Dr. Simone Badal McCreath currently manages the Biochemistry lab at the Natural Products Institute at the University of the West Indies (UWI) in Jamaica and is overseeing and designing a new cell culture lab at the same Institute. McCreath is an accomplished early career researcher who has been investigating the cancer-fighting properties of Jamaican natural compounds. She will be launching a new Masters degree in Natural Therapeutics at her institute in 2014. She has received numerous awards and has published extensively. McCreath received her BSc, MPhil and PhD from UWI and also undertook an MBA at the University of Wales in Cardiff, UK.

Dr. Dauqan is currently Head of the Medical Laboratory Sciences Department at Al-Saeed University in Taizz, Yemen, where her research focuses on the antioxidant properties of vegetable oils. Dr. Dauqan’s interests are in biochemistry and biotechnology and she has conducted specialist research in sensory evaluation and organic chemistry. She received her PhD from the National University of Malaysia (UKM). Dr Dauqan is a dedicated teacher and an active member of the OWSD chapter in Yemen.

Dr. Prasai Joshi’s work is dedicated to creating more environmentally friendly and economic techniques for water treatment, through the development of novel metal oxide adsorbents that can remove harmful organic and inorganic arsenic compounds efficiently from water. Her work has had a significant impact on public awareness and accountability of drinking
water suppliers in Kathmandu. Organic arsenic-based compounds are extensively used as feed additives in poultry farming, and upon entering the environment, these compounds tend to
transform into more toxic inorganic arsenic through microbial activity, which can spread to surface and ground water sources and cause serious harm to human health. Dr. Prasai Joshi has made significant contributions to understanding the interactions of the organic arsenic compounds with iron- and manganese-based adsorbents in order to optimize the adsorbents’ efficiency and prevent the arsenic compounds from reaching the environment. She has a registered patent in China for her novel method of treating organic arsenic-containing wastewater.

Dr. Prasai Joshi was born in Nepal. She received her PhD in Environmental Engineering in 2017 from the University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, for which she was awarded a medal by the President of Nepal. Her work has been published in many leading international and national journals, and she also writes about science awareness in Nepal. Dr. Prasai Joshi actively mentors post-graduate students (the majority of them women) and lectures at universities. She has served as a member of several governmental committees in Nepal dedicated to public and environmental health, and is engaged in promoting drinking water quality in Nepal through public lectures and demonstrations. Dr. Prasai Joshi also organizes environmental awareness campaigns which are particularly focused on women and school teachers in remote mountainous areas of Nepal.

Dr. Tabassum Mumtaz is an environmental microbiologist from Bangladesh and works on the conversion of biomass and other waste materials into useful compounds using bacteria. Her work contributes to directly removing harmful materials from the environment as well as generating renewable energy in the process. She specializes in producing polyhydroxyalkanotes (PHAs), bioplastics produced by special bacteria that are cultivated from compost, food waste and wastewater, such as the effluents from palm oil production. She received her PhD in Environmental Biotechnology from Universiti Putra Malaysia, under an OWSD PhD fellowship. After a post-doctoral position at the University Kebangsaan Malaysia, she returned to the Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission, where in addition to her research as a Principal Scientific Officer, she trains students in laboratory techniques for microbiology. She has acted as a reviewer and has publications in several high-impact journals. She is the author of “Changes in the properties of LD-PE during biodegradation in soil.”

Dr. Mumtaz’s current research focuses on the remediation of wastewater by gamma radiation and the capability of radio-resistant bacteria for PHA production. In the future, she hopes to implement projects related to biohydrogen and bioethanol production from biomass. She believes that focusing on pollution abatement and renewable energy and valuable green bioproducts can be achieved through collaborations with industries such as textile dyeing. These developments will have a big impact on the energy consumption of Bangladesh in the near future.

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.

Resshaya is a geroscientist and currently a Research Fellow at TUMCREATE, Singapore. with a focus on intervention development to support healthspan rather than just lifespan. Her work focuses on preventive medicine and health promotion, using digital and behavioural approaches to improve healthy ageing. She is particularly interested in practical, real-world interventions that can be integrated into everyday life.

Velma is a PhD candidate in Plant Breeding and Biotechnology at Makerere University, Uganda. She develops disease-resistant groundnut varieties using genomic tools to address critical agricultural challenges in sub-Saharan Africa. She is also a Project Coordinator at the JR Biotek Foundation where she supports agricultural innovation, farmer engagement, and scientific project coordination contributing to climate-resilient food systems across Africa. She has served as a Junior researcher with the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics and contributed to projects with Innovations for Poverty Action aimed at improving the livelihoods of smallholder farmers.

Professor Orlando Rojas is the Canada Excellence Research Chair at the University of British Columbia and Director of the Bioproducts Institute. His research focuses on bio-based materials and soft matter. He is internationally recognized for his contributions to renewable materials science, and has received several prestigious honors, including the Anselme Payen Award, the highest distinction in cellulose and renewable materials research.

He is an elected Fellow of the American Chemical Society (2013), the Finnish Academy of Science and Letters (2017), and the TAPPI Association (2025). Earlier in his career, he served as a Finland Distinguished Professor and was named an inaugural Faculty Scholar at North Carolina State University.

Prof. Rojas maintains active collaborations with institutions across Europe, the Americas, and Asia. He serves on the Selection Committee of the Marcus Wallenberg Foundation and holds scientific advisory roles with organizations including the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, the VALUED Project (with Imperial College London, University of Bristol, and University of Cambridge), and the Materials Institute of the University of Santiago de Compostela.

He is Emeritus Editor of the Journal of Dispersion Science and Technology and Associate Editor of ACS Biomacromolecules. He is ranked among the top 1% of researchers globally by citations (Clarivate, Web of Science).

Dr Abeer Ahmed Qaed Ahmed is a biologist investigating several different microbiology- and nanotechnology-based solutions to problems such as carbon emissions, drug-resistant pathogens, and fossil fuel dependence. She has studied the use of microbial inoculants in agricultural land to increase the carbon sequestration effect and improve soil quality for agriculture, as well as the use of microbes to convert lignocellulosic biomass into pharmaceuticals and other chemical products, as a more sustainable alternative to fossil-based products. Dr. Ahmed also works on understanding the effects of differing environmental and nutritional conditions on microbial biological processes. This can lead to novel methods to treat, attenuate, and diagnose multi-drug resistant microorganisms.

Dr. Ahmed has held research fellowships at North-West University, South Africa (2015) and the University of South Africa (2016-2017). She was selected for the BioVision.Nxt fellowship programme in Lyon France in 2013, and for TWAS/BioVisionAlexandria.NXT in Alexandria, Egypt in 2014. She is an active member of the Water Institute of Southern Africa (WISA), and an executive member of the Yemen Women Association for Science & Technology (YWAST). In addition, she is a full member of the Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World (OWSD).

Carla Fabiana Crespo Melgar is a biochemist focused on increasing agricultural productivity as a crucial step to alleviate hunger. With her research, she is investigating the potential of using beneficial microorganisms and application protocols as biocontrollers, biofertilizers, bioinoculants and growth promoters for crop production in Bolivia and the region, with the aim of exploring ways that they can be produced locally by communities or small companies, once the technology and application protocols are validated.

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.

Dr. Marianna Prokopi-Demetriades, a visionary in the biotech sector, has pioneered an integrated, holistic approach to cancer care as co-founder of three biotech startups: Theramir Ltd, Promed Bioscience, and RSL Revolutionary Labs. By uniting nanotechnology, dermaceuticals, and tissue regeneration, she creates patient-focused solutions. A TEDx speaker and women-in-STEM advocate, her work has earned accolades like Forbes 20 Women In Tech Cyprus 2023 and King’s Distinguished Alumni Award 2022.

Dr Rivera is a biologist from Honduras. She has a multidisciplinary research background that ranges from analyzing the management of larval dispersal, to the use of perception research to assess the adaptive capacity of coastal communities. Her Mesoamerican Reef Regional Water Quality Monitoring Program —an initiative across three countries, 90 sites and over 20 institutions — established a unified monitoring protocol and provided invaluable data on key contaminants in principal tourist zones. Currently, Antonella works on generating research to support science-based decision-making in fisheries and water quality.