The GYA’s 2024 Annual General Meeting (AGM) and Conference successfully concluded on 10 May and included the ignition of interdisciplinary projects, the induction of 45 new GYA members, and the election of new leadership.
To represent and steer the organization through the upcoming year, GYA members elected leaders hailing from Africa, Asia, Europe and North America – a majority of whom are women – to the Executive Committee (EC), which is comprised of 11 members, of which two are Co-Chairs.
As Co-Chairs for the upcoming year, members chose Chandra Shekhar Sharma (Indian Institute of Technology, India) and Yensi Flores Bueso (University College Cork; University of Washington in Seattle, Ireland/United States). Yensi served as a member of the EC last year.
Further EC members are as follows: Devina Lobine (Higher Education Commission, Mauritius), Francesco Maurelli (Constructor University, Germany), Hiba Baroud (Vanderbilt University, United States), Hussam Hussein (Jordan), Justine Nzweundji-Khumbah (Institute of Medical Research and Medicinal Plants Studies, Cameroon/Ministry of Scientific Research and Innovation, Cameroon, Kenya), Markus J. Prutsch, (European Parliament, Belgium), Sam Chan Siok Yee (Universiti Sains Malaysia), Sri Fatmawati (Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember, Indonesia), Wasim Sajjad (National University of Medical Sciences, Pakistan).
Markus, Devina, Hussam, and Sri Fatmawati served as EC members last year.
Reacting to his election, Co-Chair Chandra Shekhar Sharma stated “I am deeply honored by the trust members have placed in me, and I am excited about the journey that lies ahead. I believe in the strength of collaboration and open communication. Together, we have the power to drive change, inspire others, and make a lasting impact. Together, we can chart a course toward progress, growth, and success. I am optimistic about our future and excited to be a part of this journey with all of you. As we move forward, let us embrace the journey with a shared vision and a commitment to our mission. I am eager to work alongside Yensi and the entire EC, as well as each member harnessing our collective talents, and navigating the path to success.”
Co-Chair Yensi adds, “I am honored to serve my fellow GYA members and esteemed academy as Co-chair. I look forward to work together with my co-chair, colleagues at the EC and the whole academy to continue and expand the impact of our work for the progress of science, our society, and our planet.”.
The Co-Chairs’ biographies are available below, while the Executive Committee members’ biographies are available by following the links above.
Chandra is the past Chair of the Indian National Young Academy of Sciences and is a Professor with the Department of Chemical Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad. His research interests include energy storage devices and nature-inspired functional surfaces.
Yensi is a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, Postdoctoral Global Individual Fellow, which she uses to pursue a research project on Cancer Research at the University College Cork and the Institute for Protein Design, University of Washington, Seattle. Through this project (BacStar), she is working on strategies for the delivery of biomolecules by intratumoural bacteria, so these can serve as vehicles for the delivery of Cancer Therapeutics.
This year’s in-person AGM and International Conference took place for the first time in Washington, D.C., United States.