GCA

Dr Jayanta Bhattacharya is Dean at the Biotechnology Research Innovation Council (BRIC)-Translational Health Science & Technology Institute (THSTI), India and Professor & Head of its Center for Virus Research, Vaccines, and Therapeutics. He is Principal Investigator of the Molecular and Translational Virology (MTV), overseeing the IAVI-THSTI Antibody Translational Research Programme.

Prof Alex Sigal works at the Africa Health Research Institute (AHRI) and Hebrew University of Jerusalem, working on emerging infections with a focus on the immune response to emerging viruses, virus countermeasures against immunity, and viral evolution to evade immunity.

Dr Jinal N. Bhiman Bhiman has ten years of experience (2009-2019) in HIV virus-host dynamics, where she investigated HIV intra-host evolution, isolated anti-HIV monoclonal antibodies and assessed immunogenicity of HIV vaccine immunogens in multiple animal models.

Dr Jennifer Serwanga is a Principal Research Scientist in Immunology and Assistant Director of Research at the Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI). She is a leader in immunology and vaccine development with over two decades of experience, conducting pivotal studies to profile immune responses to COVID-19, HIV, Ebola, and Rift Valley Fever, significantly advancing global vaccine development.

Prof Pontiano Kaleebu is the Director of the Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI), the largest government research institution dealing with diseases of viral aetiology in public health.His research interests include the study of the HIV virus and its resistance to drugs, immune response to HIV and other viruses, and vaccine development in Africa. He also studies emerging and re-emerging infections, including Ebola, Rift Valley Fever, Crimean Congo Haemorrhagic Fever, and COVID-19.

Mawuli Dzodzomenyo is an Associate Professor in Environmental Health and Clinical Microbiology and currently heads the Department of Biological, Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Ghana, Legon.

Cleo Conacher is a rising researcher in yeast eco-physiology, conducting a postdoctoral fellowship in Prof Alf Botha’s laboratory at the Department of Microbiology, Stellenbosch University. She is supported by the South African National Research Foundation and the Oppenheimer Memorial Trust.

Dr Diana Karanja is an accomplished health researcher and the Director of COHESU, with a profound commitment to improving community health and well-being. With extensive experience as a Chief Research Officer at the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI).

Dr Ousmane Sy is a medical entomologist at the Laboratory of Vector and Parasite Ecology (LEVP) of the Faculty of Science and Technology of UCAD (Senegal). His research interests include the ecology and dynamics of malaria vectors, the genetics of their populations, their resistance to insecticides, and the use of entomological data for modelling studies.

Dr Devotha Nyambo Devotha leads the Artificial Intelligence and Complexity Sciences research group at the NM-AIST, and the Agriculture and Environmental Conservation group at the Africa's Anglophone Artificial Intelligence for Development (AI4D) Multidisciplinary Research Lab, funded by IDRC and Sida.