for Research and Postgraduate Studies at the British University in Egypt. He also served earlier as Dean of Engineering and founded the Centre for Advanced Materials. Prof. Bahei-El-Din received his undergraduate education at Cairo University in Egypt and the MSc and PhD degrees from Duke University in the US with a major in Civil Engineering and specialty in Solid Mechanics and Composite Materials. Before joining BUE he was a tenured Professor Cairo University and Research Professor at Duke University, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, North Carolina State University, and the University of Utah.

His tenure at the young BUE as Vice President has been marked with significant developments in the university’s research and postgraduate portfolios, leading to the establishment of several research centres covering nanotechnology, advanced materials, renewable energy, among others, and attracting external research funding from national and international agencies including several in the European Union, UK and US. Prof. Bahei-El-Din has also been focusing on closing the innovation cycle at BUE and created the Technology Innovation and Commercialisation Office, Business Incubator, and the Science & Innovation Park. Prof. Bahei-El-Din is renowned for his research in advanced materials and has published extensively on the subject and authored and contributed to several specialized books. His academic and intellectual records have earned him recognitions and awards from Egypt’s President and the Academy of Scientific Research & Technology, and NASA and the National Academy of Sciences in the USA.

Professor Abdel Karim Koumare is Chairman of the Council Board of the University of Technical and Technological Sciences of Bamako since 2015, President of the Academy of Sciences of Mali since 2016. He is Corresponding member of the French Academy of Surgery (2002), and the French Academy of Medicine (2007). He is Director General of the African Institute for Training in Pedagogy, Research and Evaluation in Health Sciences since 2004. He is trainer of trainer in Quality Assurance for Francophone Agency for Universities (AUF) since 2010, for DAAD (Germany) since 2005, for African and Malagasy Council for Higher Education (CAMES) since 2000, for International Conference of Medical Francophone Schools (CIDMEF) since1995. He was Co-President (2000-2016) of the Scientific Council of the International Conference of French Speaking Deans of Medicine for Africa, America, Asia and Europa.  He has been Research Director since 1989, has over 200 publications (including one in The Lancet), organised more than 20 national or international seminars in research methodology for 1-2 weeks. He holds a Masters in Pedagogy in Health Sciences specification evaluation from Laval University in Canada since 1986, a FAIMER Pedagogy Certificate in Philadelphia in the USA since 2009, a Certificate of internship in public health at John Hopkins University in the USA since 1996, a Certificate of internship in public health at CDC Atlanta in the USA since 1995. He has been a Doctor of Medicine from the University of Poitiers in France since 1976.

Professor Mafongoya holds a PhD in Agroforestry from University of Florida (USA), an MSc in Applied Plant Sciences as well as an MSc Agricultural Development from Wye College, University of London (UK) and a BSc (Hons) Agriculture from the University of Zimbabwe. He has over 30 years’ experience working with various international organizations and universities in the areas of agricultural research, development, education, and integrated natural resources management. He has published 263 papers (117 refereed journal articles, 41 refereed book chapters and 2 books). His total publication record stand at 263. Currently he a Professor and South Africa Research Chair in Agronomy and Rural development at the University of KwaZulu-Natal.He has supervised and co- supervised up to date 8 Post Doctorial fellows, 35 PhD students, 36 MSc students and 15 undergraduates. He has worked with Universities in the North and South in supervising these students. He has also done up to date 30 consultancies on integrated natural resource management for UN organizations such FAO, UNEP, UNDP, ILO and international NGO`s such Oxfam,WWF,HIVOS and national governments in SADC. Currently he is a member of several international professional societies. He is a fellow of the Zimbabwe Academy of Sciences. He has participated in several collaborative research involving CGIARs, Advanced Research Institutes, National Agricultural Research and Extension Systems, International Foundations and NGOs. His experience is multidisciplinary,   transdisciplinary, multi-institutional and multi-cultural. For more details a full CV can be provided upon request. 

Professor Leslie Petrik (PhD), leads the Environmental and Nano Science (ENS) group, Department of Chemistry, University of the Western Cape (UWC) and is involved in post graduate research with the focus on nanoscience and nanotechnology and environmental remediation. Novel nanomaterials currently under investigation include electrocatalysts, as well as acid catalysts for energy applications and composite photocatalysts, for application in disinfection of water and removal of organics through advanced oxidation technologies. Prof Petrik is recipient of: UWC Vice Chancellor's Annual Distinguished Researcher Award, in the Natural and Medical Sciences for 2012 Distinguished Women Scientist Award in 2012 by the Department of Science and Technology Women in Science

Prof Ovbiagele obtained his medical degree in 1991 from the University of Lagos (Nigeria); and then 3 subsequent graduate degrees from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), University of California, San Diego (UCSD), and University of Massachusetts, Amherst. He began his academic career in 2002 as an Assistant Professor of Neurology at UCLA and became a Full Professor at UCSD in 2011.  

He has served as Director of the Olive View-UCLA Stroke Program, Director of the San Diego Veterans Affairs Health Care System Stroke Program, and Chair (Head) of the Department of Neurology at Medical University of South Carolina. He is currently Chief of Staff (Chief Medical Officer) at the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Health Care System, as well as Professor of Neurology and Associate Dean at the University of California, San Francisco. 

The programmatic focus of his research is the development, dissemination and translation into practice and community, of evidence-based behavioral interventions to improve stroke outcomes. He led a clinical trial that utilized an intervention to improve post-stroke outcomes in Nigeria and co-led another study aimed at identifying unique environmental risk factors for stroke in Africans. He is currently leading studies examining the feasibility of a smart phone to enhance stroke outcomes in Ghana, impact of stroke risk indices among HIV patients on antiretroviral drugs in Ghana, efficacy of a polypill strategy to enhance stroke outcomes in Ghana, and genetic variants associated with stroke in people of African ancestry. 

He is Founding Editor-in-Chief of eNeurologicalSci (eNS), a scientific journal of the World Federation of Neurology, and he recently served as Chair of the International Stroke Conference Program (the premier scientific meeting on stroke in the world). He has published 450 peer review articles and edited 4 textbooks. He has directly mentored over 45 trainees/faculty members, been elected to fellowship status in several prominent organizations including the American Academy of Neurology and Royal College of Physicians, and in 2008 won the American Academy of Neurology Pessin Stroke Research Leadership Award.   

Prof Jane Catherine Ngila received her Bachelor of Education in Science, BEd (Science) and MSc (Chemistry) from Kenyatta University, Kenya in 1986 and 1992, respectively. She obtained her PhD from the University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia in 1996. Her teaching and research career started in 1989 when she was employed as a tutorial fellow at Kenyatta University and later promoted to lecturer position in 1996. She also worked at the University of Botswana as a Lecturer/Senior Lecturer (1998-2006), and at the University of KwaZulu Natal, Durban, as Senior Lecturer (2006-2011) before joining University of Johannesburg, as a Full Professor of Analytical/Environmental Chemistry in April 2011.

Prof Jane Catherine Ngila is currently the Deputy Vice Chancellor in charge of Academic and Student Affairs (DVC-AA) at Riara University. Her portfolio involves providing leadership within Riara University in delivering the university’s strategy, objectives, and core purpose. Her office provides day-to-day leadership in both academic affairs and research functions of the university, including student affairs. She is the immediate former Deputy Director of the Institute of Oil and Gas (MIOG) under Kenya Pipeline Company, in charge of Training, Academic Programmes and Linkages, a position she held from April 2017 to January 2020.

Prof Ngila is also a Visiting Professor at the University of Johannesburg (UJ), Department of Chemical Sciences, as well as a Visiting Professor at the Department of Pure and Applied Chemistry, Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology in Kenya. She is a former Head of Department (HOD) of Applied Chemistry at University of Johannesburg, a position she held from 2013 to 2016. As HOD at UJ, she oversaw a number of Centres of Excellence in Nanotechnology and Water, including the National Research Foundation (NRF) of South Africa Research Chair Initiative (SARChI) Chair in Nanotechnology and Water; the South Africa's Department of Science and Technology (DST)/Mintek Nanotechnology Innovation Centre Water node (NIC Water); the National Nanoscience Postgraduate Teaching and Training Platform (NNPTTP) UJ node (NNPTTP is a consortium of three nodes - UJ, University of the Free State and Nelson Mandela University; and the University of the Western Cape as the hub).

Prof Ngila’s research work is on Analytical/Environmental Chemistry and focuses on water quality/pollution monitoring, methods of water treatment based on nanotechnology, development of analytical methodologies for detecting metal pollutants and other chemical substances including their speciation analysis, in water. She is one of the highly productive women in research in Africa, which is evidenced by her impressive research profile. Prof Ngila has trained 22 Honours, 33 MSc and 30 PhD postgraduate students, and 18 postdoctoral fellows. Three of her South Africa female students have received both the PhD (Ms Eseoghene Umukoro 2016 and Dr Nomvano Mketo in 2015) and Postdoctoral (Dr Philiswa Nomngongo in 2014) L’Oreal-UNESCO For Women in Science Fellowship Awards. She has disseminated her research findings in international conferences in more than 30 countries.  She is a National Research Foundation of South Africa rated researcher, with over 430 publications comprising of 209 journal articles, 15 book chapters, 17 conference proceedings, 37 keynote/invited lectures and 160 conference abstracts. Her ResearchGate Score is 39.44. She has Google Scholar H-Index of 30, i10-index 83, total citation of 2995. See full CV information at:https://www.linkedin.com/in/catherine-ngila-68a620114

Other Links

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jane_Ngila/

https://scholar.google.co.za/citations?user=NNc4NEYAAAAJ&hl=en

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0121-4567 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/catherine-ngila-68a620114

Prof Ngila has won various Awards: African Union Kwame Nkrumah East Africa Regional Women Scientific Awards (January 2017) for excellence in research in water quality monitoring and treatment using nanotechnology; South Africa Distinguished Women in Science (WISA) Awards - Physical Sciences & Engineering (August 2016). She received Awards from German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) towards her MSc degree (1987-1989) and the Equity & Merit Scholarship Scheme- Australian International Development Assistance Bureau for her PhD (1991-1995). Other Awards include, Kenyatta University Vice Chancellor Research Award (October 1997) and University of Botswana Research Award (June 2005).

Prof Ngila is a Fellow of the World Academy of Sciences; Fellow Africa Academy of Science (AAS); Member Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf); Member of the AAS mentorship programmes for female university students in Africa; the Chair of the AAS Education & Gender Working Group; and Co-Chair of the 2021 Commonwealth Science Conference. She is a member of various chemical societies and professional organizations including Royal Australian Chemistry Institute, American Chemical Society, Royal Society of Chemistry UK (MRSC), South Africa Chemical Institute, Kenya Chemical Society, Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World, African Scientific Institute, Forum for African Women Educationalists and African Women in Science & Engineering (AWISE). She has served as a member of several advisory boards: UJ Water and Health Research Group (2012-2019), WaterNet & Global Water Partnership in Southern Africa (WARFSA/GWP-SA), Africa Utility Week on Clean Power/Energy & Water (2015-2017), SA-Water Research Commission, Key partner projects funded by African Development Bank (Kenyatta University), and Addis Ababa University’s Africa Centre of Excellent in Water Management sponsored by World Bank. She is founding member of the Southern and East Africa Network of Analytical Chemists (SEANAC); and has served (2014 -2016 and 2020-current) as an adjudicator for the L’Oreal UNESCO for Women in Science in Sub-Saharan African Panels (PhD and Postdoctoral Research Fellows in natural sciences). She was an Honorary Board Member of the Jarislowsky Chair in Water and Global Health at Carleton University (Canada) in 2016. She was part of the South African Department of Science & Technology (DST) Delegation to UNESCO (Paris) and Germany (SA Embassy in Berlin) in January 2012 to promote, and established partnerships for, South African research in nanotechnology and water. She gave a presentation entitled: Technologies in environmental management- strategies by department of chemical technology@uj. http://esastap.org.za/download/present_germany_08_2012.pdf .

Prof Ngila has been a Member of Advisory Board of the Africa Utility Week on Clean Power/Energy and Water (2015-2017). In July 2015 she was nominated as a member of Team Water South Africa, a Committee that was chaired by the Minister of Water and Sanitation. While in South Africa, she was regularly appointed to chair the NRF Panels of funding Applications as well act as a Reference Advisory Member and Reviewer of South Africa Water Research Commission projects in water research. In September 2015, she was nominated by DST/CSIR National Centre for Nanostructured Materials to join a delegation to represent South Africa on the Algeria-South Africa Bilateral Cooperation, on Nanotechnology and Water Initiatives. Prof Ngila was Key Partner on nanotechnology projects funded by African Development Bank in Kenyatta University, Nairobi, Kenya. In 2015, she was invited by Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia as a Key Partner in establishing an Africa Centre of Excellent in Water Management, which was sponsored by the World Bank.

Since 2012, Prof Ngila has been a member of COVIDSET (Conference of Vice Chancellors and Deans of Science Engineering and Technology Institutes), which is hosted by Regional Bureau for Science in Africa (RBSA) and African Network of Scientific and Technological Institutions (ANSTI) in collaboration with UNESCO. In November 2013, she presented a paper entitled, Nanotechnology applied in water purification for removal of metal and persistent organic pollutants, at the 5th fifth COVIDSET 2013 in Gaborone, Botswana. In September 2015, she submitted a paper for presentation at COVIDSET 2015, Enugu, Nigeria, entitled, Human and Physical Infrastructure Requirements for Cutting-Edge Research in African Higher Education Institutions. She is a member of International Network of Women Engineers and Scientists (INWES) and presented a paper entitled, Nanosorbent materials for removal of inorganic and organic pollutants in water, at INWES workshop held 19-21 November 2013, in Nairobi, Kenya.

In April 2016, Prof Ngila was part of a consortium of researchers from South Africa, Egypt, Tunisia, France and Germany that submitted a proposal for the European Commission Joint Programming Initiative Water challenges for a changing world (Water JPI) grant. She has been very successful in obtaining competitive research grants including, the South Africa National Research Foundation (NRF) Equipment Program (NEP) grant for high resolution scanning electron microscope; 2014 NEP grant for Flow field fractionation/gas and liquid chromatography-inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (FFF/GC/LC/ICP-MS). She also obtained several research grants from the Water Research Commission of South Africa (WRC), Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Electricity Supply Commission (ESCOM) also known as ESKOM and South Africa Synthetic Oil Liquid Company Limited (SASOL).

Professor Alash’le Abimiku, is a co-founder and the Executive Director of the International Research Centre of Excellence (IRCE) at the Institute of Human Virology Nigeria (IHVN), and a Professor at the Institute of Human Virology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore; She has over 2 decades of establishing laboratory infrastructure and science in Nigeria with long-term collaborations with the USA. Prof. Abimiku’s research focuses on the role of HIV subtypes in disease pathogenesis using mother to child model; and effects of co-infections such as TB on HIV pathogenesis as a successful and funded independent researcher. Prof. Abimiku has trained a cadre of Nigerian scientists and is internationally recognized for her leadership in HIV research, and in promoting laboratory diagnostics and medicine in Africa. She played a significant role in the past as a member of the WHO HIV vaccine advisory committee and the African AIDS Vaccine Program. She currently serves as a member of the international scientific advisory group for University of Cape Town, and as Board chair of the African Society of Laboratory Medicine (ASLM).

Eugene Sobngwi is Professor of Endocrinology and Metabolism at the University of Yaoundé 1 and Consultant Endocrinologist at Yaoundé Central Hospital. He is head of the Laboratory of Molecular Medicine and Metabolism at the Biotechnology Centre of the University of Yaoundé 1. Professor Sobngwi is also Medical advisor at the Yaoundé Central Hospital in Cameroon, and Vice-president Global of International Diabetes Federation. 

He formerly worked in Paris, France as lecturer/registrar specialist (Chef de Clinique) at Paris VII Medical School and St-Louis University Hospital, France, and at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, UK as Senior Lecturer in Epidemiology. 

After graduating from the University of Yaoundé 1 in 1996, he specialized in Endocrinology and Diabetes in Paris, and obtained a PhD in metabolism. He also holds an MPhil from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne. He his Fellow of the graduate school of Newcastle University and received his professorship in Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism from the French National Board in April 2013. 

He has serves in many international expert committee such as the American Diabetes Association International Committee for the Diagnosis of Diabetes (2008), the IDF Type 2 guidelines revision committee and several WHO expert committees including the expert committee for diagnosis and classification of diabetes, and the committee on the diagnosis of diabetes in pregnancy.  

His main research areas are epidemiology and pathophysiology of diabetes in Africa, clinical trials, and diabetes in pregnancy.  

He is author of over 200 peer-reviewed publications and 10 book chapters including chapters in the French Textbook of Diabetes and the Oxford Textbook of Endocrinology and Diabetes. 

Prof. Hany A. El-Shemy received his two Ph.D. degrees in Biochemistry and Genetic Engineering from the University of Cairo, Egypt and University of Hiroshima, Japan. He received 2 patents, wrote 13 international books, published more than 90 SCI Journal papers, and 50 conference presentation, and served as the technique committee member as well as chair in many international conferences and the editors including PLoS ONE journal, BMC Genomics, CIMB. He received several awards, including State prize awarded from Academy of Science, Egypt (2004), Young Arab Researcher prize Awarded from Shuman Foundation, Jordan (2005), State Excellence prize from Academy of Science, Egypt (2011), State Recognition Prize, Egypt (2017), Cairo University Prizes 2007, 2010, 2014. He served an expert for African Regional Center of Technology, Dakar, Senegal plus visiting Professor at Pan African University, African Union. He was appointed vice president of the Academy of Science and Technology from 2013 to 2014, Egypt. Since 2014 to Dec 2017 he was working as a Dean of Faculty of Agriculture, Cairo University. 

Mike Meadows is a Physical Geographer who has been at the University of Cape Town since 1983. Originally hailing from Liverpool, UK, Mike obtained his BSc Honors at the University of Sussex and his PhD the Department of Geography at the University of Cambridge.

Promoted to Professor in 2003, he was been Head of Department from 2001 to 2017. He fulfils a wide variety of administrative roles within the Department, Faculty and in the University as a whole, and is the on-site Director for a semester study abroad programme run in collaboration with three US Colleges (Macalester, Pomona, Swarthmore). He is also Distinguished Professor in the School of Geographical Sciences at East China Normal University.

Mike's external portfolio of responsibilities include being the Secretary-General and Treasurer of the International Geographical Union (from 2010-2018), but he is also Past President of the Society of South African Geographers (of which he is a Fellow) and of the Southern African Quaternary Association (SASQUA). He is an elected Fellow of the Royal Society of South Africa, the Royal Geographical Society, the University of Cape Town and the African Academy of Sciences, and is on the editorial board of several high profile international journals.

Dr. Margaret Okomo-Adhiambo holds a doctorate in Veterinary Medicine (DVM) and Master of Science (MSc) in Animal Genetics, both from the University of Nairobi, as well as a doctorate (PhD) in Cell and Molecular Biology from the University of Nevada-Reno, and a Master of Public Health (MPH) in Applied Epidemiology from Emory University. She is currently a Health Scientist and Bioinformatics Team Leader at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), where her research is focused on developing and implementing bioinformatics solutions for microbial pathogen detection, outbreak investigations, and infectious disease surveillance. Her previous research at the CDC was focused on characterizing influenza antiviral drug resistance among epidemiologically relevant viruses. 

Prior to joining the CDC, Dr. Okomo-Adhiambo was a researcher at the University of Nevada, Reno, where her doctoral and postdoctoral studies focused on applying molecular genetics methodologies to examine infectious disease pathogenesis. Before embarking on her doctoral studies, Dr. Okomo-Adhiambo was an animal genetics researcher at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), performing research on genetic characterization of indigenous African cattle, to aid their conservation and utilization. She was also a Lecturer at the University of Nairobi, Department of Animal Sciences, teaching animal genetics courses, and researching the genetics of disease resistance among indigenous African livestock. 

Dr. Okomo-Adhiambo has over 20 years’ experience conceiving, implementing and directing scientific studies aimed at detection, control and prevention of infectious diseases. She has extensive experience and knowledge of methodologies for managing and analyzing scientific data from complex studies related to a broad range of public health topics. Dr. Okomo-Adhiambo has published over 50 scientific articles, including book chapters and technical reports, and has presented over 40 conference abstracts. 

She actively mentors and advises young men and women aspiring to become future biomedical scientists, and currently serves as mentor and board member of MTAWA, an organization that promotes participation of African women in science and technology. 

Prof Korsten is currently the Co-Director within the Department of Science and Technology, Centre of Excellence Food Security.  She is also responsible for the food safety and regulatory control programmes within the DST Centre of Excellence Food Security.  She is a chief editor of Crop Protection and is chairing the International Society for Plant Pathology Task Force on Global Food Security. Prof Korsten has focused her research mainly on complementary fields of postharvest technology and food safety as related to international trade in fresh produce.  She has been able to establish research teams in food safety, postharvest pathology, biocontrol and mushroom and fruit health. As a team they have been able to develop several innovative technologies to reduce diseases and prevent product contamination. The value of her research programmes can best be illustrated by sustainable industry financial support.  She has been able to attract extensive national and international long term funding such as the Water Research Commission solicited research projects “An investigation into the link between water quality and microbiological safety of fruit and vegetables from the farming to the processing stages of production and marketing” and “Evaluation of the risks associated with the use of rain water harvested from roof-tops for domestic use and homestead food gardens, and groundwater for domestic use and livestock watering” as well as the 7th EU Framework project “Impact of climate change and globalization on safety of fresh produce – governing a supply chain of uncompromised food sovereignty.  Current projects include the third WRC project

Prof Korsten has also developed one of the first biocontrol products in South Africa in 1992 that was patented, registered and commercialized and is still used in the fruit industry.  An alternative mushroom casing material has also been developed by her team using waste products that has since been licensed for commercial production.