Professor Nicholas Biekpe is a Professor of Development Finance and Econometrics at the University of Cape Town South Africa.  He is also the President of Africagrowth Institute and Executive Chairman of the Chartered Institute of Development Finance.

Professor Biekpe is also the Editor-in-Chief of the Review of Development Finance, The African Finance Journal and the Africagrowth Agenda.  He has published extensively in the area of development finance and mathematical finance.

Professor Biekpe is a member of the Academy of Sciences of South Africa (ASSAf), Fellow of the Royal Statistical Society of United Kingdom (RSS), Chartered Scientist of the Science Council of the United Kingdom (CSci).

Prof Anthony I Okoh holds a BSc (Hons), MSc and PhD degrees in Microbiology, as well as 10 other diplomas and certificates in several aspects of Biotechnology and Molecular Biology from some reputable institutions on the continents of Africa, Asia, Europe and America. His academic career took a start as a graduate fellow in 1990 at the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) in Nigeria, and in 1992 after obtaining his Master degree in Microbiology he was appointed Research Officer in the Biotechnology Unit of the Federal Institute of Industrial Research, Lagos, Nigeria. In 1993, he was appointed Assistant Lecturer at OAU in Nigeria, and rose through the ranks to the post of Senior Lecturer in 2001, and served in numerous committees in the University system including the Appointment and Promotion Committee, as well as President of the University Staff Club in 2002. He resigned from the service of OAU in 2006 having put in 13 years of meritorious service to take up an appointment as Associate Professor of Microbiology at the University of Fort Hare (UFH), South Africa in 2006. In January 2008 he was promoted Full Professor of Microbiology in the same University, and in January 2009 he was appointed Head of the Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, a position he held for 7 years. During this period, and with the support of his colleagues in the department, he turned around the fortune of department (which was at the verge of being rationalized about 10 years earlier) to becoming in 2012 the most productive department in the University. Also, in November 2013, he was appointed Leader of the Water Research Niche Area at UFH for five years, and in April 2015 he was appointed to a first 5 year tenure as Director, SAMRC Microbial Water Quality Monitoring Centre at the University of Fort Hare (a national facility of the South Africa Medical Research Council).He has recently been appointed for a second 5 year term as Director of the Centre (1 April 2020 to 31 March 2025). In 2016, he was appointed for a five-year term as Deputy Dean (Research and Internationalization) of the Faculty of Science and Agriculture at UFH, and Chairperson of the Faculty Research and Higher Degrees Committee. He has therefore garnered extensive experience not only in teaching and research but also in University administration.

Prof Okoh’s research expertise falls within the aegis of Applied and Environmental/Public health Microbiology with particular emphasis on microbial water/wastewater quality and genomics; emerging pathogens and chemical pollutants; biodegradation of pollutants; reservoirs of antibiotic resistance; and bioactive compounds of health and biotechnological importance. He has been involved in various collaborations with eminent academics within and outside South Africa, and have reviewed for over 50 international journals. He has also been a recipient of such fellowships as the Postgraduate Fellowship Award, OAU, Ile – Ife, Nigeria, 1990 – 1992; United Nations University Fellowship (1998); UNESCO Biotechnology Action Council Fellowship (2000), as well as several grants from the NRF, MRC, WRC, ESKOM, RS-DFID and ISRAR/APUA. His publication throughput currently stood at 389 journal articles, one patent, several conference presentations (including distinguished guest lectures) and nucleotide sequences deposited in the GenBank in his academic career of over two decades.

In 2007, Prof Okoh established his research group called Applied and Environmental Microbiology Research Group (AEMREG) in the Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology of the UFH, and the group is currently made up of over 40 research students at the Honours, Master’s and Doctoral levels, as well as 6 Postdocs. He has also successfully supervised to graduation 51 PhD and 66 Master’s degree students, and hosted 13 postdocs. Some of his former students are now full professors holding key executive positions as Deans, Deputy Dean, Directors and HODs in various Universities in South Africa and beyond. In 2008 Prof Okoh won the UFH Vice-Chancellor Emerging Researcher Award, and in 2011 he won the Vice-Chancellor Senior Researcher Award. In 2009, he was invited to represent South Africa in the international collaboration on the Surveillance of Reservoirs of Antibiotic Resistance (ISRAR) under the auspices of the Alliance for the Prudent use of Antibiotics (APUA) with headquarters in the Boston, USA. His lab serves as the South Africa Country laboratory for this collaboration and he double as the South Africa Country Laboratory Manager. In 2011, he was elected President of the prestigious South Africa Society for Microbiology (2011-2013), and he is a member of the South Africa National Committee on IUMS. He was also a panel member for the review of academic programmes at the University of KwaZulu Natal, South Africa.

In 2016, Prof Okoh was part of the South Africa delegation to Oman on the Oman-South Africa bilateral cooperation Workshop on Water & Agri-biotechnology. He also served as a member of the South Africa National Science and Technology Forum (NSTF) discussion forum on Water Management and Skills. In the same year, Prof Okoh was conferred with the Achievers Award of the Biotechnology Society of Nigeria (BSN); inducted as a member of the Board of Trustee of the BSN, and in 2019 made a Fellow of the Society; and admitted as a Fellow of the Water Institute of Southern Africa. In 2017 Prof Okoh was elected member of the Academy of Science of South Africa, and in the same year he was elected Fellow of the prestigious African Academy of Sciences. His current H-index is 50, i10-index is 186 and citations of over 10684 as @ 13 June 2020) (https://scholar.google.co.za/citations?user=84lgrowAAAAJ&hl=en). Prof Okoh also a resource person to Bowen University, Iwo, Nigeria to assist with recruitment of exceptional African academics for the University in 2020.

Prof Okoh is happily married to Prof (Mrs) Omobola O Okoh, a Full Professor of Chemistry at the University of Fort Hare, Alice, South Africa.

Professor Isa Marte Hussaini graduated from Ahmadu Bello University Zaria (BSc degree Pharmacy), Chelsea College, University of London (MSc Pharmacology), King’s College, University of London UK (PhD Pharmacology) and Averett University, Danville, Virginia, USA (MBA).  He was a postdoctoral fellow with the University of Virginia, later a tenured Associate Professor in the Departments of Pathology and Neuroscience from 2001 – 2010 and a member of the Pharmacology, Pathology, Cancer, Neuroscience, and Biotechnology graduate training programmes. Between 1997 and 2010, Professor Hussaini was awarded four independent research grants (R01) totaling 4.6 million US dollars and he trained 4 PhDs and 7 postdoctoral fellows in his laboratory and was a member of 10 other PhD thesis committees. Professor Hussaini participated in teaching and research in the University of Virginia. He was also a regular reviewer of grants for the National Institutes of Health (NIH, Bethesda, MA, USA) and American Cancer Society (Atlanta, GA, USA).

In 2010, he relocated to Nigeria as a Professor of Pharmacology and Dean of Pharmacy at the University of Maiduguri. Under his leadership, the Faculty of Pharmacy was given accreditation by both the Pharmacists Council of Nigeria (PCN) and Nigerian Universities Commission (NUC). Professor Hussaini has established a cancer research laboratory and tissue culture facility investigating the scientific rationale for the folkloric uses of Nigerian Medicinal Plants with funding from the Tertiary Education Trust fund (TETFund) and General TY Danjuma Foundation. He has trained 4 PhD and 5 MSc students in the University of Maiduguri and 15 PhD students at Ahmadu Bello University where he was a visiting Professor (2004-2016).  Professor Hussaini published 110 peer-reviewed papers and 5 book chapters which have been cited over 3,300 times by other researchers with h-index of 33 and 10-index of 59 (Google Scholar). He is a reviewer for several International journals including Neuro-Oncology (Founding Member), Cancer Research, Biological Chemistry, Neuroscience, Pharmacy and Pharmacology among others. He is the Editor-in-Chief of Nigerian Journal of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Sciences. Professor Hussaini is a Fellow of Nigerian Academy of Science (FAS), Nigeria Academy of Pharmacy (FNAPharm) and Pharmaceutical society of Nigeria (FPSN).

Evance Rabban Kalula is Chairperson of the International Labour Organization (ILO) Committee on Freedom of Association (CFA). He is also Emeritus Professor of Law at the University of Cape Town (UCT), as well as Honorary Professor at the University of Rwanda, fellow of the Stellenbosch Institute of Advanced Studies (STIAS) and ad hoc Executive Policy Advisor to the University of Lusaka (UNILUS).

He held various positions at the University of Cape before going into active retirement in 2017, among them as Director of the International Academic Programmes Office (IAPO) and the Confucius Institute. He was a holder of a personal chair as Professor of Employment Law and Social Security.

He holds several degrees in law, including a PhD. He was educated at the University of Zambia School of Law; Kings College, London; Balliol College, Oxford (where he was a Rhodes Scholar) and the University Warwick School of law.

His academic, policy and research interests are in international and comparative labour law, international trade, regional integration and social protection.

He previously served as Chair of the South African Employment Conditions Commission (ECC), member of the ILO Commission of Inquiry on Freedom of Association in Zimbabwe, and Chair of the University of Lusaka Council (UNILUS). He was until recently a member of the Ministerial Advisory Panel of the then South African Department of Economic Development Department (EDD).

Apart from being a fellow of the African Academy of Sciences (AAS), he also serves on its Governance and Nominations Committee (GNC), advisor on Council of the South African Academy of Science (ASSAf) and is a member the Institute of African Alternatives (IAA) Board. He serves on the editorial boards of a number of leading local and international journals, including the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) Press Editorial Board.  He is a past President of the International Labour and Employment Relations Association (ILERA).  

Prof Kwadwo completed his medical education in Ghana, obtaining the MB, ChB from the University of Ghana in 1982.  He obtained his graduate training at the University of Tulane (MPH&TM, 1988) the and London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (PhD, 1993).  He worked as a medical officer at the Bawku Hospital, District Medical Officer of Health, Bawku district, Scientific Officer (epidemiology) MRC Unit, Fajara, The Gambia before joining the faculty of the Noguchi Memorial Institute, University of Ghana, as a Research Fellow in Epidemiology in 1993.  At Noguchi Memorial Institute, he has led large scale field epidemiology studies on the epidemiology and control of malaria, including the immune-epidemiology of malaria, epidemiology of drug-resistant infections and also clinical trials of new interventions.  He was promoted Professor of Epidemiology in 2009 and served as the director of the Institute from 2012 – 2017.  He is also an adjunct lecturer in epidemiology at the School of Public Health, University of Ghana, deputy director of the West African Centre for Cell Biology of Infectious Pathogens (WACCBIP) and a visiting professor of tropical medicine at the Tokyo Medical and Dental University.

Kwadwo has published 147 peer-reviewed scientific papers including 142 journal articles, 5 book chapters, 1 patent and edited two books.  He has been an invited speaker at several conferences, including the Multilateral Initiative on Malaria (MIM), Global Health Security Agenda, Rotterdam (2016) among others. He has served on several boards and committees including WHO ad hoc committees on malaria drug efficacy, chair of the Inter Agency Committee on malaria (National Malaria Control Program), scientific committee of the African Malaria Vaccine Network (AMVTN), currently serves as a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the MRC Unit, Fajara, The Gambia. He is a member of the editorial boards of the Ghana Medical Journal, Tropical Doctor and Malaria Research and Treatment.  He is a member of the Ghana Medical Association, American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene and a fellow of the Ghana College of Physicians and Surgeons (Public Health).

P.N. Okeke synonymus with “Physics”in Nigeria become a household name for every Nigerian high school student taking physics. His love for mathematics started at a young age, where he exceled extremely well unlike other subjects. He resembled Albert Einstein.

Okeke was the first person to receive a PhD degree of the University of Nigeria in 1975. He carried out his Postdoctoral research in the University of Cambridge, United Kingdom in 1979 under the supervision of very distinguished Astronomer Professor M.J. Rees. He rose to the rank of a professor and leader of Space Research Centre University of Nigeria in 1989. He tackled many problems in Astronomy and collaborated with researchers worldwide to become a distinguished international scholar. This led to series of International Awards that include: Visiting Scientist Harvard Smithsonian Centre USA, 1997, Senior Research Fellow National Astronomical Observatory, Tokyo, Japan 1993, Visiting Scientist, University of Tuebingen, Germany 1995; Visiting Professor South African Astronomical Observatory 1996; External Board Member, South African National Science Foundation 1994-2000.

In the course of his dedicated research, he made the following outstanding discoveries: Discovery of a new eclipsing cataclysmic variable; Prediction of observational consequences of mini black hole; Proposed a Nuclear Beam Model in Radio Sources. Contributed immensely in Astrophysical Spectral Research, conducted massive postgraduate training for Nigerian Space Science scholars using facilities at home and abroad.

Prof. P.N. Okeke was the African recipient of the UN/NASA award in 2007 for his tremendous contributions in the development of Astronomy in Africa. Apart from being a fellow at AA, Okeke was also a Fellow of Royal Astronomical Society, Fellow of Nigerian Institute of Physics, Fellow of Planetary and Radio Science, Fellow of IAA, and United Nations Consultant in Space Science in Africa.

Biography as adopted from https://africanews.space/meet-the-father-of-astronomy-in-nigeria-prof-p-n-okeke/

Since 1985, Prof. Buah-Bassuah has served University of Cape Coast  in Ghana by rising to full professor and headed various departments, faculties, directorates and fulfilling National and International assignments. He has delved into lasers and its applications in Physics as  applied to industry, environment, agriculture and biomedicine. He has conducted detail studies into liquid-drop fragmentation in miscible fluids dynamics leading to fractilisation which has relevance to the infusion processes in medicine. He has also formulated and constructed LED/Laser Diode Fluorometer for chlorophyll evaluation, and pre/post-harvest fruit selection. He has also set up an environmental air-pollution monitoring station using  an optical equipment at Tema Oil Refinery, Tema, Ghana for climate monitoring in the region. He has used lasers for industrial applications for alpha track analysis, automatic inspection of roads and Infra Red holographic measurements of surfaces and 3-D objects. He has supervised 25 M.Phil and 10 Ph.D. students with ICTP, TWAS Grants and IPPS Uppsala University projects.

His rich leadership qualities has helped to promote optics and photonics in the African region through the formation of optical related societies to educate the young ones and established Laser Centre in his University. He has served on several National Boards to promote science and technology. He was the expert of Ghana-UNESCO Commission delegation to propose and proclaim the International Year of Light and Light-based Technologies at UNESCO and its subsequent  annual celebration. Presently, he is Chairman, Ethics Review Board of The, University of Cape Coast, Ghana and  Council Member, Council For Scientific and Industrial Research, CSIR , Ghana.

His pioneering role in lasers, Optics and Photonics in the formation of LAMNetwork in Dakar, Senegal, in 1991, set up Ghana-West Africa International Commission of Optics and a founding member of African Laser Centre (ALC) in South Africa, and Optics Within the Life Sciences, OWLS in Africa enabled him to be awarded Fellow of SPIE (USA), Fellow of AAS in 2017 and Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences (GAAS) (2011) and was made an International Council member of Optical Society of America (OSA).The University of Cape Coast at its 50th Anniversary honoured him with prize of innovation and creativity.

He is a reviewer to some UK scientific journals, attended over 105 conferences showing scholarship and has over 80 articles in indexed journals and edited four conference proceedings books. His expertise in laser Physics enabled him to share his experiences in short visits for research collaboration with Cheikh Anta Diop University, Dakar, Senegal, Stellenbosch University, South Africa, National University of Science and Technology, Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, University of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and Non-Linear Optics Institute at Nice ,France. He has been External Examiner to Universities in Ghana and other African Countries.  He is a renowned researcher and distinguished scholar.

Oluwatoyin Temitayo Ogundipe is a Professor of Botany in the Department of Botany, Faculty of Science, University of Lagos. He holds a Ph.D. Botany (Ife) and MBA (Unilag). Professor Ogundipe has attended training at the University of Johannesburg, South Africa, University of Reading, U.K., University of Cambridge, U.K.; University of Johannesburg, S.A.; Harvard University, U.S.A. and Kunming Institute of Botany, China. His area of research includes, but not limited to Molecular Plant Taxonomy/Biosystematics, Forensic Botany, Cytogenetics, Ethnobotany, Paleobotany and Ecological conservation.

He has over one hundred and fifty (150) publications in accredited academic journals and has co-authored eight (8) books. His research output so far has been chiefly in the areas of Molecular Plant Systematics, updating the taxonomy of some plant genera and using the anatomical features in the identification of sterile and fragmentary plant specimens. His publications show that he has been engaged in the recording of the general anatomy of plant species and assembling anatomical features, which may be used along with other features for enhancing taxonomic knowledge of the plant and establishing an identification system for some of these plant species.

He has also been involved in exploration and testing of herbal drugs for their medicinal and antimicrobial properties. Also, some of his publications have shown the use of pollen and spores as sources of honeybees, in control of allergies and in determination of climate change and changes in land cover over the years. 

Furthermore, he has been able to show the genetic diversity and relationships between different plant taxa, as well as assess phylogenetic relationship among plant populations using molecular techniques. He is currently involved in the Molecular Study of Arid Plants, Orchids in Nigeria, Acha plants, allergic studies etc. His Publications have been very relevant in botanical research with 370 citations from 2009 till date. He is a two-time recipient of the Faculty of Science researcher award and many other local and international awards. He has effectively supervised 18 Ph.D. and 45 M.Sc students. 

As a result of his passion for his profession, Professor Ogundipe successfully transformed three empty rooms into fully equipped laboratories. He has attracted research grant from different agencies worth over N187m, $3m and £28,000. Two of his research works in collaboration with other scholars are currently undergoing the process of patenting. 

Professor Ogundipe understands the need for multi- disciplinary collaboration, thus, he has been working with other scholars from different discipline within the University and other institutions locally and internationally. He is a Fellow of the Nigeria Academy of Science; Fellow, Royal Society of Biology, London; Fellow, Leadership for Environment & Development; Fellow, Linnaean Society of London; Fellow, Institute of Security; Fellow Institute of Corporate & Business Affairs Management, Nigeria; and National President, Botanical Society of Nigeria.     

Since joining the University of Lagos in 1990, Professor Ogundipe has held different administrative positions. He was on time Head, Department of Botany where he introduced sweeping reforms at the Department. As Sub-Dean, Faculty of Science he began the computerization of students’ results and also attracted collaboration from multinational corporations. He later became the Dean, School of Postgraduate Studies where he attracted a lot of town-gown relationships and led the computerization of the entire process in the School. He was also the Director Academic Planning Unit and in 2016 was appointed the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academics & Research). Professor Ogundipe is currently the Vice-Chancellor of the University. Since taking over on November 12, 2017, there has been a renaissance in demand driven research in the University and town-gown relationship is being renewed. Similarly, he’s been working assiduously to promote entrepreneurship amongst students of the University.     

n/a

Mary Oyiela Abukutsa-Onyango (born 20 February 1959) is a humanitarian and agricultural scientist from Kenya who specializes in olericulture, agronomy, plant physiology. Abukutsa-Onyango is a professor of horticulture at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology whose work focuses on African indigenous food crops.Abukutsa Onyango has studied how African indigenous vegetables can be used to combat malnutrition in Africa while maintaining a secure form of revenue even during more challenging weather and climate.

She attended Ematsuli Primary School from 1966 to 1972 in Emuhya, Kenya. She later attended Bunyore Girls High School from 1973 to 1976 in Wekhomo, Kenya and Ng’iya Girls High School in 1977 in Ng’iya, Kenya. She obtained a Bachelors of Science in Agriculture in 1983 from the University of Nairobi. She received her Masters of Science in Agriculture in 1988 from the University of Nairobi. Finally, she received her Doctor of Philosophy in Olericulture, Plant Physiology and Nutrition in 1995 from Wye College, University of London.

Abukutsa-Onyango’s interest and appreciation of indigenous African vegetables was sparked by an allergy to animal proteins she had as a child. This led her to pursue a career in agriculture as she wanted to unravel the potential hidden in African indigenous vegetables. She has been involved in research of African indigenous vegetables since 1990 on an academic level and a practical level with farmers. She surveyed Kenya’s indigenous plants to investigate the viability of seeds used by farmers. Her research has changed and she focuses on the nutritional properties of vegetables. Her research has shown that amaranth greens, spider plant, and African nightshade contain substantial amounts of protein and iron and are rich in calcium, folate, and vitamins A,C, and E. The cooking of these vegetables as studied by Abukutsa-Onyango could help combat malnutrition in Africa as they provide necessary nutrients and proteins to those who cannot afford meat.

Abukutsa-Onyango is a member of the African Women in Agricultural Research and Development (AWARD) team, a program created to increase the skilled women demographic supporting Africa’s women farmers. With this profile, Abukutsa-Onyango has been able to influence Kenya’s policy-makers. For example, the Health Ministry has advised hospitals to use African indigenous vegetables in HIV patients’ diets.

Abukutsa-Onyango has published over 20 peer-reviewed scientific articles and now teaches as a professor of horticulture at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology in Juja, Kenya.

Yacob Mulugetta is a Professor of Energy and Development Policy at the University College London; and held an academic post at the Centre for Environmental Strategy, University of Surrey, UK.  He is a founding member of the African Climate Policy Centre (ACPC) at the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) based in Ethiopia where he worked as Senior Climate & Energy Specialist (2010-2013).  

He has 25 years of research, teaching and advisory experience specialising on the links between energy infrastructure provision and human welfare. His research is focused on three interconnected areas: energy systems and development; energy systems and climate change; and political economy of low carbon development.

He served as a Coordinating Lead Author of the Energy Systems chapter of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 5th Assessment Report (Working Group III on Mitigation), a member of the core writing team for the IPCC synthesis report, Steering Committee member of UNEP’s Emissions Gap Reports (2015-2017), and lead author in the upcoming IPCC Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5oC.  More recently, he served in the drafting team of the African Renewable Energy Initiative (AREI), and continues to provide technical support for the initiative. Yacob Mulugetta is a Fellow of The African Academy of Sciences (The AAS).

In the course of his research career, Jonah has conducted several training projects during four years involving both national and international students when he was the PI of the Earthwath project entitled: “Lemurs and Forests of Madagascar”.  He has published over 170 research papers, review articles and book chapters and he sits on the Editorial Boards of 13 international journals. He has trained 20 PhD and 45 MSc students. 

In August 2013, he organized the 5th International Congress of Prosimians at Centre Valbio Ranomafana, Madagascar.  With our team, he discovered two lemur new species during the last decade. Jonah has contributed to more than 10 documentary films on the Madagascar biodiversity by CNN, BBC etc. He represented Madagascar at the NAP Expo 2016 of the United Nation on Climate change in Bonn, Germany. Starting in October 2014, with GERP, he has organized the World Lemur Festival every year.

Recognitions: membership in national and other academies, Prizes, Awards, etc.

Jonah is a scientific member of:  

-  IUCN - SSC Primate Specialist Madagascar

-  International Journal of Primatology

-  International Society of Primatologists

- Malagasy Academia

Awards and Prizes:

• Rockefeller Foundation 1998, USA
• The Galante Award 2002 of the International Primatological Society
• Disney’s Hero Conservation Award 2015, USA

Professor Mensa-Wilmot one of the world’s experts on the molecular, cell, and chemical biology of Trypanosoma brucei, a parasite the causes human African trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness). He is Head of the Department of Cellular Biology at the University of Georgia (Athens, Georgia, USA) (http://cellbio.uga.edu/directory/faculty/kojo-mensa-wilmot ), where he also leads the Chemical Biology Group (https://cbg.uga.edu ). He chairs the Southeastern Chemical Biology Symposium (https://cbg.uga.edu/chemical-biology-symposium/ ). At the National Institutes of Health (USA), he is a charter member of the Drug Discovery and Resistance Study Section (National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases), and a member of the Board of Scientific Counselors for the National Institute of Child Health and Development (NICHD).

Recognized as a Burroughs Wellcome New Investigator in Molecular Parasitology early in his career at the University of Georgia, Kojo continues to make significant contributions to the molecular biology of Trypanosoma brucei (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=mensa-wilmot+k+%5BAU%5D ). Further, his laboratory has discovered several compounds that are being developed into lead drugs for the treatment of human African trypanosomiasis (https://news.uga.edu/hat-drug-kojo-mensa-wilmot/ ). The molecular mechanisms of these drugs against trypanosomes are being explored in Kojo’s laboratory with grants from the National Institutes of Health (USA) (https://news.uga.edu/nih-awards-uga-researchers-26-million-to-fight-african-sleeping-sickne/ ).

Kojo received a BSc (HONS) from the University of Ghana (Legon). For his doctoral work, he worked on mechanisms of DNA replication with Professor Roger McMacken (Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health).  Kojo was a Rockefeller Foundation postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Professor Paul Englund (Johns Hopkins School of Medicine) where he studied molecular biology of the African trypanosome.

Professor Khaled M. Elleithy is the Associate Vice President for Graduate Studies and Research at the University of Bridgeport, Connecticut, USA. He is a professor of Computer Science and Engineering. His research interests include wireless sensor networks, mobile communications, network security, and quantum computing. He has published more than four hundred papers in national / international journals and conferences in his areas of expertise. Dr. Elleithy is the editor or co-editor for 12 books published by Springer.

Professor Elleithy received the B.Sc. degree in Computer Science and Automatic Control from Alexandria University in 1983, the MS Degree in Computer Networks from the same university in 1986, and the MS and Ph.D. degrees in Computer Science from The Center for Advanced Computer Studies at the University of Louisiana - Lafayette in 1988 and 1990.

Professor Elleithy is the recipient of the "Distinguished Professor of the Year", University of Bridgeport, academic year 2006 - 2007. He is the recipient of the 2015 Connecticut Quality Improvement Award (CQIA) Gold Innovation Prize. He supervised hundreds of senior projects, MS theses, and Ph.D. dissertations. He developed and introduced many new undergraduate/graduate courses and new teaching / research laboratories in his area of expertise. His students have won more than thirty prestigious national / international awards from IEEE, ACM, and ASEE.

Professor Elleithy is a member of the technical program committees of many national / international conferences. He served as a guest editor for several international journals. He was the chairperson of the International Conference on Industrial Electronics, Technology & Automation. Furthermore, he is the co-Chair and co-founder of the Annual International Joint Conferences on Computer, Information, and Systems Sciences, and Engineering virtual conferences 2005 - 2014.

Not Found.
The content your are looking for is currently unavailable.

Banasiak is a professor at Department of Mathematics and Applied Mathematics University of Pretoria. His research focuses on functional analytic methods in kinetic theory and mathematical biology, singular perturbations, general applied analysis and partial differential equations and evolution problems. He is the Editor-in-Chief of Afrika Matematika (Springer), Associate Editor of Questiones Mathematicae (Taylor & Francis) and also a member of Editorial Boards of, among others,  Mathematical Methods for the Applied Sciences (Wiley), Evolution Equations an Control Theory (AIMS) and Differential Equations and Dynamical Systems (Springer).

Banasiak has authored/co-authored 5 monographs and over 100 papers in these fields.

Banasiak is also an extraordinary professor at the Technical University of Łódź and a visiting professor at the Strathclyde University

N/A

Daniel Olago is Associate Professor at the Institute for Climate Change and Adaptation, and the Department of Geology, University of Nairobi. His current research interests focus on the interactions of groundwater, surface water, climate, environment and human linkages with a special focus on eastern Africa. He has been involved in capacity strengthening in local, regional and international contexts for a diverse range of stakeholders, from grassroots, through management to policy-making groups and government agencies. Daniel is Chairman, Network of African Science Academies (NASAC) Water Programme Steering Committee; Member, International Lake Environment Committee (ILEC); Fellow of the African Academy of Sciences; Fellow of the Geological Society of Kenya; Member, Kenya National Academy of Sciences. He is presently running projects that centre around (ground)water security in relation to climate change, sustainable cities, and development corridor programmes, as well as on the palaeoclimatology of the East African region.

Professor Akintayo Adedoyin obtained his BSc in Physics from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria, in 1974; and a PhD, specialising in Meteorology, from the same university in 1983 He started his working career as a Computer Programmer with the then Shell/BP Petroleum Development Corporation of Nigeria. He started his teaching career at the University of Ibadan and had a stint as an Honorary Lecturer at the University of Reading, U.K. He joined the staff of the University of Botswana, Botswana, in 1992. He currently coordinates the Physics-with-Meteorology degree programme of the University.

Professionally, he has had a distinguished career being one of the few Africans, working in Africa, who have studied troposheric dynamics over tropical Africa.  In recognition of his contributions, the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics, Trieste, Italy, appointed him one of their Senior Associates in 1999. His PhD dissertation was one of the pioneering efforts at modelling the dynamics of tropical mesoscale systems. He is a Fellow of the U.K. Royal Meteorological Society and has also been recognized as a Senior Fellow of the C. V. Raman International Fellowship for African Researchers.

He has served as a Lead Author, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special Report on Renewable Energy Sources and Climate Change Mitigation (SRREN) and Lead Author for IPCC Working Group 1 on Assessment Report 5.

Adedoyin served as the General Secretary (1988-2010) of the Society of African Physicists and Mathematicians (SAPAM) until the society transformed to the African Physical Society in January 2010. SAPAM is one of the first few physical societies to be granted Observer Status by the then Organisation of African Unity (now African Union). He was cited in 1998 by the Edward Bouchet-Abdus Salam Institute (EBASI) for distinguished service.

David Mba is the Pro Vice-Chancellor Research and Enterprise at De Montfort University, Leicester, UK. As a member of the university’s leadership team, he is responsible for developing and overseeing the strategic agenda on research and enterprise across the institution. He had previously held various leadership roles, including Dean of Engineering, London Southbank University, and Associate Dean, Faculty of Aerospace and Engineering, Cranfield University, UK.

David studied Aerospace Engineering (1st class honours) at the University of Hertfordshire and completed a PhD in Mechanical Engineering at Cranfield University, for which he was awarded the Lord King Norton Gold medal for the most outstanding doctoral thesis. He joined Cranfield University in 2001 as a Lecturer and was promoted to a personal Chair in 2010.

David’s current research is focused on machine condition monitoring, machine fault diagnosis, model-based prognostics and machine performance prediction. In 2010, he was awarded the Ludwig Mond prize in recognition of the best contribution to the progress of Mechanical engineering of interest to the chemical industry (UK). Professor Mba’s research has been funded via numerous commercial, EU and EPSRC projects; he has published over 300 journal and conference papers.

Professor Mba is passionate about education within Africa/Nigeria and has published numerous opinion articles in national media.

Sir Professor Alimuddin Zumla is Professor of Infectious Diseases and International Health at University College London. He serves as visiting Professor at several institutions in Africa, Europe and the Middle East. ‘Sir Zumla’ is globally renowned for his exceptional, health policy-relevant priority research, capacity development, advocacy and charitable contributions to tackling WHO Blueprint priority pathogens, particularly Tuberculosis and respiratory tract infectious diseases with epidemic potential. He is also distinguished for his pioneering global leadership since 1990 of ‘equitable north-south research partnerships’ (Web: https://www.unza-uclms.org/) aligned closely with high quality capacity development and training for empowering younger generation and senior African faculty to take leadership of global health  issues so that the future of African science is secured. Sir Zumla has been a pioneer of promoting equitable Africa-Europe partnerships and in facilitating the clinical development and evaluation of diagnostics and therapeutic products and interventions for poverty-related diseases (PRDs). Si Zumla is known for  leadership of international networking of researchers, policy makers, funders and donors for PRDs. This culminated in his pioneering innovation and leadership of the Pan-Africa Network for Rapid research, Response and Preparedness for Infectious Diseases Epidemics (PANDORA-ID-NET-  https://www.pandora-id.net/  strongly  supporting  leadership by a high profile African female scientist in the Congo.

Born in Chipata, Zambia, Sir Zumla graduated in medicine from the University of Zambia and has had a star-studded career. As a BEIT scholar he obtained his MSc degree in Tropical Medicine (with distinction and the Mugratroyd Prize) and his PhD (Woodruff Medal) at the London School of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.  After spending four years at UK's premiere institute, the Hammersmith Hospital, Royal Postgraduate Medical School, and obtaining specialist clinical accreditation in infectious diseases, he subsequently spent two years as Associate Professor at the University of Texas School of Public Health, Houston, USA. Throughout his career he has focused on supporting Africa research and training. In 1994, Sir Zumla was appointed Director of the Centre for Infectious Diseases and International Health at University College London) with significant globally recognized impact.

Sir Zumla has received over 25 prestigious awards, prizes and medals( http://www.unza-uclms.org/prof-zumla-awards-honours) including: the WHO STOP TB Partnership Kochon Prize and Medal(2012); the  Times Higher Education Award(2013); the Order of the Grand Commander of Distinguished Services from the President of Zambia(2014); the Albert Chalmers Medal(2000) and the Donald Mackay Medal(2014) from the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene; a 'Doctorate honoris causa' from Karolinska Institute, Sweden, for ‘exceptional contributions to science, healthcare & humanity at large’(2016); The Union Medal (2018) from the International Union Against TB and Lung Diseases. In 2017 he received a Knighthood (Knight Bachelor) from Her Majesty The Queen for exceptional Services to Public Health and Infectious Diseases. In 2020 he received the Mahathir Science Award, the most prestigious international award  for Tropical Sciences. 

TITO FERNANDES, Mozambican/Portuguese born Maputo 1948, DVM (Lisbon), MSc (1972 Nutrition), PhD (1975 Agricultural Biochemistry) (Newcastle upon Tyne, UK), DSc (1983 Biotechnology), 6 titles Doctor Honoris Causa (Cluj Napoca, Bucaresti, Timisoara, Stara Zagora, Ljubjana, Skopje). Full Professor, 1985, U. Lisbon. Fellow of African Academy of Sciences, Academia de Ciências de Moçambique, Real Academia de Doctores de España, Academia das Ciências de Lisboa, Portugal. Honorary Fellow of Sociedade Brasileira de Medicina Veterinária (Brazil).

12 years Dean of Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of Lisbon University. Founder of EAEVE- European Association of Establishments for Veterinary Education, and Pre3sident for 6 years (3 mandates), Wien, Austria (97 Universities from 35 countries), and still Honorary President for Life. Evaluated and accredited over 100 Universities all over the world. President of Professional Veterinary Medicine College of Portugal.

Official Advisor and Evaluator for the European Commission General Directorates and Programs (DG R&D, Agriculture, Education, SANCO-Health and Consumer; Tempus, Alpha). For 15 years officially elected member of SCAN/EU (Food Safety) in Brussels and 3 years in the Scientific Committee of EFSA (European Food Safety Authority) in Parma, Italy. Nominated by the EC to collaborate in the design of R&D Political Agenda (“5th, 6th and 7th Framework Programs). Member of the Project “Tuning for Educational Structures” source of the Bologna Process (Higher Education). Founder member of TEEP/ ENQA- “European Network on Quality Assurance”, presently ENQA - the European Agency for Quality Assurance and Control in Europe.

Published over 230 papers and 21 books. Editor or from the Editorial Board of several Scientific Journals.

Back in Mozambique in 2005 as Full Invited Professor at Eduardo Mondlane University, and from 2007 as Research Director and Advisor to the Vice Chancellor at Lúrio University, Nampula, Mozambique. Member of CNAQ – National Council for Quality Evaluation of Ministry of Science & Technology. Member of Regional Committee for Africa (Pretoria) of ROA-ICSU (International Science Council). Advisor to the Minister at the Ministry of Education and Human Development (2015-2016).

Rose Gana Fomban Leke is Professor of Immunology and Parasitology, a Fellow of the Cameroon Academy of Sciences.  Until March 2013 she was Head of Department at the Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Yaounde 1, and Director of the Biotechnology Centre. She serves as Chair of the Board of Directors of the National Medical Research Institute, IMPM, serves as Vice President of the Scientific Committee of Cameroon First Lady’s Research Centre (CIRCB).  She was the 2014 Aggrey-Fraser-Guggisberg Memorial Lecturer, University of Ghana, and was awarded the Doctor Honoris Causa. Crowned QUEEN MOTHER OF THE CAMEROON MEDICAL COMMUNITY in 2018.

She was one of six women awarded the 2011 African Union Kwame Nkrumah Scientific Award for Women, received the 2012 award for Excellence in Science from The Cameroon Professional Society (CPS), was elected International Honorary Fellow of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, ASTMH, in 2015

She is Executive Director of the Cameroon Coalition against malaria, and   Chair of the Multilateral Initiative in Malaria (MIM) Secretariat.

She has served and still serves as a consultant on many committees. For the World Health Organization (WHO) some of these are: Malaria Policy and Advisory Committee (MPAC), Chair of the African Regional Commission for the Certification of the Eradication of Poliomyelitis (ARCC), member of the Global Certification Commission (GCC), member of the WHO Emergency Committee for Polio Eradication. Was a member and Chair of the African Advisory Committee for Health Research (ACHR, WHO/AFRO), a member of the Global ACHR. Member of the WHO Emergency Advisory Committee for COVID 119

She served as Vice-Chair of the Technical Evaluation Reference group (TERG) of the Global Fund, was a member of the Scientific Advisory Group (SAG) for Ebola vaccine trials in Guinea.

Her research interest is in the immunology of parasitic infections, particularly Malaria. She has a keen interest in Global Health issues, and the mentoring of Young Female Scientists, as Founder of the HIGHER WOMEN CONSORTIUM CAMEROUN. 

Thumbi Ndung’u is the Deputy Director (Science) and a Max Planck Research Group Leader at the Africa Health Research Institute (AHRI) in Durban, South Africa. He is Professor, the Victor Daitz Chair in HIV/TB Research and Scientific Director of the HIV Pathogenesis Programme at the Nelson R. Mandela School of Medicine, University of KwaZulu-Natal. He holds the South African Research Chair in Systems Biology of HIV/AIDS. He is Professor of Infectious Diseases at University College London. He is Adjunct Professor of Immunology and Infectious Diseases at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. He is the Programme Director of the Sub-Saharan African Network for TB/HIV Research Excellence (SANTHE), a research and capacity building initiative funded by the African Academy of Sciences and the Wellcome Trust. He graduated with a Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine degree from the University of Nairobi, Kenya, and obtained a PhD in Biological Sciences in Public Health from Harvard University, United States. He was a Postdoctoral Fellow in Virology at Harvard Medical School. He is a member of the Academy of Science of South Africa.

His research interests are host-pathogen interactions, particularly immune mechanisms of HIV and TB control. He has co-authored more than 200 manuscripts in peer-reviewed journals. He has received grant funding from the South African National Research Foundation, the US National Institutes of Health, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the Max Planck Society, and the Wellcome Trust among others. He is leading a multidisciplinary team of researchers working in the fields of HIV and TB immunopathogenesis, vaccine development and immune-based HIV functional cure strategies. He has special interest in capacity building for biomedical research in Afric

Faith is a 2018 TED Fellow. She has won multiple international prizes for her research in understanding the mechanisms of immunity against Plasmodium falciparum in man.  She aims to translate this knowledge into highly effective vaccines against malaria. She is Visiting Professor of Malaria Immunology in the Nuffield Dept of Medicine, Oxford University, and holds the prestigious Sofja Kovalevskaja Award from the Alexander Humboldt Foundation as well as an EDCTP Senior Fellowship. In 2014, she won the Royal Society Pfizer Prize, UK. She holds major research grants from the Wellcome Trust and is an MRC/DfID African Research Leader. Faith trained as a clinician at the University of Nairobi, Kenya and obtained her MBChB degree in 1996. She immediately took up her Medical Internship at Coast General Provincial Hospital, in Kenya where she also worked as a Medical Officer in the department of Medicine until March 1998. Thereafter she took up a post as a Medical Officer/Research Officer at KEMRI-Kilifi, working in the Paediatrics Department of Kilifi District Hospital. It was here that she began to develop a career in research, engaging in clinical research studies and actively taking part in institutional academic meetings including weekly journal clubs and seminars. She subsequently specialized in Paediatrics, training both in Kenya and the United Kingdom, becoming a member of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health UK in 2003 and a Consultant Paediatrician in Kenya in 2009. In 2004 she undertook a Masters in Human Immunity at the University of Liverpool, UK where she graduated with distinction, and was awarded a prize for being the best student of the year in the Department of Immunology. She has a PhD from the Open University, UK  and in 2014 she was awarded the Young African Scientist Award by EVIMalaR, won the Merle A Sande Health Leadership Award.   

Abdoulaye Djimde received a PharmD degree from Ecole Nationale de Medecine et de Pharmacie of Bamako, Mali in 1988, a PhD in Microbiology and Immunology from University of Maryland, Baltimore, Maryland, USA in 2001 and is a Professor of Parasitology-Mycology. He is currently Head of the Molecular Epidemiology and Drug Resistance Unit of the Malaria Research and Training Center, University of Science, Techniques and Technologies of Bamako, Mali. The primary goal of his research is to understand how the malaria parasite becomes resistant to antimalarial drugs and how that resistance spreads over time and space. With his team and collaborators he conduct field and laboratory based analyses to explore how genetic events in the malaria parasite, the human host and the mosquito vector’s genomes relate to treatment outcome and the spread of drug resistance.

In addition to his own research, he was instrumental in the formation of the Worldwide Antimalarial Drug Resistance Network and served on its Scientific Advisory Board for several years. He was appointed as Chair of the Multilateral Initiative on Malaria Task Force within WHO-TDR. In 2009, he was appointed as one of two International Fellows at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute. He currently serves as coordinator of the West African Network for Clinical Trials of Antimalarial Drugs (WANECAM) and Leader of the Plasmodium Diversity Network-Africa (PDNA).  He is the Founding President of the African Association for research and control of AntiMicrobial Resistance (AAAMR, www.africaamr.org )

He has co-authored over 135 peer reviewed scientific publications (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=Djimde+a.%2C).  

Mbacham F. Wilfred is a Titular Prof of Public Health Biotechnology.  He obtained a Doctorat de Specialité in Molecular Parasitology from the University of Yaoundé I (1989) and a Doctor of Science Degree in Tropical Public Health from Harvard (1997). He researches on host and pathogen genomic and the interaction between Communicable and Non Communicable diseases.   He is investigating a number of co-morbidities with inflammation as a unifying theme on these diseases – Diabetes/Malaria, Diabetes/TB among others.  He has served in leadership positions in many national and international programs.  He is the Executive Director of the Multilateral Initiative on Malaria that promotes fundamental research on Malaria but also organises  a 2000-person capacity  conference every 4 years.  For 10 years, he also coordinated the APALP (Assises Pan Africaines de Lutte contre le Paludisme) that brought together 35 National Malaria Control Program Managers from Anglophone, Lusophone and Francophone Africa, to discuss and exchange strategies for success in rolling out various anti-malarial interventions.   

He has developed philosophical approach to Professionalizing Planning Actions in Science & Technology Education & University-based Research (Pro-P.A.S.T.E.U.R.) that integrates platforms /technopoles for bioscience, hard core sciences and research-uptake.   He is the current coordinator of the graduate program unit in Life Sciences and the Biology of organisms at the University of Yaoundé I. He is immediate past chair of the Department of Biochemistry, Physiology and Pharmacology at the Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences (2014-2017). His is a co-grantee of the DELTAS program of the AESA-African Academy of Science program MARCAD (the Malaria Research Capacity Development Consortium for West and Central Africa). He serves on that as the Pi- for Cameroon and the coordinator for Training for the entire consortium.  He was elected chair of the Program Management Committee of the International Atomic Energy Agency-AFRA program of 41 African member states (2015- 2021).  He has supervised more than 74 Masters and 8 MD level students, 17 PhD and more under training.  He has more than 158 publications including book chapters, books, manuals and scientific articles in peered reviewed journals.  He is a fellow of the Cameroon Academy of Sciences and of the African Academy of Sciences.  

Iqbal Parker is founding director of the ICGEB, Cape Town Component; member, exec. committee, IUBMB; founder sec. gen. of FASBMB; vice President of Acad. Science of SA. He obtained his PhD from UCT in 1979. He and his team have identified a novel transcription factor responsible for transcriptional modulation of collagen gene expression and identified several genetic polymorphisms that are important in gene-environment interaction in the aetiology of oesophageal cancer. His awards include: DST/NRF research chair in cancer biology, an MRC funded Oesophageal Cancer Research Group; Outstanding Scientist Award by the Natl. Science and Technology Forum; Gold Medal from the South African Soc. for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Oettle Memorial Medal from the Cancer Association of SA. He is founding member of ASSAf and member of Islamic World Academy of Sciences.

Ghirmai Negash is a professor of English & Postcolonial Literatures and the Director of the African Studies Program at Ohio University. He is also the current President of the African Literature Association.

He is the founding-editor of the Modern African Writing Series, Ohio University Press; former founding-chair of the Department of Eritrean Languages and Literature, Asmara University; former President of PEN-Eritrea in exile; and past convener of the African Literature Association (ALA 2011). He was also a member of the ALA Executive Council; member of the Faculty Senate, and Vice-chair and Undergraduate Director of the Department of English, Ohio University.

Negash received his PhD from the University of Leiden in 1999. His research and teaching interests include postcolonial African and world literatures, critical theory, orature, and translation. His main writings focus on the literatures and cultures of the Horn of Africa and South Africa. A multilingual writer speaking several African and European languages, he publishes in English and his native language, Tigrinya.

He is the recipient of several awards including,  STIAS and NEH,  and the author and translator of several books of criticism, fiction, and poetry, including: A History of Tigrinya Literature in Eritrea: the Oral and the Written 1890-1991 (CNWS-University of Leiden, 1999); The Freedom of the Writer (Africa World Press, 2016); Who Needs a Story? (co-editor and translator with C. Cantalupo; Hidri and Africa Books Collective, 2016); At the Crossroads: Readings of the Postcolonial and the Global in African Literature and Visual Art, Lead Ed., (Africa World Press, 2014), and a translation of Gebreyesus Hailu’s novel The Conscript from Tigrinya into English (Ohio University Press, 2012). Originally written in 1927 and published in 1950, this stunning novel provides readers with an African literary response to Italian colonialism in Eritrea and Libya. Negash’s translation of the novel has been critically acclaimed for its elegance and for opening new theoretical space for the study of African-language literatures and their significance in and contribution to world literature.

He presently advises a number of incoming and graduate students and serves on many M.A. theses and PhD dissertation committees in the African Studies Program, the Department of English, and the Department of Interdisciplinary Arts.

n/a

He a Professor of Chemistry at the University of Nairobi, Kenya. He has an extensive experience in teaching of Organic Chemistry and conducting research in the field of Natural Products Chemistry. For the last thirty years, he has been involved in the investigation of Eastern African plants for bioactive natural products. This has resulted in the publication of 90 articles in peer reviewed journals (h-index of 32, Citations 2692 in Google Scholar, as of July 03, 2020). He has also co-authored three books on medicinal plants of East Africa; served as reviewer to several international journals and examined some 30 PhD and MSc theses in Africa. In 2015, He is serving as a subject editor of the journal Phytochemistry Letters, which is the official organ of the Phytochemical society of Europe. He is an Editorial Board member of the Journal of Natural Products and Journal of Ethnopharmacology as of January 2018. In terms of mentorship, he has-supervised sixteen PhD and thirty-five MSc students. He has served as the Program Officer (2006-2009), and later as the Assistant Secretary (2009-2013) of a regional organization called, the Natural Product Research Network for Eastern and Central Africa (NAPRECA). As one of the leaders of this network, he has been involved in organizing a number of symposia and workshops, and also coordinated postgraduate scholarships, which has promoted collaborative research in the region. In recognition of this he was elected as a Fellow of the African Academy of Science as of February 2017.

Desta Mebratu is an Extraordinary Professor at Centre for Complex Systems in Transition (CST), Stellenbosch University and teaches at Addis Abeba University Institute of Technology as a Visiting Professor. He is a chemical engineer by background and has a PhD of engineering in Industrial Environmental Economics from Lund University and an MBA in International Business from American University of London. He has more than 31 years of experience working for industries, universities and international organizations. He worked for United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) for more than 13 years holding various positions. This includes serving as Head of UNEP Business and Industry Program and Deputy Regional Director for Africa. His main areas of expertise are: resource efficient and cleaner production, sustainable energy systems, sustainable industrial development policies, Green Economy and sustainability science. Professor Mebratu has widely published in peer-reviewed journals and co-edited the ‘Handbook on Sustainable Development Policy and Administration’ and the book on ‘Transformative Infrastructure for development of a Wellbeing Economy in Africa’. Professor Mebratu is a Fellow of the African Academy of Sciences (FAAS) since 2016 and other Institutes of Advanced Studies.

Nigel C Bennett is a professor of zoology at the University of Pretoria (UP) and also occupies the Department of Science and Technology/National Research Foundation (NRF) Research Chair in the field of Mammalian Behavioural Ecology and Physiology and the UP Austin Roberts Chair of African Mammalogy. Bennett’s research focus is ecology, animal physiology and behaviour using the African mole-rat as his model animal.  He and his co-workers have investigated the ecological and physiological factors that affect the control of reproduction and the evolution of sociality. Unlike other researchers investigating cooperative breeding in mammals, he has done so from a variety of perspectives. The strength of this multi-faceted approach is that it has led to an integrated understanding of reproductive suppression in mole-rats of a type that has not been achieved for any other taxa. His research has set the benchmark for our understanding of phylogenetic and ecological constraints regulating reproductive success and social evolution in mammalian species. His research record ranks him among the best researchers studying social regulation of reproduction in any group of mammals in the world. Bennett obtained his BSc Hons. in 1983 from the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom (UK). After completing his PhD at the University of Cape Town (UCT) in 1988 he was employed as a junior lecturer and senior researcher in zoology at the institution until 1995 when he was appointed as a senior lecturer in the department of zoology and entomology at the UP. He was promoted to full professor in 2001.  Bennett holds an A rating by the National Research Foundation. Bennett has published 399 papers in international peer-reviewed scientific journals, co-authored a specialist book published by Cambridge University Press and has penned fourteen chapters in books. Bennett is the world leader in African mole-rat biology and in particular reproductive physiology.