Amelia Fiske is a Senior Researcher at the Institute for the History and Ethics of Medicine at the Technical University of Munich, Germany. She is trained as a cultural anthropologist and has been working in interdisciplinary bioethics settings since 2017. Her work is situated at the intersection of cultural anthropology, science and technology studies, graphic art, and bioethics.

Ângela Gonçalves originally trained in Computer Science at the University of Coimbra in Portugal, where she focused on the development of biologically inspired artificial intelligence algorithms. Following a research stay at the European Space Agency, she was awarded a fellowship to pursue a PhD in Computational Molecular Biology at the European Bioinformatics Institute, earning her doctorate from the University of Cambridge in 2012. During her PhD, she investigated the evolution of gene expression regulation during mammalian speciation and developed some of the earliest computational methods for RNA sequencing analysis.

She went on to conduct postdoctoral research in population genomics at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute. In 2017, she received a pump-priming grant from the Cambridge Cancer Centre Early Detection Programme, initiating work on the use of menstrual fluid as a model system for tracking somatic mutations in normal tissues over time.

Since 2018, Ângela has led a joint wet- and dry-lab research group at the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) in Heidelberg. Her research focuses on modeling healthy aging and the evolution of somatic mutant clones in normal and pre-malignant tissues, with the goal of developing methods for cancer prevention and early detection. Since 2022, she has also served as co-lead of the Digital Cancer Prevention group at the National Cancer Prevention Center. Since 2024 she is full Professor at Heidelberg University.

Maribel is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Cologne investigating molecular mechanisms of plant immunity and their intersection with metabolism. Her work focuses on discovering new metabolites that shape plant–microbe interactions in health and disease. Trained as a biochemist during her PhD at the University of Oxford, she enjoys working at the complex interface of plant genetics, biochemistry, and biophysics. Passionate about widening access to higher education, Maribel mentors young female talents as a convenor of the Female Scholars Network Cologne and is an enthusiastic science communicator and speaker.

Dr. Marwa Shumo a.k.a The Lady of the Flies is a Falling Walls Labs Finalist (2016) and a Young Scientist of the “Council for the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings” (2020,2021 and 2023). The Lady of the Flies gained a B.Sc. in Biotechnology (University of Nizwa, Oman), an MSc. in Environmental Sciences (University of Cologne, Germany) and a PhD in Agricultural Sciences (University of Bonn, Germany) and an International Doctorate in Development Studies (Center for Development Research/ZEF, Germany). She is an expert on organic waste recycling, use of insects for food and feed and bioeconomy and has held various roles both in the industry and academia.

Sawsan Abdul-Jalil is a PhD candidate in Agricultural Economics and Governance at Humboldt University in Berlin. She holds a Master’s degree in International and Development Economics from HTW Berlin and a Bachelor’s degree in Economics and Economic Development from the University of Khartoum. Alongside her doctoral studies, she is on leave from her position as a Lecturer in the Department of Economics at the University of Khartoum.

Her research focuses on development economics, agricultural and environmental economics, and public policy analysis, with a particular interest in economy-wide modelling of ecosystem restoration and its economic and distributional impacts. She employs quantitative economic modelling and policy evaluation tools to assess sustainable development strategies in fragile and low-income contexts.

Sawsan has extensive experience working with international and multilateral organizations, including the World Bank Group, the International Labour Organization (ILO), the Overseas Development Institute (ODI), and Sudan’s Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning. Her work spans public finance management, labor market analysis, education finance, and socioeconomic policy reform. She has presented her research at conferences internationally.

In addition to her academic and policy work, Sawsan is committed to advancing gender equality in economics. She is the founder of the Sudan Women Economist Association and actively works to support and mentor women in the field.

Selin Akpinar Adscheid is a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Pharmacology, Toxicology and Clinical Pharmacy at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz. Her EU-funded training includes a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Industrial PhD and an Erasmus Mundus Master’s in Nanomedicine for Drug Delivery; she also holds a BSc in Chemistry from METU, Türkiye. Trained across ten institutions in seven countries, she has academic and industrial expertise in drug delivery, scalable nanoparticle production, and neurodegeneration. She also serves as national co-director of Activator at Nucleate Germany, where she volunteers to support researchers and founders in building impactful biotech startups.