Prof. Tarun Khanna
Prof. Tarun Khanna is the Jorge Paulo Lemann Professor at Harvard Business School and a noted authority on business strategy in emerging markets. Beyond his vast research, he is a member of the Atal Innovation Mission Commission and has held leadership roles, including Chairman of the Commission on Entrepreneurship and Innovation and Co-chair at the Science cluster committee for the Office of the Principal Scientific Advisor.
Prof. K Vijay Raghavan
Prof. K Vijay Raghavan is the former Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India. Prior to that, he has served as the Secretary, Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Government of India, and as the NCBS Director. He was awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India in 2013. He is a Fellow of the Indian Science Academies, the Royal Society, the Academy of Medical Sciences (UK) and a Foreign Associate of the US National Academy of Sciences.
Soumya Swaminathan
Dr. Soumya Swaminathan is an Indian pediatrician and clinical scientist known for her research in tuberculosis and HIV. She served as the Chief Scientist at the World Health Organization (WHO). Prior to joining WHO, she was the Director-General of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and the Secretary of the Department of Health Research in India. Throughout her career, Dr. Swaminathan has been a beacon in the field of global health, offering insights and leadership on a range of pressing health challenges.
Thomas Barlow
Thomas Barlow serves as a distinguished adviser on knowledge investment, research policy, and analytics to a range of technology-intensive companies, government agencies, and universities globally. He is the author of three books on science and innovation, and publisher of the Barlow Report, a biennial resource for higher education institutions in Australia and East Asia. He has also been the science policy adviser to the Minister for Education, Science and Training in the Australian Government. Educated at Oxford University (MA, DPhil) and at the University of Sydney (BSc, Hons I with University Medal) he has been the Janssen Fellow in Biomedical Science at Balliol College, Oxford, and a Visiting Fellow in the Department of Chemistry at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the USA.
Shantanu Rastogi
Shantanu Rastogi serves as the Managing Director and head of General Atlantic’s operations in India. He has an impressive board affiliation portfolio, currently serving as a member for renowned companies such as Acko, Amagi, ASG Eye Hospitals, and several others, while also having historical affiliations with firms like House of Anita Dongre. He holds a B.Tech in Electrical Engineering and an M.Tech in Nanotechnology from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay and M.B.A. from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
Abhishek Goel
Ajay C Mehta
Ajay C. Mehta serves as the Director of Deepak Nitrite Limited. With a tenure beginning in 1984, his expertise spans the chemical, petrochemical, and agricultural sectors. Mr. Mehta has been a driving force behind the group’s innovative projects and global initiatives, thanks to his deep industry insight and comprehensive approach. He holds additional roles, including membership in the Mahratta Chamber of Commerce, Industries, and Agriculture, and directorship at Tribhovandas Bhimji Zaveri Limited. A strategic advisor and an active member of organizations like YPO, TiE, and CEO, Mr. Mehta embodies the intersection of industry acumen and global collaborative efforts.
Prof. Gagandeep Kang
Prof. Gagandeep Kang is known for her inter-disciplinary research studying the transmission, development and prevention of enteric infections and their sequelae in children in India. To develop practical approaches to support public health, she has also built national rotavirus and typhoid surveillance networks, established laboratories to support vaccine trials and conducted phase 1-3 clinical trials of vaccines, a comprehensive approach that has supported two WHO pre-qualified vaccines, made by two Indian companies. She is investigating the complex relationships between infection, gut function and physical and cognitive development, and seeking to build a stronger human immunology research in India. Based at the Christian Medical College, Vellore, she has established strong training programmes for students and young faculty in clinical translational medicine aiming to build a cadre of clinical researchers studying relevant problems in India.
Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw
Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw is a first-generation entrepreneur and global business leader with over four decades of experience in biotechnology. Fuelled by her passion, she started her biotech journey in 1978 from her garage in India. Today, she is regarded as an unconventional thinker with many firsts to her credit. Under her aegis, Biocon delivers on the promise of making medicines accessible and affordable to millions of patients worldwide.
Kris Gopalakrishnan
Kris Gopalakrishnan is one of founders of Infosys and served as its Vice Chairman (2011-2014), and CEO and MD (2007-2011). In January 2011, the Government of India awarded Kris the Padma Bhushan. He serves on the Board of Governors of Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, and Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore, among other institutes. Kris holds post-graduate degrees in Physics and Computer Science from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras.
Prof. L S Shashidhara
He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge and has held key positions at Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) Hyderabad, IISER Pune and Ashoka University. Prof. Shashidhara has served as Vice-President of Indian National Science Academy (INSA) and as President of International Union of Biological Sciences (IUBS). He has received numerous awards, including the SS Bhatnagar Prize, and is a Fellow of several prestigious academies. He is also known for his contributions to Climate Change Education, teacher training programs, Science policy and advocacy.
Prof. Samir K. Brahmachari
Prof. Samir K. Brahmachari served as the Director General of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). He is the pioneer of genome analysis and has made major contributions in the area of miRNA mediated regulation of host- pathogen interactions and cellular regulation. He is the recipient of many awards, including the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award (1990) and is an elected member of all four academies of science and engineering in India.
Prof. Sanjay Sarma
Prof. Sanjay Sarma is the Fred Fort Flowers (1941) and Daniel Fort Flowers (1941) Professor of Mechanical Engineering at MIT. He is the Vice President for Open Learning at MIT. He co-founded the Auto-ID Center at MIT and developed many of the key technologies behind the EPC suite of RFID standards now used worldwide. He was also the the founder and CTO of OATSystems, which was acquired by Checkpoint Systems (NYSE: CKP) in 2008. He serves on the boards of GS1US and Hochschild Mining and several startup companies including Top Flight Technologies. Dr. Sarma received his Bachelors from the Indian Institute of Technology, his Masters from Carnegie Mellon University and his PhD from the University of California at Berkeley. Sarma also worked at Schlumberger Oilfield Services in Aberdeen, UK, and at the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratories in Berkeley, California. He has authored over 100 academic papers in computational geometry, sensing, RFID, automation and CAD, and is the recipient of numerous awards for teaching and research including the MacVicar Fellowship, the Business Week eBiz Award and Informationweek’s Innovators and Influencers Award. He advises several national governments and global companies.
Dr. Swaminathan Sivaram
Dr. Swaminathan Sivaram is an Honorary Professor and INSA Senior Scientist of the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research. Dr. Sivaram received the Gold Medal of the Chemical Research Society of India (2018) for his life-time contributions to chemistry and the International Award in Polymer Science (2017). He was also conferred the Padma Shri in 2006.
Prof. Venkatesh Narayanamurti
Prof. Venkatesh Narayanamurti is the Benjamin Peirce Professor of Technology and Public Policy, Emeritus at Harvard. As a scientist, public policy leader and academic administrator, he has served on advisory boards of the federal government, research universities, and industry. He spent much of his research career at AT&T Bell Laboratories. He obtained his Ph.D. in physics from Cornell University and an Honorary Doctorate from Tohoku University.