Carlos Ricardo Soccol Professor Soccol is a top-ranked Brazilian scientist in Industrial Biotechnology and holds a Ph.D. from Université de Technologie de Compiègne. He pioneered Brazil’s first undergraduate and postgraduate programs in Bioprocess Engineering and Biotechnology. He is a member of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences and President of the Central Council of the International Bioprocessing Association, having received numerous national and international awards, including the Order of Scientific Merit of the Brazilian Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, the Professor João Crisóstomo Arns Award from the Curitiba City Council, and the UNESCO TWAS Award in Engineering and Computer Sciences. He is a full professor at Federal University of Paraná and HDR professor at École Supérieure d’Ingénieurs de Luminy, Aix-Marseille Université. He coordinates the Brazilian National Institute of Science and Technology in Marine Biotechnology, the Bioprocess Engineering area of the Novel Arrangement for Research and Innovation (NAPI) on Alternative Proteins (Fundação Araucária, Brazil) and the Low-cost cell culture media project of the Good Food Institute (USA), besides several RD&I projects with companies and research centers. His work has earned over 55,568 citations (Google Scholar, h-index 112).

Susan Grace Karp Professor Karp holds a Ph.D. in Bioprocess Engineering and Biotechnology from the Federal University of Paraná (UFPR), Brazil, with a doctoral internship at Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II. Her expertise includes industrial biotechnology focusing on biomass valorization and biorefineries. She is an Associate Professor at UFPR and a research fellow of the Novel Arrangement for Research and Innovation (NAPI) on Alternative Proteins (Fundação Araucária, Brazil). Her work has earned over 7,676 citations (Google Scholar, h-index 44), having been recognized in 2025 among the world’s Top 2% most influential scientists.

Ashok Pandey Professor Pandey holds a Ph.D. in Microbiology from Allahabad University and is Executive Director of the Centre for Energy and Environmental Sustainability in Lucknow, India. Formerly, he was Distinguished Scientist at the Centre for Innovation and Translational Research, CSIR-IITR, Lucknow, and Chief Scientist and Head of the Centre for Biofuels, CSIR-NIIST, Trivandrum; Research Scientist at Südzucker, West Germany and Scientist at the National Sugar Institute, India. He is HTBS National Innovation Chair and has been Distinguished Professor in UPES, Dehradun, Visiting Professor at the IIT, Roorkee and Distinguished Adjunct Professor at SIMST, Chennai. His major interests are industrial and environmental biotechnology and bioenergy, focusing on sustainability and circular economy. He has been UNESCO Professor and held academic positions in more than 15 countries. He is recipient of many national and international awards, including Fellow of World Society for Sustainable Energy Technologies; International Society for Energy, Environment and Sustainability; National Academy of Sciences, India; and Indian Chemical Society.

Luciana Porto de Souza Vandenberghe Professor Vandenberghe holds a Ph.D. in Industrial Process Engineering – Biotechnology from Université de Technologie de Compiègne. She is a full professor at Federal University of Paraná (UFPR), Brazil and coordinates UFPR’s top-rated Graduate Program in Bioprocess Engineering and Biotechnology. She serves as Executive Editor of the journal Biomass Conversion and Biorefinery and Associate Editor of the journals Carbon Capture Science and Technology and Journal of Food Science and Technology. She specializes in fermentative and enzymatic processes, focusing on agro-industrial by-product valorization to produce bioplastics, enzymes, organic acids, and biofuels. Her work has earned over 15,829 citations (Google Scholar, h-index 60), having been recognized in 2024 and 2025 among the world’s Top 2% most influential scientists.