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GS10 Speakers

HRH Princess Sumaya bint El Hassan

Royal Scientific Society (RSS); The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan

Princess Sumaya bint El Hassan is a leading advocate for science as a catalyst for change in the Arab World. She is President of the Royal Scientific Society, Jordan’s leading applied research and testing institution, and Chair of the Board of Trustees of Princess Sumaya University for Technology. The Princess has dedicated herself to engaging with scientists and policymakers, and to fostering an environment in which home-grown solutions can be found for pressing issues faced by Jordan and the region. The Princess is Chair of World Science Forum 2017, which will be held in Jordan in November.

The Princess believes that knowledge and innovation must be ignited by building the confidence of people who often feel excluded from the mainstream in our modern world. She has committed herself to renewing the creative scientific spirit of the Arab and Islamic world in the region’s Golden Age of science. Through her role as vice-Chair of the Jordan Museum, the Princess has initiated a series of exhibitions and outreach programmes to bring science to schools and universities throughout the kingdom.

Dr Reiko Abe

Managing Director, Oriental Consultants India, New Delhi, India

Dr ABE has more than 25 years of work experiences as a Civil Engineer as well as a project management specialist. She has also worked over 20 years of the management, supervision and design for underground structures in abroad countries such as Norway, Taiwan, Qatar, Indonesia and India. She is also safety specialist of construction field. She got the Best Safety Award from Indian Metro Corporation on 2013.  She has two master degrees in Civil Engineering from Kobe University of Japan and Hydropower Engineering from NTNU of Norway and a doctorate in Civil Engineering from Yamaguchi University of JAPAN.

Noriko Arai

National Institute of Informatics, Japan

Dr Noriko Arai is a mathematical logician. She is also known as the founder of Researchmap, which is the largest social network for researchers in Japan. More than 1/4 million researchers have their profiles in Researchmap. APIs of Researchmap are used for many purposes, and the maintenance-free website, “Female Researchers in Japan” (http://women.rois.ac.jp/?lang=english) is one example.

Miyako Asai

Shibaura Institute of Technology

Miyako Asai participated Natsugaku, Summer School for High and junior High School Girls, in summer of 2010 when she was in 11th grade. In 2013, she enrolled in Department of Electronic Engineering, Shibaura Institute of Technology.  Same year, she became a teaching assistant (TA) of Natsugaku. She has been contributed in planning programs offered in Natsugaku. On the days of event, she assisted participants of Natsugaku who were junior and senior high school girls. In addition, she provided tips of how to study STEM subject to those girls during the 3 days seminar. She continued to take part in Natsugaku as the member of the planning and executive committee in the following years and, in 2016, became the leader of Natsugaku TA.
In April, 2017 she started postgraduate study in Division of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Graduate School of Engineering and Science, Shibaura Institute of Technology.  She is now conducting research on development of Brain-Computer Interface.

Dr. Chieko Asakawa

IBM Fellow, IBM Research
IBM Distinguished Service Professor, Carnegie Mellon University

Chieko Asakawa has been instrumental in furthering accessibility research and development for three decades. By challenging traditional thinking on how the visually impaired use technology, she has explored solutions to improve Web accessibility and usability for the visually impaired and others with special needs. Series of pioneering technologies generated under Chieko's leadership significantly contributed in advancing Web accessibility, including groundbreaking work in digital Braille and voice browser. Today, Chieko is focusing on advancing cognitive assistant research to help the blind regain information by augmenting missing or weakened abilities in the real world.
She is a member of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), the Information Processing Society of Japan, and IBM Academy of Technology. She was inducted into the Women in Technology International (WITI) Hall of Fame in 2003. Chieko was appointed to IBM Fellow in 2009, IBM's most prestigious technical honor. In 2013, the government of Japan awarded the Medal of Honor with Purple Ribbon to Chieko for her outstanding contributions to accessibility research, including the development of the voice browser for the visually impaired.

Prof Sveva Avveduto

National Research Council, CNR-IRPPS Rome, Italy

Sveva Avveduto is Research Director at the National Research Council, IRPPS of Italy. Her main research  interests concern science and higher education policy and are focused on studies on human resources for  S&T, mobility issues of scientists, gender issues, science and society. She is the Head of the CNR Research Unit on Human Resources and Knowledge Society. She has been Chair OECD Group on Steering and Funding of Research Institutions and vice-chair OECD Group on Research Institutions and Human Resources. She has been national Expert in OECD Activities concerning postgraduate training, women in science, employment and mobility. She has worked or is currently working as WP leader, in several Projects funded by the European Commission: GENERA, EVIDENCE, CARISMAND, CITYCOP, MAPPING, RESPECT, SMART, CONSENT, SET-DEV. She has been professor at the Graduate School ‘Socialtrends’, University of Rome ‘La Sapienza’ and at the Master on Science, Technology and Innovation at Scuola Nazionale dell’Amministrazione in Rome and Bologna.

Prof Dr Sonoko Dorothea Bellingrath-Kimura

Institute head, Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research, Institute of Land Use Systems, Germany
Professor, Humboldt University of Berlin, Faculty of Life Science Institute of Agriculture and Horticulture, Germany

Prof. Bellingrath-Kimura has been appointed as joint professor of the Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF) and Humboldt University of Berlin, Germany, since 2015. She is the head of the Institute of Land Use Systems. She worked at Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Japan, where she was one of the first tenure- track associate professors. She has been internationally active as visiting professor/researcher at several international universities, such as Cornell University, São Paulo University, and Technical University of Munich. Her main research interest is the cross- and interdisciplinary approach to optimize ecosystem services in agroecosystems. Beside her research activities, she is active as a mentee for early carrier female scientists in various countries.

Alessandro Bello

Project officer of the UNESCO global project STEM and Gender Advancement (SAGA)

Alessandro Bello is the project officer of the UNESCO global project STEM and Gender Advancement (SAGA). He holds a Master degree in Policy Governance and another one in International Relations. He was previously a Consultant for the Science Policy and Capacity Building Program at UNESCO's Montevideo Office (2011-2016).Before joining UNESCO, he worked for the Italian Embassy in Honduras. He has published numerous papers related to Science, Technology and Innovation policy, and on women in science. He has also presented several papers at international conferences and congresses, and has conducted.

Dr Francesca Borgonovi

Senior Policy Analyst, Early Childhood and Schools Division, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

Francesca Borgonovi is a Senior Policy Analyst in the Directorate for Education and Skills at the OECD where she has been responsible for data analysis and analytical work in the PISA and the Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC), with a particular focus on: gender and socio-economic disparities in academic achievement; outcomes of migrant and language minority students; and student engagement and motivation. Her recent publications include The ABC of Gender Equality in Education: Aptitude, Behaviour, Confidence and Immigrant Students at School - Easing the Journey Towards Integration. Before joining the OECD Francesca was based at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). Francesca has been Adjunct Professor at the Paris School of International Affairs at SciencesPo (Paris) and held visiting positions at the Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley and the London School of Economics. Francesca holds a PhD from the London School of Economics.

Sophie Brière

Associate Professor, Faculty of Business Administration, Laval University, Quebec, Canada

Sophie Brière is an associate professor in the management department of the Faculty of Business Administration at Laval University. She is Chairholder Women and Organization. She has a master's and doctoral degree from the National School of Public Administration and a post-doctorate from the University of Ottawa's School of International Development and Globalization. She holds the academic coordination of graduate program about Women and Organisation, international development and humanitarian action and project management. During her career, she worked as a consultant, trainer and researcher with organizations and universities in various countries in Latin America, Africa and Asia. For the past twenty years, she has especially developed expertise about the gender equality in organizations in various sectors, gender and international development projects, support for women's entrepreneurship and the impact of women's presence on board of directors.

Prof Toni Bruce

Professor of Sociology of Sport, University of Auckland, New Zealand, WomenSport International Executive Board, Women in Sport Aotearoa Board

Toni Bruce is Professor of Sociology of Sport at the University of Auckland in New Zealand. She serves on the Boards of WomenSport International and New Zealand’s recently-launched national advocacy organization for women and girls in sport, Women in Sport Aotearoa (Ngā Wāhine Hākinakina o Aotearoa).  She is also a former President of the North American Society for the Sociology of Sport. She has 25 years experience researching media coverage of women’s sport and co-led an 18-country comparative research project on Olympic media coverage. She is passionate about building networks of researchers to understand national differences and international patterns in media coverage and about raising the cultural visibility of sportswomen. She earned her PhD and Masters degrees in Sociology of Sport from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA, after completing a Bachelor of Physical Education at the University of Otago, New Zealand.

Dr Silaporn Buasai

Deputy Director on Social Innovation, Thailand Research Fund, Thailand

Dr Silaporn Buasai is Deputy Director on Social Innovation at the Thailand Research Fund. She was a pioneer in Area Based Collaborative Research for Development and an advocate for Area-Based Reform as a solution to Thailand's problem of widening gap between urban and rural areas. She also served as Member of the National Reform Council during 2014-15 and chaired a sub-commission on Budgetary Reform and Local Finance. Dr Silaporn received a Bachelor's Degree in Political Science, Chulalongkorn University with 1st class honor, a Master's Degree in International Development Education from School of Education, Stanford University, and a Ph.D. in Educational Foundation and Policy Studies, Florida State University. She currently chairs a Committee on Networking for Area Based Reform for the Royal Thai Government and also in charge of the research program on Innovation for Area Based Development at TRF.

Wolfgang Burtscher

Deputy Director-General, European Commission, Directorate- General for Research and Innovation

Wolfgang Burtscher is Deputy Director-General of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Research and Innovation, responsible for Open Innovation, Open Science and Open to the World.   An Austrian national, Wolfgang Burtscher acted before joining DG Research and Innovation as a Director in DG Agriculture of the European Commission since 2000.  Before his Commission career Mr Burtscher was representative of the Länder at the Austrian Permanent Representation to the EU. From 1992 to 1996 he was Director of European Affairs in the Vorarlberg administration. Previously, from 1990 to 1992, he was a legal advisor at the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) in Geneva, at the time of negotiations on the European Economic Area (EEA). He focused particularly on the free circulation of goods and capital and on competition issues.  Between 1983-1990 he was a lecturer in International and European Law at the University of Innsbruck.  Wolfgang Burtscher holds a doctorate in law and also has a qualification from the Institut Européen des Hautes Etudes Internationales in Nice.

Sir Philip Campbell

Editor-in-Chief, Nature

Sir Philip Campbell is Editor-in-Chief of Nature and of Nature Research. His areas of responsibility include the editorial content of Nature, and assuring the long-term quality of all Nature publications. He is based in London.  He has a BSc in aeronautical engineering, an MSc in astrophysics and a PhD and postdoctoral research in upper atmospheric physics. Following his research, he became the Physical Sciences Editor of Nature and then, in 1988, the founding editor of Physics World, the international magazine of the UK Institute of Physics. He returned to Nature to take on his current role in 1995.

Sunita R. Cherian

Senior Vice President & Global Head – Group Human Resources at Wipro Limited

Sunita R. Cherian is Senior Vice President & Global Head – Group Human Resources at Wipro Limited. Her experience over the last two decades spans Sales, Human Capital Strategy, Shared Services, Sustainability and Diversity & Inclusion.  A Human Resources leader since 2000, Sunita helped shape the HR organization of Wipro Limited and has led some impactful change management initiatives. She has been the Business HR Head for various Divisions of Wipro, including a start-up unit where she designed and established the talent and leadership strategy. Her current responsibilities include developing a successful Talent Management Strategy, designing Global Compensation and Benefits Plans, creating a healthy Leadership Pipeline, Organization Design Capability, integrated Career Management Framework, Diversity & Inclusion charter as well as establishing the Global HR Shared Services for Wipro Corporation.

Kellina M. Craig-Henderson, Ph.D.

Deputy Assistant Director, National Science Foundation, Social, Behavioral and Economic sciences Directorate

Kellina M. Craig-Henderson is a former Professor of Psychology who currently serves as the Deputy Assistant Director for the Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences Directorate of the National Science Foundation (NSF).  She previously served as the Deputy Division Director of the Social and Economic Sciences Division of SBE before transitioning into the role of Director for NSF’s Tokyo Regional Office. Prior to undertaking full-time Federal service at NSF, she was promoted to the rank of Full Professor in the Department of Psychology at Howard University.  Dr Craig-Henderson graduated from Wesleyan University in Connecticut before attending the Master’s Program in the Social Sciences at the University of Chicago where she earned a M.A. Immediately following that she attended Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana and earned an M.S. and a Ph.D. in Psychology. She served on the faculty in the Department of Psychology as well as the Afro-American Studies and Research program at the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana. This was followed by an appointment in the Psychology Department of California State University in Long Beach.

Dr Guylaine Demers

Professor, Department of physical education, Laval University, Canada

Dr Guylaine Demers has been a Professor at the Department of Physical Education of Laval University since September 2001. She is the actual Director of the Undergraduate Competency-based coach education program, namely the Baccalaureate in Sports Coaching. Dr Demers takes particular interest in issues of women in sport, coach education and homophobia in sport. Dr Demers is actively involved in promoting gender equity and coach education in sport within her home province of Quebec. She currently serves as Chair of Egale-Action, Quebec’s Association for the Advancement of Women in Sport and Physical Activity. She also sits on the editorial board of the Canadian Journal for Women in Coaching.

The Honourable Kirsty Duncan

Minister of Science, Represents the riding of Etobicoke North

Kirsty Duncan was an Associate Professor of Health Studies at the University of Toronto and the former Research Director for the AIC Institute of Corporate Citizenship at the Rotman School of Management. A renowned international speaker, she has lectured for such organizations as the National Geographic Society, the Government of Japan, and the Young Presidents' Organization.  She sat on the Advisory Board for Pandemic Flu for the Conference Board of Canada, and the University of Toronto, and has helped organizations throughout Canada and the United States prepare for a possible flu pandemic. She sat on the boards of the Indigenous Cooperative on the Environment, the Scottish Studies Foundation, the St. Andrew's Society of Toronto, and the Toronto Foundation for School Success. She co-chaired the 2006 Fraser Mustard Awards Gala in support of student nutrition and in October 2007, she chaired "Feeding Toronto's Hungry Students Week".  Ms. Duncan is passionate about helping build resilient communities and taking action on climate change. She has helped provide food, shelter and education to Toronto's youth, and served on the Nobel Prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
Ms. Duncan holds a doctorate in geography from the University of Edinburgh.

Ryoichi Fujii

President, Research Organization of Information and Systems (ROIS), Japan

Ryoichi Fujii is the President of the Research Organization of Information and Systems that is a parent organization of four national institutes (the National Institute of Polar Research, the National Institute of Informatics, the Institute of Statistical Mathematics and the National Institute of Genetics) and two centers (the Transdisciplinary Research Integration Center and the Database Center for Life Science). He has received his B.Sc, M.Sc and D.Sc from the University of Tokyo. His scholarly interest is the solar-terrestrial physics in space science. He served as a professor and a vice-president of Nagoya University before becoming the President of ROIS in April 2017. He is currently a council member of the Science Council of Japan.

Hideaki Fujisawa

Director, Economic and Social Policy Office Economic and Industrial Policy Bureau, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), Japan

Hideaki Fujisawa is Director of Economic and Social Policy Office that implements policies on promoting Diversity Management in private enterprises. After graduating from the University of Tokyo in 1996, he joined the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. The policy areas that have mainly been involved are international trade policy including Middle East (working at embassy in Tehran, designing new policy on Japanese business in ​​emerging markets), environmental policy (global warming, energy policy, etc.), macroeconomic policy (growth strategy, diversity management, etc.). He has engaged in the incumbent since October 2015.

Ruiping Gao

Vice President, National Natural Science Foundation of China
Committee Member, Committee of Female S&T Researchers under China Association for Science and Technology

Ruiping Gao is the Vice President of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC). Prof. Gao received her B.Sc and master degree from the Northeastern University of China, and received her Ph.D from University of Science and Technology Beijing, respectively. From September 1999 to September 2000, Prof. Gao worked at the Georgia Institute of Technology as a visiting scholar.  Prof. Gao is engaged in research on material science and management on science fund, has successively carried out research in metal materials, high-performance ceramic materials in Central Iron & Steel Research Institute, and carried out research in nano-materials in Georgia Institute of Technology. During her work in NSFC, Prof. Gao has organized research on development strategy of material science, devoted herself in setting up rules and regulations at the same time, strengthening project management, and promoting the standardization and refinement of science fund management. Prof. Gao has been advocating the legitimate rights and interests of female researchers, and making her due contribution to stimulation of the enthusiasm of female researchers and creation of a good environment where female researchers are able to play an effective role.

Rowena Cristina L. Guevara

Undersecretary for Research and Development, Department of Science and Technology, Philippines

DR. ROWENA CRISTINA L. GUEVARA is the Undersecretary for Research and Development of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), on special detail from the University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman where she is a Professor of Electrical and Electronics Engineering. Guevara holds a BS Electrical Engineering and MSEE degrees from UP Diliman and PhDEE from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Her area of specialization is speech and audio signal processing, time-frequency analysis and synthesis.  She served as the first woman Dean of the UP College of Engineering and has been the recipient of several awards in engineering and education, including the Metrobank Foundation Search for Outstanding Teachers of the Philippines. She was the proponent and first program leader of the Engineering R&D for Technology, a consortium for graduate engineering scholarship program of DOST since 2007.

Michinari Hamaguchi

Chairperson of the Council for Science and Technology, MEXT, Japan

Michinari Hamaguchi earned his PhD in medicine from Nagoya University. He was appointed Research Associate at the Nagoya University School of Medicine in 1980, and since then, he had been working at Nagoya University, except for the time he pursued his research at the Rockefeller University in the U.S. from 1985-1988. He served as the President of Nagoya University from Apr. 2009 – Mar. 2015 before becoming the President of JST in Oct. 2015. His scholarly interest is Pathological Medical Chemistry. He currently serves as Chairperson of the Council for Science and Technology, Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) in Japan.

Dr Wha-Jin Han

President, Center for Women In Science, Engineering and Technology, Republic of Korea

Wha-Jin Han is the president of the Center for Women In Science, Engineering and Technology (WISET), Korea. She obtained a BS and MS degree majoring in chemistry from the Korea University and PhD in physical chemistry division from the University of California at Los Angeles, USA. Since 1993, she has worked as a senior research fellow in Korea Environment Institute (KEI), which is funded by the government, as an expert in environment field(air pollution and climate change policy) and also has been a vice-president of KEI for a long time. For women in STEM field, she has served as a vice-president in the Korea Federation of Women’s Science & Technology Association. She is currently a member of the Advisory Committee for women policy of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family.

Dr. Yuko Harayama

Council for Science, Technology and Innovation

Yuko Harayama rejoined in 2013 the Council for Science, Technology and Innovation (CSTI), Cabinet Office of Japan, as an Executive Member. She is the former Deputy Director of the Directorate for Science, Technology and Industry at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). She is a Legion D’Honneur recipient (Chevalier).  Previously, she was Professor in the Management Science and Technology Department at the Graduate School of Engineering of Tohoku University. Prior to joining Tohoku University, she was a Fellow at the Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry in Japan. Dr Harayama holds a PhD in education sciences and a PhD in economics, both from the University of Geneva.

Dr Clem Herman

Senior Lecturer, School of Computing and Communications, Director of eSTEeM (Open University Centre for STEM Pedagogy), The Open University, UK

Dr Herman has led on a range of projects to support the participation and progression of women in STEM, and her research on the impact of career breaks and women returners has been widely published. Prior to working at the Open University, Clem was founder and Director of the Manchester Women’s Electronic Village Hall, a community telecentre providing ICT training and access for women. Her recent research and publications focus on the employability and careers of women SET professionals especially on the impact of career breaks and experiences of women returners. Her current research project, with Parvati Raghuram, is a comparative study of Gender, Skilled Migration and IT in India and the UK. Clem is the Open University’s Athena SWAN Champion and chair of the university’s Gender Equality Steering Group. She is also the founder and Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Gender Science and Technology.

Asako Hoshino

Senior Vice President, Nissan Motor Corporation

Asako Hoshino joined Nippon Credit Bank, Co., Ltd after graduation from the economic department of Keio University. She receives her MBA of Marketing, Management and Finance from J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management Northwestern University in 1988. Joined Marketing Intelligence Corporation as Senior Consultant of Customized Research Service Dept. in 1989 and took the position of Director in charge of Market Research Div. in 1996. Took up the post of Executive Director and Chief Marketing Officer of Marketing Intelligence Corporation in 2001. Joined Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. and served as Vice President in charge of Market Intelligence Dept. in 2002. She took a corporate role as Corporate Vice President in charge of Market Intelligence Dept. in 2006. Became Corporate Vice President in charge of Corporate Market Intelligence Dept. in 2012. Appointed to be Senior Vice President as head of Japan Marketing & Sales in 2015, and expanded her responsibility as head of Nissan Japan business in 2016.

Sarah Dickinson Hyams

Head of Equality Charters, Athena SWAN, Equality Challenge Unit, UK

Sarah Dickinson Hyams is the Head of Equality Charters at ECU, leading the strategic development of and overseeing all work relating to the delivery of ECU’s equality charter schemes, the Athena SWAN Charter (an international charter for gender equality) and the Race Equality Charter, both highly successful, systemic change programmes recognised for their ability to positively affect cultural change and values. The Athena SWAN Charter was established in 2005 to encourage and recognise commitment to advancing the careers of women in science, technology, engineering, maths and medicine (STEMM) employment in higher education and research. The Athena SWAN Charter expanded in 2015 to recognise advancement of gender equality representation, progression and success for all.

Prof. Keiko Ikeda

Prof. of Social Geography, Faculty of Education, Shizuoka University, Japan; Co-representative, Training Center for Gender and Disaster Risk Reduction, Japan

Keiko Ikeda is Professor of Social Geography at Faculty of Education, Shizuoka University, Japan, where she concurrently serves as a faculty member for the Centre for Integrated Research and Training for Disaster Risk Management. Her main research interests concern gender-and- diversity-responsive disaster risk management, gendered construction of disaster vulnerability and resilience, and community-based disaster risk management in Japan and South Asian countries. She is currently a president of the International Society for Gender Studies, Japan. She is a co-representative of the Training Center for Gender and Disaster Risk Reduction.  Standing on more than 20 years’ experience of empirical research and field practice on gender issues in disaster, she is recently devoted to gendering policies and plans for disaster risk reduction and empowering local community for building inclusive disaster risk management systems.

Prof Kumie Inose

Prof Kumie Inose – Vice-President, Science Council of Japan

Kumie Inose is a professor of English Department at Konan University and a Vice-President of the Science Council of Japan. With a doctorate degree in History from Kyoto University, she specializes in modem British history and seeks to develop new analyses of the British Empire through an interdisciplinary approach that integrates cultural, social and intellectual history, postcolonial and gender studies. She has been engaged in a wide range of SCJ activities, including participation in projects on a gender-equal society, gender-related issues, national security, research integrity, the recognition of history, and history education bridging between secondary and higher education. She is also a member of the Committee on Freedom and Responsibility in the conduct of Science(CFRS) of ICSU.

Mikiko Ishikawa

Professor of Environmental Design, in the Department of Integrated Science and Engineering for Sustainable Society, Chuo University, Japan

Mikiko Ishikawa has been a Professor of Environmental Design, in the Department of Integrated Science and Engineering for Sustainable Society, Chuo University, Japan, since 2013. Her areas of specialization are urban environmental planning and landscape planning and environmental design. She completed her Master’s of Landscape Architecture at the Harvard Graduate School of Design and a doctorate in Landscape Architecture (Agrobiology) at the Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, University of Tokyo. She is certified as a Landscape Architect and City Planner by the Ministry of Science and Technology in Japan.  After serving as special full-time professor in the Faculty of Architecture, Kogakuin University, professor on the Faculty of Environment and Information Studies, Keio University, and professor at the Department of Urban Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, University of Tokyo. She was a member of the Science Council of Japan and served as the chairwoman of the Iwanuma Disaster Recovery Council, as well as a member of the Miyagi Prefecture Disaster Recovery Council.

Prof Keiko Itani

Professor, Vice president, Kyoto University of Education, Japan

Keiko Itani is a Professor at the Kyoto University of Education and a Vice-President of KUE in charge of student services and international exchange.  She established the Japan Society for Sport and Gender Studies and acted as a President of the society from 2008 through 2014.  She specializes in the pedagogy of physical education and her current research focuses on gender politics for physical education curriculum.  Her research paper titled “Local political issues related to the ‘Improvement of children's physical fitness’, focusing on conditions in metropolitan Tokyo and Osaka prefecture” was awarded the Japan Society of Physical Education, Health and Sport Sciences Prize in 2015.

Masako Ito

Professor, Center for Diversity & Inclusion, Nagasaki University, Japan

Professor Ito is a radiologist and she has been worked in the field of imaging diagnosis. Her major research field is osteoporosis, especially the evaluation of bone structural property and its related biomechanical properties, and of the effect of osteoporosis agents on these properties. She became Director of Medical Work-Life-Balance Center, Nagasaki University Hospital in 2012, and has been providing support doctors, especially female doctor employment, to keep up their motivation for decent work while also emphasizing private life. From 2014, as vice president of Nagasaki University, she has been working on gender equality and promotion of diversity, and her group also perform “science course selection support program for junior and senior high school girls”.

Kimio Ito

Professor, Faculty of Contemporary Sociology, Kyoto Sangyo University.  Professor Emeritus, Kyoto University and Osaka University ,Japan.

In April 2017 Professor Kimio ITO took up Professor of the Department of Contemporary Sociology, Faculty of Contemporary Sociology Kyoto Sangyo University, and he is now Professor Emeritus of Kyoto University and Osaka University. He is specializing in Cultural Sociology , Political Sociology and Gender Studies.

Prof Futoshi Taga

Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Letters, Professor of the Department of Education and Culture, Kansai University, Japan

Dr Futoshi Taga is a professor of the Department of Education and Culture, Faculty of Letters, Kansai University, Japan. For over 25 years, he has vigorously published research findings in sociology of education, masculinities and gender studies. He got his PhD in Education from Kyushu University, Japan in 1999. Previously, he was an assistant professor at Kyushu University, an associate professor at Kurume University, Japan, and a visiting scholar at The University of Sydney, Australia. He has also participated in civic activities to promote gender equality especially from the critical perspectives on masculinities. He has served as members of gender equality councils in several local governments in Japan so far and is the chairperson of Osaka Municipal Gender Equality Council. He is a co-founder of White Ribbon Campaign Japan, which is a Japan chapter of the global anti-domestic violence movement.

Prof Norichika Kanie

Professor at the Graduate School of Media and Governance, Keio University

Norichika Kanie is a professor at the Graduate School of Media and Governance, Keio University. He is also a Senior Research Fellow at United Nations University Institute for the Advanced Study of Sustainability (UNU-IAS). Before joining Keio, he worked at the Graduate School of Decision Science and Technology, Tokyo Institute of Technology, and Department of Policy Studies, The University of Kitakyushu. His research focuses on earth system governance, and was the project leader of a strategic research project on Sustainable Development Goals funded by the Ministry of Environment, Japan (Environment Research and Technology Development Fund, FY2013-2015). He received his Ph.D. in Media and Governance from the Keio University.

Dr Anders Karlsson

Vice President for Strategic Alliances, Global Academic Relations, Elsevier

Anders Karlsson, PhD, joined in 2012 Elsevier as Vice President for Strategic Alliances, Global Academic Relations, to support Elsevier’s relations with key stakeholders in the Asia-Pacific region. Before joining Elsevier, he was for five years Counselor for Science and Innovation at the Embassy of Sweden in Tokyo (Japan), with a regional responsibility for Japan and South Korea. Before serving as Science Counselor, he was for 10 years Professor in Quantum Photonics at the Royal Institute of Technology - KTH, Stockholm, Sweden. He has a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering and a M.Sc. in Engineering Physics, both from the Royal Institute of Technology - KTH, Stockholm, Sweden. He has a strong interest in the societal impact of science and is a frequent speaker on topics such as research management, science and innovation policy, and currently is also involved in Elsevier’s work on the support to the United Nations sustainable development goals.

Prof Teruo Kishi

Science and Technology Advisor to the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan

Prof Teruo Kishi is Science and Technology Advisor to the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan from September 2015.  Concurrently, he is the President of Innovative Structural Materials Association (ISMA).  He is also the Program Director for SIP (Cross-ministerial Strategic Innovation Promotion Program) at Cabinet Office, Government of Japan.  He is NIMS Advisor Emeritus of the National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS) after serving as the first President of NIMS from April 2001 till June 2009 and Professor Emeritus, the University of Tokyo.

Seema Kumar

Vice President, Innovation, Global Health and Science Policy Communication, Johnson & Johnson

Seema is Vice President of Innovation, Global Health and Science Policy Communication for Johnson & Johnson. In this role, she drives Johnson & Johnson's reputation as a pioneer and partner of choice in innovation, research and development (R&D), and public health.  Her responsibilities include enterprise-wide communications regarding Johnson & Johnson innovation and R&D in pharmaceuticals, medical devices and consumer products, as well as medical safety and ethics, domestic and international policy affecting the sciences, and public health. She leads communication for the Office of the Chief Scientific Officer, including the Johnson & Johnson Innovation Centers and the Office of the Chief Medical Officer. As a champion of science and innovation, STEM, global health, and mentorship for women and minorities, she is a frequent guest speaker and lecturer at international forums.

Prof Gilda Lasat-Uy

Professor and Director, Graduate Studies Program, College of Human Kinetics, University of the Philippines Diliman

Gilda Lasat-Uy is a Professor of Leisure Science, Physical Activity in Healthy Lifestyle Promotion, Active Ageing and presently the Director of Graduate Studies Program, College of Human Kinetics, University of the Philippines Diliman. She is the Chair of the Wellness and Healthy Lifestyle Program in the workplace of the 8 campuses of the UP System. Further, she is a Steering Committee Member of the Department of Health’s National Coalition for the Prevention and Control of Non-Communicable Diseases (Healthy Lifestyle Promotion). With a Master of Education (Comparative Physical Education/Leisure Studies) from the Yokohama National University as a Japan Government scholar and a Bachelor of Education (major Physical Education/minor Health Education) at UPD, Prof. Uy has special trainings in Exercise Gerontology, Post-Disaster Intervention through Sports, Dance Movement Therapy, and was a Visiting Professor at the Woosong University Korea. She handles graduate courses on Research Methods, Contemporary Problems in Leisure and Leisure Education.

Prof Maryse Lassonde

President, Royal Society of Canada; Director, Quebec Natural Sciences and Technology Granting Agency, Canada

Professor Lassonde completed a Bachelors degree in Psychology at the Université de Montréal and a PhD in neuropsychology at Stanford University. She went on to become professor first at the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières (UQTR, 1977-1988) and then at the Université de Montréal where she became Professor Emeritus in 2013. She has been named honorary professor at the University of Auckland and Invited Professor at the Université de Paris V in 2007. Since the beginning of her career, Professor Lassonde has studied several topics, including cognitive development in infants and the effects of sports concussions on the brain. She has published 7 books, and over 300 book chapters and articles in scientific journals.

She is a Fellow of the Canadian Psychological Association (1994), of the Royal Society of Canada (1997), of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences (2010) and held a Canada Research Chair in Developmental Neuropsychology from 2001 to 2013. She was president of the Association francophone pour le Savoir (ACFAS) in 1993 and president of the National Order of Quebec Council (2008-2010). She has received several other awards and distinctions. Among them, Professor Lassonde was named Chevalière, National Order of Quebec in 1999 and Officer of the Order of Canada in 2012. Since January 2012, Professor Lassonde has become the Scientific Director of the Quebec Natural Sciences and Technology granting agency. She is the President of the Royal Society of Canada (2015-2017).

Heisook Lee

Principal Research Fellow, Center for Gendered Innovation in Science & Technology Research (GISTeR); WIE-Up Professor, Handong University, Pohang, Korea; Professor Emeritus, Ewha Womans University, Seoul, Korea

Having served as the founding president of the Center for WISET (Women in Science, Engineering and Technology), Professor Heisook Lee now focuses on Gendered Innovations research in STEM fields at GISTeR. Professor Lee was a co-organizer of the Gender Summit 6 Asia-Pacific in 2015. Serving as the founding director of the Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) programme from 2001 to 2010 and was president of the Korea Federation of Women Scientists associations (KOFWST) from 2006 to 2007, Professor Lee has been an advocate of gender equality in STEM. She was formerly a member of the Presidential Advisory Council on Science & Technology and National Science & Technology Commission.  She received her BS, MSc, and PhD degrees in Mathematics from Ewha Womans University, Korea, and the University of British Columbia and Queen’s University, Canada, in 1971, 1974 and 1978 respectively. As a Professor of Mathematics at Ewha Womans University in Seoul Korea, Prof. Lee was Dean of the College of Natural Sciences, and Dean of Research affairs between 1997 and 2001. She also served as Dean of the Graduate School from 2006 to 2008. She served as chief Editor of Communications of the Korean Mathematical Society (KMS) from 1986 to 1988 and as Chief Editor of the Journal of KMS from 1994 to 1996.

Prof Angela Ki Che Leung

Director and Chair Professor, Hong Kong Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong

Prof Angela Ki Che Leung is currently Director of the Hong Kong Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences, Chair Professor of History, Joseph Needham-Philip Mao Professor at the University of Hong Kong, and Academician of the Academia Sinica, Taiwan.  She received her B.A. in history at the University of Hong Kong and her doctoral degree (History) at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, Paris.  She was Director of the Sun Yat-sen Institute for Social Sciences and Philosophy at the Academia Sinica, research fellow at the Institute of History and Philology, Professor of History at the National Taiwan University and Chair Professor of History at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.  She published books and articles on charitable organizations in the Ming-Qing period and on the history of medicine and diseases in China of the late imperial and modern periods.

Dr Mario Liong

Associate Professor, College of International Relations, Ritsumeikan University, Japan

Mario Liong is an associate professor at the College of International Relations of Ritsumeikan University in Japan. He was a post-doctoral researcher at Umeå Centre for Gender Studies, Umeå University, Sweden. He serves as an editorial board member and reviewer for the Journal of Gender Studies. His research interests include critical studies of men and masculinities, fatherhood, marriage and family, gender in transnational migration, and youth and sexualities. He has published in international academic journals such as Gender, Place, and Culture, Marriage and Family Review, and the Journal of Gender Studies. His new book, Chinese Fatherhood, Gender and Family: Father Mission (published by Palgrave Macmillan in 2017), explores the ways Chinese men make sense of and practise fatherhood within the context of changing gender conventions and socio-cultural conditions.

Eudy Mabuza

Minister Counsellor: Science and Technology at the Embassy of the Republic of South Africa

Ms Mabuza has ten and half years of progressive experience in the Public Sector engaging and mediating with international agencies in an effort to increasing bilateral and donor relations towards the South African Science System. She has been dealing with a wide range of policy issues; long term development planning, as well as specific innovative public capacity development issues. She is currently serving as a Minister Counsellor: Science and Technology at the Embassy of the Republic of South Africa where she is seconded by the Department of Science and Technology. Previously, she was a Deputy Director: Development Partnerships in the International Cooperation and Resources Programme within the DST. She also served as an Assistant Director: Bilateral Cooperation within the same Programme.

Dr Wayne Martino

Professor of Equity and Social Justice Education, Faculty of Education and Department of Women’s Studies and Feminist Research, The University of Western Ontario, Canada

Dr Martino teaches in the Faculty of Education and in the Department of Women’s Studies and Feminist Research at the University of Western Ontario in Canada. He researches in the field of gender and sexuality studies in Education. Since the early 90s his research has focused on boys’ education, masculinities and schooling, and, more recently on addressing gender diversity and gender democratization in the education system. He has published extensively on these topics, and is senior editor of the international book series: Routledge Critical Studies in Gender and Sexuality in Education (New York). He was also one of the chief investigators of an Australian government funded study in 2000, entitled: Addressing the Educational Needs of Boys.  His books include: What about the boys? Issues of masculinity and schooling (with Bob Meyenn, 2001, Open University Press, UK); So what's a boy? Addressing issues of masculinity and schooling (2003, with Maria Pallotta-Chiarolli, Open University Press, UK); Boys and schooling: Beyond structural reform (2009, with Bob Lingard and Martin Mills, Palgrave, USA); The problem with boys’ education: Beyond the backlash (2009, with Michael Kehler & Marcus Weaver Hightower, Routledge, USA) and Gender, race and the politics of role modeling: The influence of male teachers (with Goli Rezai-Rashti, New York: Routledge).

Chisato Miyaura

Vice President, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology (TUAT), Japan

Chisato Miyaura is Vice President of Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, where she has been a professor since March 2004. She has also been a representative of the university’s Women's Future Development Organization since 2009, and was an Advisor to the President for Gender Equality Support Affairs on behalf of the university from July 2008 to March 2014. Prior to that, she was Director of the university’s Women's Career Support and Development Center, from September 2006 to March 2009.She was previously associate professor of Tokyo University of Pharmacy and Life Sciences, and before that was an assistant professor and senior assistant professor at Showa University, Japan. She obtained her Bachelors of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Tokyo University of Science, in March 1978.

Yukari Mochi

Associate, Economic & Industrial Research Department, Development Bank of Japan Inc., Japan

Ms. Yukari Mochi is a research analyst in the Economic & Industrial Research Department of Development Bank of Japan where she works on research on chemical industry and women’s participation in workplace and corporate performance. She has an MA in Management from University of York, UK.

Commissioner Carlos Moedas

Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation, European Union.

Carlos Moedas is the European Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation. His responsibilities include ensuring that research funding programmes, notably Horizon 2020, contribute to the European Commission's jobs, growth and investment package. He is also responsible for promoting the international excellence of the EU's research and science, and strengthening research capacities and innovation across all Member States. Other duties include evaluating how EU‑funded research can be used more effectively; ensuring that Commission proposals are based on scientific evidence, as well as encouraging private companies to apply research to meet challenges faced by society and create more high-quality jobs.  Commissioner Moedas is part of EU Project Teams on Jobs, Growth, Investment and Competitiveness; Euro and Social Dialogue; the Digital Single Market; Energy Union; Better Regulation and Interinstitutional Affairs, as well as the team on Budget and Human Resources. Previously, he was Secretary of State to the Prime Minister of Portugal, as well as Member of the Cabinet of Ministers (Council of Ministers) and Head of ESAME, the special unit in charge of monitoring the Portuguese Adjustment Programme. He holds an MBA from Harvard University Graduate School of Business Administration, and also attended Ecole Nationale Des Ponts Et Chaussees and Instituto Superior Tecnico De Lisboa.

Prof Seng Mom

Royal University of Agriculture, Cambodia

Dr Seng Mom earn her BSc study from Royal University of Agriculture, Cambodia. While post graduate studies, both MSc and PhD degree from Goettingen University, Germany in the field of Animal Nutrition.  She has been worked at Royal University of Agriculture, Cambodia since 1996. She serve as vice rector since 2011. With her responsibility as head of office till vice rector in charge for planning and international cooperation, she has strengthened and expand of networking and cooperation student and staff exchange and research and development cooperation. She was initiator and founder for the National Scientific Conference for Agriculture and Rural Development since 2014 and annually take place in Cambodia. She served as regional vice president for International Society of Environmental and Rural Development since 2012 till 2016. She is leading member for the 10 year university strategic plan, and member of development committee for Ministry of Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries 2030 strategic plan. With commitment and effort, Dr. Seng Mom got award as SEARCA's Emerging Leaders in Transition Economies (ELITE) at SEARCA's golden anniversary celebration on 25 November 2016.

Hatsumi Mori

Professor, the Institute for Solid State Physics, University of Tokyo, Japan.

Hatsumi Mori is a professor of the Institute for Solid State Physics, the University of Tokyo, Japan, since 2010. After completing her undergraduate studies at Ochanomizu Women University majoring in chemistry, she received her Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Tokyo in 1992. She has worked on the development and the characterization of novel organic functional materials, such as organic (super)conductors, magnets, and dielectrics, and exploring the novel non-equilibrium phenomena by external stimuli. She was the head of the gender equality committee in the Physical Society of Japan from 2013 to 2015. She is a member of Science Council of Japan, a researcher of Research Center of Science Systems in Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, and also served as an adviser of the promotion program of science for junior and high school girls in Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST).

Dr Kimiko Murofushi

The National University Corporation Ochanomizu University

Dr Murofushi received her Ph.D. from The University of Tokyo in 1976 and M.S. from Ochanomizu University in 1972.  From 1977 she was Research Associate of The Public Health Research Institute of the City of New York. From 1996 she was Professor, Dean, Trustee, at Ochanomizu University. From April 2015 she is the President of Ochanomizu University.   In 1999 and 2005, she was Visiting Professor at Université de Strasbourg (formerly known as Université Louis Pasteur), and given Chevalier dans l'Ordre des Palmes Académiques in France.   She was the Board Member of Bridgestone Corporation from 2011 to 2015, and of Governors of Japan Broadcasting Corporation (NHK) from 2013 to 2016. From 2016 she is a member of The Liaison Conference for the Promotion of Gender Equality of Cabinet Office. She established a university-led venture company in 2012. Her specialized field is Cell biology, Biochemistry, Science education.

Yoko Nameki

IBM Distinguished Engineer, Collaboration and Talent Solutions, IBM Japan

Yoko Nameki is an IBM Distinguished Engineer in the field of enterprise collaboration solutions. She has helped clients in many industries to implement solutions that create a more engaged workforce, by focusing on the design, architecture, and deployment of solutions for next generation collaboration environments. She is also a leadership team member of IBM Academy of Technology, a society of IBM technical leaders, organized to advance the understanding of key technical areas. She works as the leader of COSMOS, the women’s engineering and researcher community of IBM Japan and a steering committee member of JWEF(Japan Women Engineers Forum).

Mathias Wullum Nielsen

Department of History, Stanford University

Mathias Wullum Nielsen is a postdoctoral researcher in Gendered Innovations at Stanford University. He is a sociologist by training and holds a PhD degree in social science. Nielsen has published numerous articles on the topic of gender and science, including pieces in Science and Public Policy, Studies in Higher Education, Gender, Work and Organization, PNAS and Nature. His current research focuses on how gender-related changes in science demographics and shifts in knowledge production are connected. Nielsen is also involved in the ongoing efforts of the Gendered Innovations project in developing practical methods of sex and gender analysis stimulating responsible research in a wide range of science and technology fields.

Prof Than Nwe

Executive Member of the Myanmar Academy of Arts and Science (MAAS)

Prof Than Nwe   BA, BL, PhD (D Litt.) and LLM (University College London, UK) is a retired professor from Law Department, University of Yangon. She is a member of PhD Steering Committee at University of Yangon.  She was a Central Executive Committee member and the head of Legal Affairs at Myanmar Women’s Affairs Federation. She also served as a Member of Myanmar National Human Rights Commission from 2011 September to 2016 October. She has experience in teaching and educating of the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) since 2005 and she has done some research papers and published in Journals of MAAS and other academic Journals.  She has involved in some legal drafting such as National Education Law 2014, Child Law and rules and Anti-trafficking in Person Law 2005.She involved in local and international workshops, seminars, conferences and summits on women in different capacity. Prof Than Nwe has done some research papers on children and women such as Legal Status of Myanmar Women, The Role of Myanmar Women and the Legal Profession, Rights of Women under Myanmar Customary Law, read at University, National and ASEAN levels.

Dr. Sonja Ochsenfeld-Repp

Deputy Head of Division Quality and Programme Management, German Research Foundation

Dr. Sonja Ochsenfeld-Repp has been Deputy Head of Division Quality and Programme Management, German Research Foundation, since 2016. Her focus is on the promotion of gender equality, early career researchers, international cooperation and on the implementation of the federal-state initiative “Excellence Strategy”. Before she was Deputy Director of the European Liaison Office of the German Research Organisations (Kowi) and Head of the Bonn office (2012-2015). She was coordinator of the KoWi-Part of the National Contact Point for the European Research Council (ERC). Her priorities lay on the funding opportunities of the ERC and the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions. She is a fully qualified lawyer by training and has been awarded a doctoral degree from the University of Bonn in 2007. She has participated as a speaker or moderator in several national, European and international conferences.

Prof Takashi Onishi

President, Science Council of Japan

Professor Takashi ONISHI is President of Science Council of Japan (SCJ). He is also President of Toyohashi University of Technology since April 2014. With a Dr.Eng. degree given by The University of Tokyo in 1980, he was a professor at Department of Urban Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo for many years. He finished his duty there in 2013 and became Emeritus Professor.

Dr Hee-Young Paik

Director of the Center for Gendered Innovations Research, Korea Federation of Women’s Science and Technology Associations (KOFWST) in Korea and Professor Emeritus of Seoul National University

Dr. Paik received Doctor of Science in Nutrition from Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, Massachusettes, USA. After receiving doctoral degree, she worked as a faculty member at Sookmyung Women’s University and then at Seoul National University in Korea until February 2016. She worked in various professional organizations serving various roles including Presidents of the Korean Home Economics Association in 2013, the Korean Nutrition Society in 2015, and the Korea Federation of Women’s Science and Technology Associations in 2014-2016. She was the Chair of the the Korean DRIs Committee during 2002-2005, when the Dietary Reference Intakes for Koreans were newly developed in Korea. She was a member of the IUNS Council in 2005-2009, and received several honors including Excellent Research Awards in Science (2005), National Honor for High Achievements in Science (2008), and Asia-Pacific Clinical Nutrition Award (2009) and Blue Ribbon National Medal for Public Service (2012). Dr. Paik served as the Minister of Gender Equality and Family, Republic of Korea, 2009-2011.

Dr Youngah Park

Professor of Statistical Mechanics at the Department of Physics at Myongji University

Youngah Park has been a professor of Statistical Mechanics at the Department of Physics at Myongji University since 1989. Dr. Park served as the President of Korea Institute of S&T Evaluation and Planning (KISTEP) from 2013 to 2016.  After completing her undergraduate studies at Seoul National University majoring in Physics, she received her Ph.D. in Statistical Mechanics at University of Pennsylvania in 1987. Her research areas include critical phenomena, neural networks, soft matter, and biological physics. She has been the chair of the Women in Physics working group of Association of the Asia Pacific Physical Societies (AAPPS) since 2006 and chaired the local organizing committee of the 3rd International Conference on Women in Physics (ICWIP) in 2008.

Dr B. Mario Pinto

President, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), Canada

Dr Pinto received his B.Sc. and Ph.D. in Chemistry from Queen’s University. He served as Professor, Chair of Chemistry and Vice-President Research at Simon Fraser University (SFU), President of the Canadian Society for Chemistry and Vice-Chair of the Chemical Institute of Canada. Dr Pinto has received numerous awards recognizing the quality and impact of his research, including Fellowship in the Royal Society of Canada. He has also established a track record for developing exciting new models of innovation. At NSERC, building on the agency’s dual expertise as an investor in discovery-based research and a broker of successful R&D partnerships with technology-driven enterprises to de-risk promising research, Dr Pinto has been active in leading efforts for a new strategic plan, NSERC 2020.

Dr Elizabeth Pollitzer

Director, Portia Ltd, UK; founder, Gender Summit.

Elizabeth Pollitzer, (PhD (InfSc), BSc (Bio/Phys)) is the founder and  director of Portia, which set up the Gender Summit in 2011 and has co-convened  each summit since then.  She is expert evaluator and adviser for the European  Commission, and is involved in several EU projects.  Elizabeth Pollitzer PhD is founder and Director of Portia, an organization devoted to improving gender equality in STEM and promoting the inclusion of the gender dimension in STEM. She has 20 years’ experience teaching and researching in the Departments of Computing and Management at Imperial College, University of London. Her original training was in Biophysics. She now applies this scientific background to her work as director of Portia. Portia was the coordinator of the genSET project, the Gender Summits were established as part of the genSET project.

Monika Raharti, MSi

Director of Center for Young Scientists Indonesia

Monika Raharti is the director of Center for Young Scientists Indonesia. She is one of the researchers in the center, focusing on Science Education field. Graduated from Physics Department in Bandung Institute of Technology, she worked as assistant professor in Physics Department of several universities in Indonesia, Parahyangan Catholic University, Telecom University, National Institute of Technology, and Surya University. Monika Raharti serves as steering committee member in international and national research competitions, and represented Indonesia in the Association of Asia Pacific Physical Societies, task force of the Asia-Europe Physics Summit, and the ASEAN Federation of Physics Associations. Monika is the founder of Association of Science Mentor Teacher Indonesia (AGPPI) and the Asia Pacific Conference of Young Scientists, she is serving as the president.

Kyoko Raita

Professor of Sport History within the School of Health and Sport Sciences at Chukyo University and managing Director of the Japan Society of Physical Education, Health and Sport Sciences

Kyoko Raita is a professor of Sport History within the School of Health and Sport Sciences at Chukyo University and managing Director of the Japan Society of Physical Education, Health and Sport Sciences. She is one of the members who established the Japan Society for Sport and Gender Studies (JSSGS) and acted as an administrative director of JSSGS from 2008 through 2014. She specializes in modern Olympic history and has been engaged in the Olympic Movement and Olympic Education through domestic and international organizations such as Japan Olympic Academy and the International Pierre de Coubertin Committee. “Sport and Gender” has been central to her research over the past 20 years to contribute to develop the notion of human rights.

Dr Lakshmi Ramachandran

Science writer, Mechanobiology Institute (MBI), National University of Singapore, Singapore

Dr Lakshmi Ramachandran is a science writer at the Science Communications unit at the Mechanobiology Institute (MBI), National University of Singapore. She is also the outreach coordinator and women in science (WIS) committee member at MBI that strives to create equal opportunities for women in all areas of science. As part of MBI-WIS, she has organized career talks as well as self-development workshops for junior scientists. She was also part of an institute level outreach activity that hosted the UN Women Singapore committee’s “Girlstopioneer” that is committed to encourage more girls to enter STEM.  Lakshmi graduated from SUNY Buffalo with a PhD in Cell and Molecular Biology and is the recipient of the Dean’s award for outstanding dissertation research from Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo, NY. Following this she worked at Astrazeneca India, as a post-doctoral fellow in drug discovery.

Dr Akiko Sato

Professor, Collaborative Organization for Research in women’s Education of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (CORE of STEM), Ochanomizu University, Japan

Akiko Sato has been a professor of Collaborative Organization for Research in women’s Education of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (CORE of STEM), Ochanomizu University since 2015.  She is a member of the editorial board of Journal of Science Education in Japan.  She worked in the science education area at Ochanomizu University and Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) since 2002, and before then she had worked in the chemical information area.

Londa Schiebinger

John L. Hinds Professor of History of Science, Stanford University, USA; Director, EU/US Gendered Innovations in Science, Health & Medicine, Engineering, and Environment project, EU/USA

Londa Schiebinger is the John L. Hinds Professor of History of Science at Stanford University and Director of the Gendered Innovations Project. From 2004-2010, Schiebinger served as the Director of Stanford's Clayman Institute for Gender Research. She is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Over the past thirty years, Schiebinger’s work has been devoted to teasing apart three analytically distinct but interlocking pieces of the gender and science puzzle: the history of women's participation in science; gender in the structure of scientific institutions; and the gendering of human knowledge.

She is a leading international authority on gender and science. Schiebinger has been the recipient of numerous prizes and awards, including the prestigious Alexander von Humboldt Research Prize and John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship. Schiebinger is a Distinguished Affiliated Professor at the Technische Universität, Münichen, and member of their Institute for Advanced Studies. She has also served as a Senior Research Fellow at the Max-Planck Institute for the History of Science in Berlin. Londa Schiebinger was awarded an honorary doctorate from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel in 2013 and from the Faculty of Science, Lund University, Sweden in 2017.

Dr Naomi Shibasaki-Kitakawa

Japan Inter-Society Liaison Association Committee for Promoting Equal Participation of Men and Women in Science and Engineering (EPMEWSE)

Naomi Shibasaki-Kitakawa is the 15th president (2016.11-2017.10) of Japan Inter-Society Liaison Association Committee for Promoting Equal Participation of Men and Women in Science and Engineering (EPMEWSE,). EPMEWSE was established in 2002 and is the association of 90 academic societies in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) field in Japan, actively working for gender equality in Japan. Our major roll could be summarized into the following four headings：
1. We conduct the Large Scale Survey every five years in order to know the actual conditions of gender equality in STEM field in Japan.
2. We offer proposals and requests to our Government based on the survey results for leveling the playing field for women researchers and engineers.
3. We survey the activities and female ratio of each member of scientific societies associated with us.
4. We support STEM Programs for high school girls through Summer Camps (Natsu-no-Gakkou) as well as Science Workshops (Kansai-Kagaku-Juku).

Rashidah Shuib

Professor at the Interdisciplinary Health Sciences Unit, School of Health Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM)

Rashidah Shuib, a Fulbright-Hays scholar, graduated with a Ph D from Michigan State University, USA.  She is currently a Professor at the Interdisciplinary Health Sciences Unit, School of Health Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM).  Previously, from 2005-2012, she was the Director of the Centre for Research on Women and Gender (KANITA), USM, the first gender centre in Malaysia.   Her interests are in the intersections of gender, health and development issues. Prof Rashidah has led several international and national research projects in sexual and reproductive health and rights, marriage and migration, domestic violence, microcredit and empowerment, gender and development.  She was a consultant and a trainer on gender related issues to government and non-government organisations. Prof Rashidah was a member of the Gender Advisory Panel of the Department of Reproductive Health, WHO, Geneva (2001-2007).  From 1995-1999, she was a member of the International Women’s Advisory Panel of the IPPF, London.

Daichi Suzuki

Commissioner of the Japan Sports Agency

Daichi Suzuki, commissioner of the Japan Sports Agency, was a backstroke swimmer. He participated in the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984, and in the Seoul Olympics in 1988. He won a gold medal in Seoul, winning one for Japan for the first time in 16 years. He also won two gold medals at the Asian Games in the hundred-meter backstroke and the four-hundred-meter relay in 1986.After completing a master’s course in coaching at Juntendo University Graduate School’s Faculty of Physical Education, he studied as a guest researcher at the University of Colorado Boulder and as a guest coach at Harvard University. He took a doctorate in medicine in 2007 and worked as a professor at Juntendo University from 2013 to 2015. He is also the representative director of the World Olympians Association and president of the Olympians Association of Japan. On October 1, 2015, he was inaugurated as commissioner of the Japan Sports Agency and has been in charge since then.

Junko Tahara

Professor, Faculty of Physical Education, Kokushikan University, Japan

Junko Tahara is a professor of Sport History within the Faculty of Physical Education at Kokushikan University and a board member of the Japan Society for Sport and Gender Studies. She specializes in modern Olympic history and Olympism and has been engaged in the Olympic Movement and Olympic Education through domestic and international organizations such as the International Pierre de Coubertin Committee and Japan Olympic Academy for a long time. She seeks to develop studies on Olympic Movement and/or sport movement to contribute to global peace and societies with gender diversity by multidisciplinary and cross-national approaches. She has also been participating in the activities of UNESCO, including the experts meeting in 2014 for revising the International Charter of Physical Education and Sport and working group for the Sixth International Conference of Ministers and Senior Officials Responsible for Physical Education and Sport (MINEPS VI) in 2017.

Prof Li-Ling Tsai

Associate Professor, Graduate Institute of Gender Education, National Kaohsiung Normal University, Taiwan

Prof. Li-Ling Tsai is one of the key persons in Taiwan in the research field of gender and science. Before she completed her PhD degree, she obtained both master’s degrees in physics and gender studies, was an optical engineer, and taught college physics for almost a decade. With her extraordinary background bridging natural and social sciences, she has impressed the Taiwanese feminist community and the Taiwanese government; hence is invited to serve various government committees, including the human rights advisory board of the Taiwan President’s Office. She is now an associate professor and has been teaching graduate students in gender studies and gender education. She has been advocating gender equity in science and technology for almost 20 years. She is now leading a national project aiming to promote gender focus in scientific research by utilizing the discourse of gendered innovations.

Ms Kinlay Tshering

Director, Department of Agriculture, Ministry of Agriculture & Forests, Bhutan

Ms Kinlay Tshering is the Director of the Department of Agriculture under the Ministry of Agriculture & Forests, Bhutan. She holds a Bachelors Degree in Horticulture from Wye College, University of London, UK; Postgraduate Diploma in Agricultural Science and a Masters Degree in Horticulture from Melbourne University, Australia. She also holds a number of certificates in leadership courses, most prominent ones being the Senior Executive Leadership Program, Bhutan Executive Services Training, New Leaders Development Program, International Visitors Leadership Program, etc. She started her career as a researcher from the remotest research centre in Bhutan in 1998 and having worked as a researcher for over 12 years, she joined the Department of Agriculture as the Chief Horticulture Officer. In November 2016, she became the first lady Director of the Department of Agriculture. She is responsible for the overall development of agriculture sector in Bhutan.

Tsukiko Tsukahara

Vice President, Catalyst Japan

Ms. Tsukiko Tsukahara is Vice President of Catalyst Japan, a leading global organization with a mission to accelerate progress for women through workplace inclusion. After working at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport of Japanese Government, as well as Boston Consulting Group, she joined Catalyst in 2015 and has engaged with consulting services and speaking events for companies to promote diversity and inclusion in Japan. Ms. Tsukahara has an MBA from Amos Tuck School of Business, Dartmouth College, and a BA in Economics from Tokyo University.

Clare Walsh

Deputy Head of Mission at the Australian Embassy in Japan

Ms Clare Walsh is the Deputy Head of Mission at the Australian Embassy in Japan.  Ms Walsh has a wide range of international and domestic policy experience from her 16 years working in the Australian Public Service.
Prior to her current role, Ms Walsh led the development work of the G20 throughout Australia’s Presidency in 2014.  She managed relationships with key multilateral organisations, including the Multilateral Development Banks and global health, education and environment funds as well as bilateral relationships with other donor countries and non-government organisations.

Dr Miyoko O. Watanabe

Deputy Executive Directorior, Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST); Director, Office for Diversity and Inclusion, JST, Japan; Chair, Gender Summit 10 Asia-Pacific

Miyoko O. Watanabe is Deputy Executive Director at Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST). She is also the agency’s Director of the Office for Diversity and Inclusion, and Director-General of the Center for Science Commnication. Dr Watanabe is a member of the Science Council of Japan and chair of the council’s Committee on Comprehensive Synthetic Engineering in Science. She is also a member of the Science and Technology Council at Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology in Japan, as well as a Member of Specialist Committee on Formulating the Fourth Basic Plan for Gender Equality in the Council for Gender Equality of the Japanese Cabinet Office. She worked in various roles for Toshiba since 1979.

President Juichi Yamagiwa

Kyoto University

Juichi YAMAGIWA was elected president of Kyoto University in 2014. Prior to his appointment, he served as dean of the university’s Graduate School and Faculty of Science, and as a member of the university Administrative Council.  He has Doctor and Bachelor of Science degrees from Kyoto University. His major research interests are primatology and anthropology, fields that have led him to spend considerable time in Africa conducting research on gorillas and chimpanzees. He has formerly served as president of the International Primatological Society.  He is currently a member of the Japan Academic Council, a vice president of the Japan Association of National Universities, and a member of the Central Environment Council of the Japanese Ministry of the Environment.

Dr Xueyan Yang

Professor at Institute for Population and Development Studies, School of Public Policy and Administration, Xi'an Jiaotong University

Prof Yang received her PhD in Management Science from Xi’an Jiaotong University (China) in 2007, and then did Post-doc study in School of Public Health at University of Toronto in Canada (2011-2012) and a visiting professor at Stanford University (September 2014-September 2015). As the PI, Yang has been responsible for more than 20 projects in gender and population and has published more than 40 papers in English and Chinese as well as six monographs. Now her interests are mainly focused on gender imbalance, health risk behaviors and gendered innovation in STEM.

Takakazu Yokokura

Okinawa Institute Science and Technology Graduate University

Dr. Yokokura is a committee member of Nstsugaku, the Summer School for High and Junior High School Girls that held every summer since 2005 at the National Women’s Education Center, since 2014. He is Group leader of the Okinawa Institute Science and Technology Graduate University where he has been investigating a motor neuron disease, spinal muscular atrophy, from2010. After graduation of Waseda University, the Department of Education in 1990, he completed five years’ doctoral education in Science at Waseda University and obtained the doctoral degree in 1995. He received postdoctoral training at the Osaka Bioscience Institute (Suita, Japan) in 1995-1998 and at the Faculty of Medicine, Osaka University as a fellow of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science in 1998-2001. He worked at the Massachusetts General Hospital, the Cutaneous Biology Research Center (Boston, MA, USA) as research fellow from 2001 and Massachusetts General Hospital, the Cancer Center from 2005-2007. In 2007, he moved to Harvard Medical School, Department of Cell Biology.

Prof. Chikako Yoshida-Noro

Professor, Applied Molecular Chemistry, College of Industrial Technology (CIT), Nihon University (NU), and Division of Cell Regeneration and Transplantation, Department of Functional Morphology, Nihon University School of Medicine

Chikako Yoshida-Noro received her Ph.D. in Developmental Biology from Kyoto University Graduate School. Her research carrier is as follows:  Postdoctoral fellow at National Institute of Neuroscience; Researcher, Group Leader at JST ERATO Project; Senior Research Associate at University of Cambridge in U.K.; Researcher at JST PRESTO; Researcher at RIKEN Brain Science Institute; Senior Research Scientist at RIKEN BioResource Center; 2005- Associate Professor, 2012- Professor at Nihon University. Research Field: Cell Adhesion, Stem Cell in Development, Regenerative Medicine.
She has been involved in Gender Equality Activities since 2005 both in NU and social committees. 2008-2010 Head of JST Female Researcher Support Project Core at NU; 2010- Chair of Gender Equality Committee, CIT, NU; 2011-2013 Member of Gender Equality Committee, JST; 2012 Chair of Science Summer School for Girls at NWEC; 2012-2013 Sub-Leader of CareerWay Project, NU, 2013 Chair of the 5th Japan-China-Korea Women Leaders Forum. She experienced GS6 in Seoul 2015.

Prof Datin Dr Rubiyah Yusof

Dean, Malaysia Japan International Institute of Technology, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia

Rubiyah Yusof is currently the Dean of Malaysia-Japan International Institute of Technology (MJIIT), Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), Kuala Lumpur. Prior to that she was the director of Center for Artificial Intelligent & Robotics. She received her BSc. (Hons.) in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from University of Loughborough, United Kingdom in 1983 and Masters Degree in Control Systems from Cranfield Inst. Of Tech., United Kingdom in 1986. She obtained her PhD in Control Systems from the University of Tokushima, Japan in 1994 where she received an outstanding award from the university for her research. She also received an award from NEC for her contribution in research. She is the co-author of the book “Neuro-Control and its Applications” published by Springer Verlag, in 1995 which was translated to Russian in 2001. She has also published more than 200 publications in journals and conferences.

Linxiu Zhang

Professor and Director at the Center for Chinese Agricultural Policy (CCAP), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS)

Linxiu Zhang is a professor and Director at the Center for Chinese Agricultural Policy (CCAP), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). She is also a professor at the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS). She obtained her PhD from University of Reading in England. She is a Co-director of a collaborative programme called Rural Education Action Programme (REAP). REAP is an umbrella programme initiated by a group of scholars from Stanford University, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Northwest University in Xi’an, Tsinghua University among others.  She obtained her PhD from Reading University in the U.K. Her research concentrates on policy relevant studies on rural development in China, particularly on poverty alleviation and poverty-environment dynamics, labor market development, gender, public investments, and the economics of rural education and healthcare. She has published more than 220 papers in peer-reviewed journals and received numerous awards. The most recent ones include “Ten Most Outstanding Women in Science” award from CAS (2013), TWAS “Celso-Furtado Prize” in Social Sciences (2013), “Fudan Management Excellence Award” (2014). She was elected as a TWAS fellow in 2014.

Dr Nan Zhang

Deputy Director & Vice editor of 《Audit Vision》, The National Audit Office of the People's Republic of China

Dr  Zhangnan received her  Ph.D. in linguistics from Shanxi University, and finished her post-doctorate report 《Analysis on the Evolution of Modern Chinese Women's Science and Technology Education》in the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences. she focus on the women personnel in S&T, and published the individual monograph 《Science and women》(2014).

Zane Zumbahlen

Vice President, Human Resources for IBM Japan

Zane Zumbahlen is the Vice President, Human Resources for IBM Japan since 2015. Zane has 22 years with IBM, holding positions in various business units and functions within HR.  He has worked across the US and been on assignment in Sweden.  He is passionate about strategic HR, diversity, next generation development, and utilizing technologies.