Nalini Ravishanker is Professor in the Department of Statistics at the University of Connecticut (UConn), Storrs, https://statistics.uconn.edu. She has been a faculty member at UConn since 1989. She has a PhD in Statistics and Operations Research from the Stern School of Business, New York University, and a B.Sc. in Statistics from Presidency College, Madras. She currently serves on UConn’s Steering Committee for the MS in Data Science Program (in-person since 2022, also online since Spring 2024); see https://masters.datascience.uconn.edu/

Nalini has over three decades of academic experience and is passionate about research, teaching and mentoring students in statistics and data science. Her research productivity includes over 140 publications, two books, and one edited volume - on various topics in methodological and applied statistics and interdisciplinary domains. She has taught statistical theory, methods, computing, and applications at various levels. She enjoys mentoring students and junior faculty, and promoting the usefulness of data science to industry professionals. She has consulted on statistical topics for different industries, both in the US and India. She has received many honors such as Fellow of ASA, AAAS, CASE, and elected member of ISI. She has held many editorial positions over the years (currently EIC of Applied Stochastic Models in Business and Industry). She is committed to enhancing the role of statistics and data science in scientific investigations in different domains such as civil and transportation engineering, climate, ecology, environment, finance, marine science, marketing, etc.

Professor Anjana Silva is an internationally recognised toxinologist and a medical educator. He is the chair professor and head of the Department of Parasitology of the Faculty of Medicine, Rajarata University and an Adjunct Senior Research Fellow at Monash University, Australia. Prof. Silva obtained an MBBS and M.Phil from the University of Peradeniya and a PhD in toxinology from Monash University, Australia. He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians Edinburgh and a Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences of Sri Lanka.

Prof. Silva initiated his research career as a young biodiversity explorer, leading to the discovery of eleven new species of fish and reptiles new to science. After obtaining his medical degree, his research interests developed on snake envenoming, venoms, and antivenoms. He combines experimental, clinical, and epidemiological research to answer real-life clinical problems of snakebite victims.

He is widely published and cited (h-index 24; 1690 citations) and has delivered four prestigious orations and over ten keynote addresses in local and international forums. He has received over 30 international and local research awards, including research awards from European, North American and Asia Pacific Associations of Clinical Toxicology, the TWAS/NSF Young Scientist Award in 2013 and the CVCD Excellence Award in 2020.

Prof. T.M. Sakunthala Yatigammana Ekanayake is a Professor in the Department of Education, Faculty of Arts at the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka. She holds a B.Sc. in BioScience and an MSc in Science Education from the University of Peradeniya, along with a Postgraduate Diploma in Information Technology. Prof. Ekanayake earned her Ph.D. from the Graduate School of Education at the University of Bristol, UK, in 2011, and later received a prestigious Commonwealth Fellowship at the same university in 2016.

As Head of the Department of Information Technology, Faculty of Arts, she has led numerous initiatives integrating technology into education. Her research interests include mobile learning, e-learning, generative AI in education, and science pedagogy. Prof. Ekanayake is the Vice President of the Indian Ocean Comparative Education Society and serves on the Global Comparative Education Journal of WCCES editorial board.

Prof. Ekanayake has published over 40 academic papers, authored and co-authored multiple books, and was recently honoured with the Tier 4* Research Award at the Peradeniya University International Research Sessions and Exposition (iPURSE-2024). With her extensive experience as a professor, department head, and educator, she is dedicated to advancing teaching and learning through the integration of cutting-edge technologies.