Luís R. Silva has a degree in Food Engineering from Institute Polytechnic of Viseu and a PhD degree in Microbiology from Faculty of Pharmacy of Porto University (FFUP). From 2000 to 2008 was Assistant at Agrarian Superior School, Polytechnic Institute of Viseu. In 2008 was also Assistant at Agrarian Superior School, Polytechnic Institute of Coimbra. From 2009-2015 was Coordinator teacher at Health Superior School Dr Lopes Dias, Polytechnic Institute of Castelo Branco. From 2009-2014 was Assistant Research of the Associated Laboratory REQUIMTE. From 2015-until now was researcher at FCS-CICS/UBI (Faculty of Health Sciences – Health Sciences Researcher Center/ University of Beira Interior, Portugal. During 2019 was responsible for the laboratory of Galenic Development at Labialfarma company, Portugal. From 2020-2021 was the Innovation Director of Cecolab (Collaborative Laboratory Towards Circular Economy), Oliveira do Hospital, Portugal. Since 2021-until now was researcher and teacher of Institute Polytechnic of Guarda, Portugal. Luís R. Silva participated in 23 research projects under contract, supervises/ed or co-supervises/ed 80 research students, including 10 PhD and 8 MSc students. He was co-inventor in two international patents He participated in the evaluation panel of two international project and 23 national projects and belongs to Editorial Board of 17 scientific journals, is Guest Editor of 6 Special Issues, and is reviewer of several scientific journals indexed at Journal Citation Reports from ISI Web with more than 200 revisions (pe: Food Chemistry, Food Research International, Foods, Medicine, Molecules, Natural Products Research, Phytomedicine, Sustainability, Trends in Food Science and Technology,…). He authored of more than 101 publications in journals indexed at Journal Citation Reports from ISI Web of Knowledge (total citations in SCOPUS = 3456 in 3018 documents, hindex = 34; total documents in ResearchGate =198; Research Interest Score – 3919, total of citations = 4400, hindex = 38), two books, 22 book chapters from international editors, 66 oral communications and 126 as poster in national and international meetings. Her research interest’s concern in the study of natural products (endogenous plants, berries, fruits, vegetable, bee products, etc.), extracts preparation and extraction methodologies (infusion, hydroethanolic, supercritical fluids, ionic resins, hydrolats, …), Bioactivity of natural products (antioxidant, antimicrobial, anticholinesterase, antidiabetic, anticancer, anti-inflammatory, anticholesterolemic, …), metabolomics (phenolic compounds, volatiles, minerals, phytosterols, carotenoids…), establishment of composition/bioactivity relationships, in vivo and clinical assays to evaluate the health benefits of bioactive compounds and natural products in respect to chronic diseases, like cancer, neurodegenerative, diabetes and anti-inflammatory diseases and their effect on gut microbiota. Other important field of research is to study the microbial ecology of natural products and their possible exploitation for industry. In addition, LRS has interest in soil bacteria and their use on plants production to increase the richness in bioactive compounds and their resilience against climate changes.

Prof. Xiaoyuan (Shawn) Chen is Nasrat Muzayyin Chair Professor in Medicine and Technology, National University of Singapore. His current research focuses mainly on different forms of theranostics that can be clinically translatable. He has published over 1000 papers and numerous books (total citations > 140,000, H index ca. 200 based on Google scholar). He is the founding editor of journal Theranostics (IF 12.4). He was elected as AIMBE Fellow (2017) and SNMMI Fellow (2020), received JBN Trailblazer Award (2023), SNMMI Michael J. Welch Award (2019), ACS Bioconjugate Chemistry Lecturer Award (2016), NIH Director’s Award (2014), NIBIB Mentor Award (2012). He became a member of the Advanced Materials Hall of Fame (2023). He is also the Past President of Chinese American Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (CASNMMI), Past President of the Radiopharmaceutical Science Council (RPSC), Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI), and Past President of the Chinese American Society of Nanomedicine and Nanobiotechnology (CASNN).

Monica BUTNARIU, Full professor Chemistry & Biochemistry Discipline, University of Life Sciences "King Mihai I" from Timisoara, 300645, Calea Aradului 119, Timis, Romania Monica BUTNARIU heads the Romania Biotechnology and Environmental Sciences Group-Council for Nutritional and Environmental Medicine and also National Correspondent of the International Association for Plant Biotechnology, has 120 articles published in the Web of Science Core Collection-Clarivate Analytics that have been cited over 3,798 times, with H-index =40 (WoS), and she has been serving as an editorial board member of reputed Journals and she has peer review activity. Prof. Butnariu has written several books and book chapters in different areas of chemistry. Her research interests focus on Nutritional Biochemistry; Pharmacology & Toxicology; Medical Biochemistry; Chemical Ecology; Natural Products.

Mark Feitelson received his Ph.D. in Microbiology and Immunology in 1979 from UCLA. He was an American Cancer Society postdoctoral fellow at Stanford University from 1979-82, and was then recruited to the Fox Chase Cancer Center by Dr. Baruch Blumberg (Nobel laureate). He has since worked on the pathogenesis of hepatitis B. In 1991, Dr. Feitelson moved to Thomas Jefferson University where he became Professor of Pathology and Cell Biology. He also was director of a Molecular Diagnostics Lab in Microbiology. In 2007, Dr. Feitelson went to Temple University as a Professor of Biology. His work has been supported by NIH, industry and foundations, has more than 150 publications, and 180 abstracts. He is also CSO of SFA Therapeutics, which is a Temple University spin-out of work from his lab. SFA has won many awards for innovation and excellence and is currently in human clinical trials for gut microbiome-based treatments for autoimmune diseases and cancer. Dr. Feitelson has 15 patents, has been a consultant for more than 10 companies since the 1980s, and has mentored over 130 students.

With more than thirty year’s professional experience in the pharmaceutical industry holding senior positions in several multinational companies, Graeme has his first Degree in Biochemistry & Pharmacology and a PhD in Pharmacokinetics and Drug Metabolism. Currently, he is the CEO and Founder (2003) of PharSafer Associates Ltd, a Global CRO focussing on Pharmacovigilance; Medical Affairs; Training; Auditing; Regulatory Strategy and IT Informatics with offices in the UK, EU; Africa and India. PharSafer has clients in all seven continents ranging products ranging from Biologics; Advanced Therapies; Medical Devices; Vaccines and Cosmetics. Graeme has also worked on several different safety databases and medical information databases developing new systems to enhance patient safety. As a trainer, Graeme has run training courses since 2003 both F2F and remotely with over 7000 people trained in different aspects of vigilance and is also a part time lecturer for the post-graduate Diploma in Pharmacovigilance at the University of Hertfordshire, UK. Graeme is a contributory member of many professional bodies including TOPRA; DIA; RQA; PIPA and MAPs and is working with Industry and EU Regulatory Authorities on the implementation of new legislation in the EU concerning clinical trials as well as other Agencies.

Dr Tarek Mohamed Kamal Mohamed Metawie, Professor of Biochemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, Cairo University. Egyptian, date of birth 6/3/1955. Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Sciences, 1984; M.Sc. in Pharmaceutical Sciences, 1979; B.Sc. in Pharmaceutical Sciences, Faculty of Pharmacy, Cairo University, 1976. Professional experience: Instructor; 1976, Lecturer Assistant; 1980, Lecturer, 1984; Assistant Professor, 1989; Professor,1994; Head of the Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, Cairo:- 2008-2014.

Professor Collet Dandara is currently serving as Deputy Dean of Postgraduate Education in the Faculty of Health Sciences, at the University of Cape Town. He is also a Director of the SAMRC/UCT Platform for Pharmacogenomics Research and Translation Unit (PREMED) and is a professor of human genomics. Collet Dandara is principal investigator of the pharmacogenomics & drug metabolism research group at the University of Cape Town. Collet is on the Executive Committee of the African Society for Human Genetics (AfSHG) as well as the African Pharmacogenomics Network (APN) and was Chair of the Southern African Society for Human Genetics (SASHG) (2021-2023). Professor Dandara serves on the Board of the Sydney Brenner Institute for Molecular Bioscience and served on the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) board from 2019 to 2022. Professor Dandara is a biomedical scientist with extensive experience in pharmacogenomics. Professor Dandara’s research covers the understanding of the pharmacogenomics of antiretroviral drugs and cardiovascular diseases including hypertension and cancer. He is one of the leading experts in pharmacogenomics on the African continent with an international standing in the field. Professor C Dandara is a current HUGO Executive Board Member. He is a Fellow of the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf Fellow), a Fellow of the African Academy of Science (AAS-Fellow) and was part of the inaugural World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) Young Affiliate/Alumni (TYAN) Executive Committee (2016-2021). He has a track record of successful supervision to graduation of postgraduate students and has supervised to graduation over 30 Honours students, more than 25 MSc students and more than 12 PhD students. He is widely published with >170 publications in international peer-reviewed journals, accumulating Google Scholar H-index of 42 and an i10-index of 112.

Prof. (Dr.) G. S. Shekhawat presently working as Professor in Department of Botany (UGC-CAS), Jai Narain Vyas University, Jodhpur. Dr. Shekhawat have completed his M.Sc. and PhD from University of Rajasthan, Jaipur and since then continuously engaged in teaching andresearch; after completion of PhD; Prof. Shekhawat has received CSIR Post Doctoral fellowship and successfully completed this project. Dr. Shekhawat has received a prestigious BOYSCAST fellowship and worked at the Department of Interdisciplinary Science, University of South Florida Tampa, USA, on Nano-Biotechnology. Moreover, Dr. Shekhawat has been also awarded by INSA International Exchange Fellowship and worked at Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia, and honored by Young Research Award. Prof. Shekhawat was also awarded the Professor YS Murthy Gold medal by Indian Botanical society for his significant contribution in plant Biotechnology in 2016.    Recently Prof. Shekhawat awarded with NSP-SAIA Fellowship 2022 and worked at Slovak Academy of Science, Bratislava, and also worked as Visiting Professor in Comenius University of Slovak Republic. Prof. G.S. Shekhawat has published: 105 Research Papers in journals of international repute with consolidated 140 Thomson Reuters Impact factor and 30 H-Index, with Total citation: 2850, he also published Three Books and more than 25 Book chapters. Prof. Shekhawat has supervised 15 research students for their Ph.D. degrees in the field of Plant Sciences and 09 Post Doctoral fellows. Professor G.S. Shekhawat is an outstanding academician in the field of plant science, who has been serving the academics from the last two decades. He is a prominent researcher with specialization in the fields of Plant Biotechnology and Physiology. Prof. Shekhawat received and successfully completed several research projects funded by different agencies like UGC, SERB- DST Delhi, CSIR, and DST-Raj.  Prof. Shekhawat’s contribution deserves a specific mention as he has identified a novel enzyme i.e. Hemeoxygenase-1 and its various roles in plant systems which has been published in leading journals of plant Sciences viz; Journal of Experimental Botany, Plant Cell and Environment and Nature Scientific Reports, BioMetals, eLS and Protoplasma etc In view of his outstanding contribution of Prof. Shekhawat several leading journal of Plant Science and Biotechnology appointed him as a Editor and Associated Editor in 3 Biotech (Springer, Associate editor), Vegetos (Springer, Associate editor), Current Biotechnology ( Bantham Sciences, Associate editor), Phyton-International Journal of Experimental Botany (Associate editor ), Science international (Associate editor ), Biotech today (Associate editor ), Acta Scientific Microbiology (Advisory Board), BIOCELL (Editorial Board Member), International Journal of Life Sciences (Editorial Board Member), Patents in Biotechnology (Editorial Board Member), Pharmacognocy Research (Editorial Board Member), International Journal of Bioprocess & Biotechnological Advancements (EBM), American Journal of Plant Science, Plant science Today and Frontiers in Agronomy (Guest Editor) Presently Prof. G.S. Shekhawat is working on Heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1), Nitric oxide (NO) signaling and its role in plants, and conservation, propagation of medicinal plants.

A multifaceted professional with a robust background in Pharmacogenetics, leadership, and project management. His impactful roles at SFDA and Shaqra University,coupled with his extensive involvement in various committees, highlight his commitment to advancing healthcare, academia, and dedication to promoting health strategies, and his efforts in fostering an entrepreneurial mindset underscore his holistic approach to making a positive impact in diverse spheres.