Prof. Dr. Barbara Rothen-Rutishauser has received her Ph.D. in 1996 in cell biology at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETHZ). She worked as postdoc and group leader at ETHZ and University of Bern, Switzerland. She is an expert in the field of cell-nanoparticle interactions, with a special focus on human 3D tissue models. Since 2011 she is the chair in BioNanomaterials at the Adolphe Merkle Institute (AMI), University of Fribourg, Switzerland, the position is shared equally with Prof. Alke Fink. Prof. RothenRutishauser has published more than 300 peer-reviewed papers and is associate editor of “Particle and Fibre Toxicology”. She is the recipient for the 2019 Materials Today Agents of Change Award with Dr. S. Martin Caba and Prof. A. Fink from the University of Fribourg.

Dr. Borhane Mahjoub is a Senior Researcher and Lecturer in Environmental Chemistry at the National Institute of Research and Physical-Chemical Analysis (INRAP) in Tunisia. He has an extensive background in Environmental Chemistry, specializing in Quality Monitoring, the Contaminants behavior in Soils, Water Quality and Treatment Processes, and Solid Waste Valorization. His work emphasizes and aligns with Green and Sustainable Chemistry concepts and SDGs approaches.
Dr. Mahjoub has led numerous national and international research projects. His contributions extend to over 20 countries on four continents, where he has developed collaborative research and academic networks. He is also an Editor of several sections of the journal Current Opinion in Green and Sustainable Chemistry (Elsevier), and Associate Editor of Sustainable Chemistry and Pharmacy (Elsevier). In addition, Dr. Mahjoub is the Program Committee National Delegate and the National Contact Point for the Horizon2020 and Horizon Europe Research and Innovation Programs. He is the Expert Advisor in Climate and Environmental Policy for the Tunisian Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research.

Charlotte Berrezueta Palacios is a Ph.D. candidate in physics at the Freie Universität Berlin, specializing in low-dimensional materials using Raman spectroscopy. Originally from the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador, she earned her B.Sc. in nanotechnology engineering at Yachay Tech University before completing an M.Sc. in physics at the Freie Universität Berlin, where she continues her research in Prof. Stephanie Reich’s laboratory, focusing on 2D nanostructured materials, a field she has been working in since 2020. In addition to her academic pursuits, Charlotte is dedicated to science outreach. She co-chairs the Nanoscience Summer School at Yachay Tech (NSSY), a conference held in the Galapagos Islands that promotes student development and community engagement. She received the 2023 Materials Today Agents of Change Award for her contributions to NSSY.

Kelley Oh is the Engagement and EDII Facilitator at the University of British Columbia’s BioProducts Institute (BPI), where she drives strategic engagement across research, industry and community networks. She leads BPI’s Indigenous youth outreach, developing experiential STEM and mentorship programs in partnership with Indigenous communities and organizations.

Her work includes Sustainable Future Makers, supported by the Elsevier Foundation’s 2024 Materials Today Agents of Change Award. Oh facilitates BPI’s EDII Committee, advancing a more inclusive and connected research community. She holds a BSc in Physics from KAIST and an MSc in Geophysics from Stanford University and is pursuing an MDiv part-time at Regent College.

Prof. Dr. Klaus Kümmerer is Professor of Sustainable Chemistry and Material Resources at the Leuphana University Lüneburg and director of the Research and Education Hub of the International Collaborative Center for Sustainable Chemistry (ISC3). His interest is in designing benign chemicals to address the quest of micro pollutants in the aquatic environment, usage and protection of material resources, environmental chemistry and water chemistry, ecology of time, and the development of interdisciplinary study courses and programs of sustainable chemistry. He is also founding editor and editor-in-chief of the scientific journals “Sustainable Chemistry and Pharmacy“ and „Current Opinion in Green and Sustainable Chemistry“.

LaNell A. Williams is a PhD Candidate and NSF GRFP Fellow at Harvard University. Her research focuses on understanding the self assembly of RNA-Viruses, in particular, the Bacteriophage MS2. She graduated from Wesleyan University with her BA in physics, and she went on to receive her MA in physics from Fisk University before going to Harvard. LaNell has also been heavily involved in programming with the National Society of Black Physicists (NSBP). Additionally, she serves on the American Physical Society Council of Representatives representing the Forum on Graduate Students & the Forum on Early Careers. She is the founder of the Women+ of Color Project and hopes to encourage more BIWOC to pursue academic careers.

Dr. Lucia D’Ambruoso is a social scientist and senior lecturer in global public health at the University of Aberdeen, UK. Her research focuses on health policy and systems research, participatory and embedded approaches, and the social, political, and commercial determinants of health inequalities. With over 20 years of international experience across academia, governments, UN agencies, and civil society, she applies social science methods to strengthen public health policy and practice. She co-founded the WHO Collaborating Centre for Verbal Autopsy at the University of the Witwatersrand, where she is a senior researcher, and serves as Deputy Director of the Centre for Global Development at Aberdeen. Her work advances the ethical, social, and computational dimensions of mortality data and supports postgraduate training and global health policy.

Professor Malabika Sarker is a globally recognized public health scholar and implementation scientist with over 35 years of experience bridging research and practice to advance global health equity. A physician with advanced degrees from Harvard and Heidelberg, she pioneers mixed-methods implementation research in maternal and child health, NCDs, and health systems strengthening. Former founding Director of the Center for Implementation Science and Scale-Up at BRAC JPGSPH and now Associate Dean for Global Engagement at Brown University, she has trained over 100 junior researchers and published 150+ papers. Her leadership spans global advisory boards, including The Lancet Global Health, Gavi, and WHO.

Professor Orlando Rojas is a globally recognized materials scientist and engineer specializing in biobased materials, renewable nanomaterials, colloids, and sustainable technologies. He serves as a Canada Excellence Research Chair in Bioproducts and is the Scientific Director of the Bioproducts Institute at the University of British Columbia, with appointments in Chemical & Biological Engineering, Chemistry, and Wood Science.

His research focuses on developing sustainable materials from renewable resources such as cellulose, lignin, chitin, proteins, and other biomass-derived polymers. His group studies nanomaterials, self-assembly, functional surfaces, biomimetic materials, emulsions, foams, gels, and green manufacturing processes aimed at replacing fossil-based materials.

Professor Rojas received the 2024 Agents of Change Award due to his role in the launch of the Indigenous Outreach Program at University of British Columbia’s BioProducts Institute, which aimed to engage Indigenous youth in STEM, integrate Indigenous knowledge into biobased innovation, and build lasting community partnerships through annual outreach events, mentorship, workshops, and collaborative learning opportunities

Prof. Raju Kumar Gupta is currently a Professor at the Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, India. His current research interests are photocatalysis for water remediation and CO2 capture & conversion to fuels, desalination, perovskite solar cells and energy storage devices based on batteries. Prof. Gupta has been recipient of several fellowships and awards, including DST Inspire Faculty Award, Distinguished Young Alumnus Awards, PK Kelkar Young Faculty Fellowship and Fellowship of the Royal Society of Chemistry. Prof. Gupta is an Editorial Board member of several international journals, including ‘Sustainable Chemistry One World’, ‘Solar Energy’, ‘Scientific Reports’, ‘Journal of Polymer Science’ and ‘Current Opinion in Green and Sustainable Chemistry’.

Ramia Al Bakain holds a Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry from Sorbonne Université Pierre et Marie Curie (UPMC), Paris, France. She is currently a Professor in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Jordan, Amman.

Her research focuses on the application of analytical chemistry to develop innovative methods in water, agriculture, and food security. She also works on green techniques for wastewater treatment and sustainable approaches to preserving natural resources. Ramia maintains extensive international research collaborations with institutions in the USA, France, Italy, Austria, Lebanon, Germany, Slovakia, and the UK.

She leads numerous international scientific projects and supervises interdisciplinary teams of graduate students working on water-food-agriculture security challenges in the MENA region. In addition, she is a member in the editorial board of Journal Sustainable Chemistry One World- Elsevier and Science & Technology Nexus Journal.

Ramia has received several prestigious international honors and awards, including: Elsevier Foundation-ISC3 Green & Sustainable Chemistry Award, L’Ordre national du Mérite – President of the French Republic, the L’Oréal-UNESCO Award for Women in Science and the MIT-Abdul Hameed Shoman Foundation Award.

Dr. Rasha Khatib is a Research Scientist at Advocate Aurora Research Institute and an Associate Professor in the Department of Implementation Science at Wake Forest University School of Medicine. Her work focuses on hypertension and cardiovascular disease prevention, with an emphasis on pragmatic trials, implementation science, and health equity in both U.S. and global contexts. Dr. Khatib leads multi-site studies evaluating strategies to improve blood pressure control in primary care and directs global research examining disparities in hypertension management across diverse populations.

Dr. Roman Xu is a Professor of Global Health at Southern Medical University in China, leading research on health systems improvement. He directs the Center for WHO Studies and the Acacia Lab for Implementation Science. His work focuses on implementation research for health care quality and systems strengthening in China and other countries. With over 60 publications, he has contributed significantly to global health policy and research. He holds degrees from Sichuan University, Harvard, and the University of Washington.

Dr. Ronald Olum is a public health physician, an award-winning global health leader, and researcher from Uganda. His research focuses on infectious disease epidemiology and implementation science, with particular interests in HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and fungal infections, where he has contributed to more than 100 peer-reviewed publications. Dr. Olum also does research in adolescent health and emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases. He is a member of the World Health Organization Global Action for Measurement of Adolescent Health (GAMA) Advisory Group and the Lancet Global Health International Advisory Board. Dr. Olum is currently pursuing a PhD in Epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Dr. Sam Adu-Kumi has diverse research interests in environmental fate, human exposure, and health risk assessment of POPs and heavy metals in Ghana. His work focuses on monitoring, sampling, analysis, and risk characterization of human health risks.

Dr. Dr. Zuin Zeidler is a professor on Sustainable Chemistry of Renewable Organic Resources at the Institute of Sustainable Chemistry (INSC), Leuphana University Lüneburg (Germany). Her background is Green and Sustainable Analytical Chemistry and Green and Sustainable Chemistry Education, with major interests in developing analytical methods that are incipient to determine renewable high-value substances extracted from agro-industrial residues, focusing on sustainable separation science. She was also the Founding Director of the Field & Food Tech Hub – UFSCar, a multi-sector platform that promotes healthy and ethical living through green and sustainable products and processes at Federal University of São Carlos, São Paulo State, Brazil.

Prof. Zuin Zeidler has established a well-structured network between industries, governmental and non-governmental sectors to improve research and application of Green and Sustainable Chemistry knowledge globally (e.g., IUPAC, ISC3, UN including UNESCO, UNIDO, UNEP) . She is author of many publications of high impact in the areas of her expertise (as Science, Cell, Nature Reviews Materials, Nature Reviews Chemistry), and has been invited to give several lectures in the academic and industrial sectors. As a participant of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation research network started in 2005, she was elected president of the Club Humboldt in Brazil in 2015, being its permanent honorary counselor. Recent distinctions include the 52o and 57o Brazilian Literary Jabuti Awards, the title of Honorary Visiting Fellow at the University of York (UK), the IUPAC 2014 CHEMRAWN VII Prize for Atmospheric and Green Chemistry, the title of Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC) in 2015, the ACS-CEI Award for Incorporating Sustainability into Chemistry Education, sponsored by the ACS in 2017 and Fellow of the Robert Bosch Foundation and Alexander von Humboldt Foundation at Leuphana (2020 and 2021). She is also a visiting professor at the Green Chemistry Centre of Excellence (University of York, UK). Having vast international experience, Prof. Zuin Zeidler works hard to advance diversity and inclusion in Science, also in emerging economies and regions under economic and political constraints.

Dr. Vishal Chaudhary is a lecturer at Mahidol University in Thailand since 2025. He is an expert in the field of green semiconductors at the nanoscale for One Health management, with a special focus on breath-based diagnosis, environmental sensors and waste-water remediation. He has published more than 100 peer-reviewed articles, 4 authored books, and 3 edited books in reputed journals.

He has been recognized as Top 2% of Scientists in both 2023 and 2024 by the Stanford University List and is also serving as an associate editor and review editor in significant journals. He founded “The Happy Mentals Club” after battling depression during his doctorate tenure, and started to aid the research community, especially students, for mental health-related help through his public talks and club events.

Dr. Chaudhary received the 2023 Materials Today Agents of Change Award due to his dedicated work in the field of mental health for researchers. Currently, he aims to establish mental health clubs in academic and research institutes, examine the prevalence of mental health issues by conducting surveys during his talk and examining its causative factors, correlate mental health concerns with environmental factors, develop non-invasive biosensors to screen mental health, root out the stigma related to mental health, especially in the LGBTQI+ community, and developing awareness on suicide prevention through his club and institute collaborative initiatives.