Arruda is a full professor, Department of Genetics, Institute of Biology, State University of Campinas (Unicamp). He received his PhD in genetics from Unicamp and has pioneered the field of plant molecular biology and plant genomics in Brazil. His research interests are on the understanding the regulation of gene expression in plants and its impact on amino acid metabolism and plant response to biotic and abiotic stresses. He is a member of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences. He has received honours including the National Order of Scientific Merit, Brazil; Scientific and Technological Merit Award, State of São Paulo; and 2001 RedBio Medal, Red Latino-Americana de Biotecnologia (FAO) for his contribution to the development of plant biotechnology in Latin America and Caribe. He was co-founder and scientific director of the plant biotechnology company Alellyx Applied Genomics.

Anthony Clayton is the Professor of Caribbean Sustainable Development at the University of the West Indies, Visiting Professor at the University of Surrey and Affiliated Scholar at Florida International University. He was formerly a Visiting Professor at the University of Edinburgh, Adjunct Professor at the University of Technology (Jamaica), and an International Associate at the University of St Andrews. He is a Fellow of the Caribbean Academy of Sciences and Distinguished Fellow of the Caribbean Association of Eastern European Trained Professionals. He has over thirty years of international experience in policy development in national security and policing, energy security, environment and resources, and planning and development. He is the Chairman of the Broadcasting Commission of Jamaica. In 2015 he was awarded Jamaica's Order of Distinction in the rank of Commander.

Badrie is professor of food microbiology and safety at the West Indies at St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago. She has served as Deputy Dean of Research and Innovation and Head of Dept. She is a past pres., Caribbean Inst. of Food Science and Techn., vice-pres. and dir. of publication, Caribbean Agro-Economic Soc., and public relations officer, Caribbean Acad. of Sciences. Her awards include: NIHERST Reudranath Capildeo gold medal winner in applied science and tech.. EU/CARPIMS scholar, Fulbright Researcher/Scholar; UNU fellow; TWAS/CARISCIENCE Young Female Scientist; European Union Lome IV-CULP-UWI fellowship; USAID Internatl. Dev.; Short-term Vis. Intl. Scholar; Assocn. of Commonwealth U. fellow, Intl.. She serves on the editorial board of three intl. journals.

Nome is professor, Dept. of Chemistry, UFSC, Florianopolis, Brazil, and head, National Institute of Science and Technology in Catalysis, Brazil. His contributions are centered in the area of Catalysis and Mechanisms of Organic Reactions in Solution, with special interest in: Development of organic catalysts for hydrolysis of amides and esters of biological interest; Effect of colloidal aggregates and artificial enzymes on organic reactions in solution; Effect of functional polymers and of anionic, cationic, neutral and zwitterionic micelles on the stabilization of nanoparticles of metals (Pd, Pt, Au, Rh, Ir etc) and on the rate and equilibrium of organic reactions. He is member, Brazilian Academy of Sciences; is listed in Who's Who in the World; received the 50 years of CAPES Medal, and was appointed Comendador of the National Order of Science Merit, Brazil.

Ramos is recognized for his studies on tectonic evolution of the South American basement and the Andes, in particular for his research in structural geology and tectonics. He is Emeritus Professor at the Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales of the Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA), and a researcher of the Instituto de Estudios Andinos of UBA-Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET). He is an honorary member of the Geological Society of America and of the Asociación Geologica Argentina, and a member of the national academies of sciences of Argentina, Chile, Brazil and the USA. He is also a member of many editorial boards of international journals and has received several natational and international scientific awards. His research includes topics like flat-slab subduction, collision of aseismic and seismic ridges in the Andes, as well as continental growth of South America. His major publications are related to the Andes.

Parodi is Superior Investigator of the National Research Council (Argentina) and was president of the Fundacion Instituto Leloir (2005-2012). After his PhD work at the University of Buenos Aires and postdoctoral training at the Institut Pasteur in Paris and Duke University he returned to Argentina. Since then, he has been professor of Biochemistry at the University of Buenos Aires and Career Investigator of the National Research Council. He was a Howard Hughes International Research Scholar (1997-2011) and is a Foreign Associate of the National Academy of Sciences (USA). His membership includes: American Academy of Microbiology; Brazilian Academy of Sciences; Latin American Academy of Sciences; National Academy of Sciences (Argentina); and the National Academy of Exact, Physical and Natural Sciences (Argentina).

Pena is professor of biochemistry at the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG) in Brazil, where he graduated in medicine in 1970. He became a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Canada in pediatrics in 1975 and obtained his PhD in human genetics at the University of Manitoba in 1977. He is member of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences and received the Great-Cross of the National Order of Scientific Merit of Brazil in 2006. is currently a member of the National Council of Science and Technnology of Brazil. Among other honours, he was awarded the 2007 TWAS Prize in Medical Sciences. He was president of the Brazilian Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and member of the Council of the Human Genome Organization (HUGO). He created and directs the Danilo Pena Foundation, which grants scholarships to poor students with high intellectual potential.

Berkovits obtained his Bachelor and Masters degrees in Physics at Harvard Univ. in 1983, and his PhD in Physics at the Univ. of California at Berkeley in 1988. He moved to São Paulo in 1994, and is a citizen of Brazil since 2002. Berkovits is currently a full professor at the Instituto de Física Teórica of São Paulo State University (UNESP) and Director of the ICTP South American Institute for Fundamental Research (ICTP‐SAIFR). He was awarded the 2009 TWAS Physics prize for his significant contributions to superstring theory and its covariant quantization and the 2021 APS John Wheatley Award for exceptional leadership in fundamental physics research in South America. He is a member of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences, the São Paulo State Academy of Sciences, and the International String Theory Advisory Committee.