Speakers
Speakers
KEYNOTE SPEAKERs
DOCTOR Chandra Shekhar Verma
Chandra Verma carried out his undergraduate studies in the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur (India) followed by a D. Phil in York (UK). Subsequently he worked at the structural biology labs in York after which he assumed a group leader position in the Bioinformatics Institute (A*STAR, Singapore), leading efforts in applying physics based atomistic modelling to a diverse range of projects in collaboration with experimentalists, clinicians and pharma. Their work has resulted in various patents and two spin-off companies pursuing oncology, opthalmology and design.
PROF SORAYA BARDIEN
Soraya Bardien is a professor of human genetics in the Division of Molecular Biology and Human Genetics at Stellenbosch University, where she heads the Parkinson’s disease Research Group. She did all her undergraduate and postgraduate studies at the University of Cape Town and obtained a PhD degree on the genetic aetiology of the eye disorder, retinitis pigmentosa. She later undertook postdoctoral training at Stellenbosch University, the University of the Western Cape and the University of Cape Town.
Soraya served as the Chair of the Southern African Society for Human Genetics (2017-2019), and she currently serves on several international committees including the African Society of Human Genetics, GP2 Underrepresented Populations Working Group, International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society’s Task Force on Recommendations for Clinical Genetic Testing in Parkinson’s Disease and Steering Committee of Genetic Epidemiology of Parkinson’s Disease Consortium. She is also on the Editorial Boards of Frontiers in Neurology, Journal of Movement Disorders and Parkinson’s disease and Related Disorders.
Soraya has won awards for general performance and outstanding research outputs from Stellenbosch University, was the second runner up in 2018 for the Department of Science and Technology South African Women in Science Award (SAWiSA), and a finalist for the National Science and Technology Forum (NSTF)-South32 Awards in the Lifetime Award category in 2021.
To date, she has co-authored 89 publications, 34 as senior (final) author, and three book chapters.
When she’s not working, Soraya likes to spend time working in her garden or hiking in the beautiful mountains in the Western Cape.
Peter van Heusden is a senior bioinformatician working at the South African National Bioinformatics Institute (SANBI) in Cape Town, South Africa. He has over 20 years experience in bioinformatics and the development of computing infrastructure to support data analysis in low resource settings. A specialist in the use of pathogen genomic data for disease surveillance and advisor to numerous public health and academic laboratories in Africa, he is passionate about improving access to diagnostics, especially for the benefit of those historically denied access to diagnostics and medical care.
Prof. Sanjib Kumar Panda, Head, Department of Biochemistry, Central University of Rajasthan is among the top 2% of Scientists in the World from India in the field of Plant Biology in the list published by Stanford University, USA for whole careers in the year 2020 & 2021. He has done his M.Sc. (Gold Medalist), M.Phil. Ph.D. & D.Sc. from Utkal University, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India and has a long 26 years of illustrious teaching & research career of working in various central Universities which includes eleven years as Professor and worked in various administrative positions as Dean, Head, Chairman, President, Governing body etc.. He has research trainings and Visiting Professorships in notable Institutions in University of California, University of North Carolina, Oklahoma State University, USA, University of Bonn, University of Dusseldorf, Germany, Okayama University, Gifu University, Shizuoka University, RIKEN, Japan, Stellenbosch University, South Africa and Russian Academy of Sciences etc.
He has published more than 160 research papers in International & National journals in his areas of expertise including Molecular Biology, Plant Functional Genomics, Genetic Engineering etc. with cumulative impact factors above 300, citations of more than 8040 and H index of 48. He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Biologists, London. He has supervised more than 21 Ph.D. students, and 150 + Master students. He has been the recipient of 19 research projects from DBT, DST, CSIR, UGC and 5 International projects with Japan, South Africa and Russia etc.
Simo Njabulo Maduna
Simo Njabulo Maduna was born and educated in South Africa, although he lives and works in Norway. He earned all of his university degrees at Stellenbosch University in South Africa, from Bachelor (Molecular Biology & Biotechnology, 2011) to Doctorate (Genetics, 2017). He has trained in a broad range of subfields within the disciplines of Molecular Ecology and Aquaculture over the course of his academic career. His training has enabled him to participate in a variety of international collaborative projects spanning a range of research disciplines, including aquaculture genomics, genome assembly, landscape/seascape genomics, invasion genomics, molecular phylogenetics, reproductive biology, and wildlife forensics. Whenever possible, he combines genetic, phenotypic, and ecological techniques. His research has societal implications in terms of the biodiversity crisis, conservation of natural resources, primary production, and sustainable development. He is currently a Researcher in Molecular Ecology at the Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research's (NIBIO) Department of Ecosystems in the Barents Region in Arctic Norway. He also serves as a Research Professor for Reel Science Coalition (RSC), a South African non-profit organization that serves as a link between academia, government, and the public in order to increase awareness and support for marine and coastal biodiversity conservation and management in southern Africa.