ORCID Researcher Advisory Council Members

Timothy Adivilah Balag’kutu is a researcher/scholar, policy advocate and governance expert with varied expertise and extensive experience. He is currently Deputy Director of Research for Institute for Natural Resources and Sustainable Development, and Research Fellow with Earth System Governance Network. He was previously an Adjunct Lecturer in Babson College, where he taught courses on Contemporary Africa, Global Politics, International Development, and Environmental Governance. He holds a PhD in Global Governance and Human Security from McCormack School of Policy and Global Studies, University of Massachusetts Boston; two Masters’ degrees from Ohio University in International Affairs and Political Science; and a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Swahili from University of Ghana, Legon. He also studied in University of Dar es Salaam on a one-year language proficiency fellowship. His research has appeared in The Extractive Industries and Society; Routledge Handbook of Environmental Conflict and Peacebuilding (2018); A Research Agenda for Global Environmental Politics (Edward Elgar, 2018); Corporate Social Responsibility and Canada’s Role in Africa’s Extractive Sectors (University of Toronto Press, 2019); African Studies Quarterly, as well as forthcoming works in Commonwealth and Comparative Politics, and Routledge Handbook on Natural Resources in Africa.

Sima Berendes has a medical and public health background and more than fifteen years of clinical, research, teaching, and charitable work experience in Germany, France, the US, UK and different low- and middle-income countries. Sima worked, for example, as a study physician and coordinator of HIV/AIDS-related clinical trials at the College of Medicine/ Johns Hopkins University Research project in Malawi; during her work for the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, Sima was also involved in an EU-funded project to support the Ministry of Health in Libya to develop its first National HIV/AIDS strategy. In 2019, Sima joined the Population Health Department at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSTHM) as a Research Fellow within the area of digital health and sexual and reproductive health. She has also been contributing to the work of the LSHTM Vaccine Confidence Project relating to the organisation of Covid-19 vaccine-related webinars in various European countries.

Paulina Carmona-Mora, PhD, is a biomedical scientist based in Sacramento, CA, USA. She completed her undergraduate degree in Biochemistry in Chile and earned her PhD in Medical Sciences in Australia. Dr. Carmona-Mora’s research is focused on understanding gene expression and regulation in neurological and developmental disorders using molecular and genomic tools. Beyond research, she has served as a member of the Global Young Academy, Ekpa’palek, and UN SDSN Youth. She is involved in many international and interdisciplinary initiatives related to science policy and science diplomacy. Dr Carmona-Mora is currently expert reviewer for the GEO-7 UNEP report and part of the Global roster of experts of the International Science Council.

Lisa Jo Elliott directs the Laboratory for Usability and Interactive Systems at Pennsylvania State University, Erie. The lab provides user experience research and design for a multi-million-dollar product grant for entrepreneurs. Dr. Elliott has also been a co-principal investigator on National Science Fund grants. Most recently, she completed the Engineering Psychology textbook offered on the Open Education Network Library. She is committed to inclusive design through educating researchers, engineers, entrepreneurs, and designers. Dr. Elliott has a PhD in Engineering Psychology from New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, New Mexico, USA. She has industry experience working as a Usability Engineer for a large corporation and for small entrepreneurs. Dr. Elliott is a member of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society and sits on the scientific board of the Applied Human Factors and Ergonomics organization.

Dr. Samuel Mores Geddam is an accomplished academic and researcher with over 13 years of experience in higher education, specializing in Human Resources, Business Analytics, and General Management. Currently serving as an Assistant Professor at St. Joseph’s University, Bengaluru, India, he has established himself as a thought leader in academic research, focusing on the integration of technology and management. Dr. Samuel holds a Ph.D. from Presidency University, Bengaluru, India, where his research examined Smart Human Augmentation through Artificial Intelligence using the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). He has published extensively on topics such as AI adoption, sustainable development, and organizational behavior, earning accolades at international conferences for best paper presentations. His research contributions are recognized on platforms like Scopus and Web of Science, etc. A dedicated academic, Dr. Samuel has served as a resource person for numerous workshops on advanced research methodologies, statistical tools, and AI applications. Proficient in tools such as SPSS, AMOS, R, and Tableau, he empowers professionals and students to excel in data-driven research. Passionate about innovation and knowledge sharing, Dr. Samuel combines mentoring and critical thinking to foster impactful academic initiatives and drive meaningful advancements in education and research.

St. Joseph’s University, Bengaluru, India

Prof. Dr. Jesse Gitaka is a Kenyan physician-scientist specializing in infectious diseases and point-of-care diagnostics research and implementation. He holds a medical degree from the University of Nairobi, a Master of Tropical Medicine, and a PhD in Medical Science from Nagasaki University, Japan. At Mount Kenya University in Thika, he is the founding Director of the Centre for Malaria Elimination and the Centre for Research in Infectious Diseases. He leads Gitakalab, spearheading innovative research on highly reliable point-of-care diagnostics for infections such as curable sexually transmitted infections (CuSTIs) and malaria in pregnancy. Through advanced techniques like CRISPR- based isothermal nucleic acid analysis, lab-on-a-chip devices, fiber mats, and smartphone readouts, his work enables rapid, on-site pathogen detection in resource-limited settings, reducing risks of prematurity, stillbirths, and neonatal deaths. An affiliate of the African Academy of Sciences, a Future Leaders—African Independent Researchers (FLAIR) Fellow, and a Next Einstein Fellow, Prof. Gitaka is highly published and actively mentors emerging scientists. He invests in trainees. His extensive experience in clinical trials, molecular biology, epidemiology, and implementation science fosters
collaborative research networks. As Principal Investigator of multiple studies, he advances maternal and newborn health, antimicrobial resistance surveillance, and innovative strategies to improve healthcare outcomes globally.

Andre Leon S. Gradvohl holds a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from the Federal University of Ceará — Brazil (1997), a Masters of Science in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from the Technological Institute of Aeronautics — Brazil (2000), and a Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Campinas (UNICAMP — 2005) — Brazil. He also holds a Specialist degree in Science Journalism from the Laboratory of Advanced Studies in Journalism/UNICAMP (2010). In 2014, he did a Postdoctoral stage at the Laboratoire d’Informatique de l’Université Pierre et Marie Curie in Paris, France. Prof. Gradvohl was head of Computer Science and Computer Engineering undergraduate courses at the University Sao Francisco (2008 — 2010) and head of the Information Systems and Systems Analysis and Development undergraduate courses at the School of Technology/UNICAMP (2012 — 2013). Currently, he is an associate professor at the School of Technology at the UNICAMP, where he teaches Operating Systems, Information Security, and High-Performance Computing (HPC). In addition, he has research experience in Computer Science, specifically in Distributed Computing, HPC, Information Security, and Astroinformatics. He is a Senior Member at IEEE, and he belongs to the High-Performance Intelligent Decision Systems research group.

He is an Open Science researcher and advocate who has contributed to Open Science Policy worldwide with his own wide experience of Science (Chemistry), Scholarly publishing, Open Access, Open Data and Citizen Science since the 1990s. He has been involved in research and practice of science, society, and the transformation of science and society (open science) centered on the transformation of academic information distribution (opening up of knowledge via the Internet). He originally majored in chemistry at the University of Tokyo (master’s degree) and used his IT skills to develop electronic journals for the Chemical Society of Japan. Since his appointment as a staff member at the Chemical Society of Japan, he has been working to restructure and improve publication management, including implementation of Open Access (2005) and advocating altmetrics and so on. After taking on a wide range of roles in the publishing world, he moved to NISTEP to foresee the future of scholarly communication and research itself through dialogue with various stakeholders.  He currently plays a role of a bridging agent among stakeholders to promote transition to a new Open Science paradigm.
In 2012, he was appointed to the National Institute of Science and Technology Policy (NISTEP) of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), where he is engaged in policy science research. In addition to science and technology foresighting research, he conducts surveys and research on open science and policy making and its implementation. Specifically, he leads discussions on the transformation of the scientific research environment surrounding academic information distribution, including research activities that extend from research papers to research data, from the number of papers and citations to altmetrics, and from scientists to citizens, and the creation of a comprehensive academic network based on a permanent identifier (PID), and promotes dialogue among related sectors.

Romain Jacob is a postdoctoral researcher at ETH Zurich in the group of Prof. Laurent Vanbever. His current research interests are focused on computer networks, communication protocols, scheduling theory, and statistics applied to experimental design. In 2019, he completed his doctoral studies under the supervision of Prof. Lothar Thiele, also at ETH. His dissertation is entitled “Leveraging Synchronous Transmissions for the Design of Real-time Wireless Cyber-Physical Systems”. Before joining ETH, he obtained a Master of Science in Engineering of Complex Systems (2015) and Master for Faculty Training for Higher Education (2013) both from École Normale Supérieure de Cachan (now ENS Paris-Saclay). In 2014, he spent a year in UC Berkeley as visiting scholar under the supervision of Prof. Karl Hedrick. He is an Open Science enthusiast and tries to advocate for it whenever he can. When time allows, he is also involved in science communication projects.

Rania M Rafik Khalil holds the position of Acting Director of the Research Centre for Irish Studies (RCIS) at The British University in Egypt (BUE). She also holds the position of Research and Postgraduate Studies Coordinator for the Faculty of Arts and Humanities at BUE.   She is CELTA certified and is an advanced trained CEA reviewer for accreditation of English language programmes. Dr. Khalil has completed a research consultancy and research project in collaboration with UNHCR and the British Council UK in the MENA region with a budget of 52,000 US$ dollars in 2017. She has since obtained a number of international grants from Culture Ireland, Irish Government and the Embassy of Ireland in Egypt. Her publications include research on assessment, student support in higher education, teaching and learning pedagogy as well as Irish studies, drama and theatre. 

Pradeep Kumar is an Associate Professor of Pharmaceutics at Wits’ Department of Pharmacy and Pharmacology. He has an experience of over 12 years in academic teaching and research with tissue engineering & regenerative medicine as research areas of interest, molecular pharmaceutics and industrial pharmacy as academic core fields, expertise and specialization in platform-based biomimetic neuro-trauma interventions, and cross cutting competency in molecular simulations and image processing. His research has been published in over 270 peer-reviewed, high-impact publications. He is an inventor on 25 granted patents and has supervised 14 PhD students to completion. Prof. Kumar is a recipient of several prestigious awards including the Vice-Chancellor’s Innovation Award (’21), IAP Young Physician Leader (’21), Wits Health Consortium’s Great Leap Forward Entrepreneurial Academic Award (’21), Global Young Academy Membership (’20), INGSA-Africa Science Advice diploma (’20), Wits’ Friedel Sellschop Research Award (’19), South African Young Academy of Science Membership (’18), ASRT Young African Researcher Award (‘18), Mail & Guardian’s Top 200 Young South Africans (‘18), Claude Leon Foundation Merit Award (‘18), African-German Network of Excellence in Science (AGNES) Junior Researcher Award (‘18), SPER Young Scientist Award 2018, and Wits Innovators Forum’s First-time (’13), Prolific (’14) and International (’16) Inventor Awards.

Niels G. Mede is a science communication researcher at the Department of Communication and Media Research (IKMZ) at the University of Zurich, Switzerland. He is holding an M.A. in communication studies (University of Münster, Germany), obtained a B.A. in media management (Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media, Germany), and has worked as a freelance researcher for NGOs, consumer research companies, European research projects, and the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities. Niels Mede is currently in the final stage of his PhD program in Communication Sciences. His work focuses on public perceptions of science and science communication, populist resentment against scientific expertise, and survey methodology. He also seeks to promote an Open Science culture, encouraging fellow scholars to establish a more transparent, reproducible, and inclusive science. In addition, Niels Mede is a Fellow of the Center of Reproducible Science at the University of Zurich (CRS) and a Young Scholars Representative of the Science Communication Section of the German Communication Association (DGPuK).

An T. Nguyen, OTD, OTR/L, BCG is a project scientist in the Department of Biomedical Sciences, Division of Informatics at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California. Currently, she is also a PhD candidate in the Department of Clinical Research and Leadership at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences. An occupational therapist by background training, she is Board-Certified in Gerontology by the American Occupational Therapy Association. Previously, she earned her Clinical Doctorate in Occupational Therapy from Washington University in St. Louis and a Bachelor of Science degree in Physiology from the University of Washington in Seattle, graduating summa cum laude. Her research interests focus on using health information technologies to improve rehabilitation care for older adults, including interdisciplinary team-based models of geriatric care; interdisciplinary care coordination; clinical decision-making; and health equity, especially to address the healthcare needs of older adults with limited English proficiency. These topics are particularly meaningful to her as a first-generation, Vietnamese American and a daughter of refugees of the Vietnam War. As an avid ORCID user and enthusiast, she is excited to serve on ORAC to help represent the needs of early-career researchers in the area of health sciences.

Declan O’Loughlin is an Assistant Professor in Electronics Design at Trinity College Dublin specialising in biomedical systems and applications. His research interests include innovative medical devices which exploit the electrical properties of the body such as novel imaging modalities for cancer detection. In particular, his work focuses on identifying and accounting for healthy variances in the population which can affect the accuracy, usability and generalisability of the devices. His achievements have been recognised both nationally and internationally in terms of publications, research projects, awards and collaborations. Dr O’Loughlin promotes open scholarship, and transparent research records for researchers through development of open-source tools and data, national quality assurance processes and as a researcher representative.

An award-winning author and educator, Prof. Erwin L. Rimban has contributed significantly to various fields through over 22 published books, covering topics such as Research Methods, Social Psychology, Public Health, Wisdom Literature, Comparative Theology, Mystical Philosophy, and Human Resources Management. With a passion for knowledge dissemination, he is committed to bridging gaps in science communication, particularly in psychology and interdisciplinary education. As an Assistant Professor at Cagayan State University, he teaches both undergraduate and graduate courses.  An advocate for quality management in education, he holds certifications in ISO 9001:2015 Internal Quality Auditor, Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt and Green Belt, and Certified Research Specialist. With hands-on experience in academic process improvement, he has successfully led accreditation initiatives and actively participates in risk management and root cause analysis to ensure continuous institutional excellence. Beyond academia, Prof. Rimban is a dedicated leader in the non-government organization (NGO) sector, advancing holistic education, community development, and social work. He is committed to the United Nations Strategic Development Goals, particularly through the promotion of strategic foresight, data analytics, and futures thinking. Open to global collaborations, he works on initiatives related to humanitarian issues, social justice, and equitable access to education. Recognized as one of the productive faculty-researchers in Asia by the prestigious AD Scientific Index, he is also a member of the Globethics Pool of Experts and plays an active role in internationalization efforts at the university. His research interests span Educational Psychology, Cognitive Psychology, Transpersonal Psychology, Cognitive Neuroscience, and Artificial Intelligence.

P Ravi Shankar is a faculty member at the IMU Centre for Education (ICE), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. He is the Coordinator for Evaluation at IMU. He has worked as Professor, Associate Dean, Curriculum Committee Chair in several Universities during the last two decades in Nepal and the Caribbean. He has 715 publications in various national and international journals. He has written 12 book chapters in seven books. He is among the top 2% of scientists globally for the years 2019 and 2020 and as a career researcher. He has reviewed over 720 research papers for various journals. He was involved in setting up regional pharmacovigilance centers in Nepal and was a resource person at several national workshops on the subject. He has been involved in teaching rational use of medicines to medical students for over two decades. His areas of research interest are rational use of medicines, pharmacovigilance, small group learning and medical humanities. He enjoys traveling and is a creative writer and photographer.

Prof. Prabhat K. Singh is currently working as a Scientist (G) at Radiation and Photochemistry Division of Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai, India. Prof. Singh completed his Masters in Chemistry with a Gold Medal from the University of Burdwan in 2005. In the year 2006, He joined Bhabha Atomic Research Centre after completing a one year orientation program where he received Homi Bhabha Gold Medal for securing First Rank. Prof. Singh received his doctoral degree from Homi Bhabha National Institute with Best Thesis Award, in 2011 and moved to University of Pennsylvania, USA, to pursue his postdoctoral work with Prof Robin M. Hochstrasser. His current research interest includes ultrafast spectroscopy, supramolecular chemistry and use of self-assembled materials for designing optical sensors for bio-sensing and chemo-sensing applications. Prof. Singh has authored about 129 publications in peer-reviewed international journals, with an H-index of 37 and ~3250 citations. He is a recipient of young scientist award by Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), Indian Science Congress Association (ISCA) and National Academy of Science, India (NASI). In recognition to his work, He was selected as Member of INYAS (2017-2021) and National Academy of Sciences, India (NASI). Prof. Singh has also served as Young Associate of Indian Academy of Sciences (IASc), Bangalore (2017-2020) and is currently a Young Affiliate of Maharashtra Academy of Sciences. He is also a Member of prestigious Global Young Academy (GYA), Berlin, Germany. Prof. Singh has appeared in the list of top 2 % scientists published by Stanford University in Elsevier, for two consecutive years i.e., 2021 and 2022. Recently, He has been selected as Fellow of Indian Chemical Society and Associate Fellow of Indian National Science Academy (INSA) for the year 2023. Very recently, Prof Singh has been awarded with Fellow of Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC) and TWAS Young Affiliate (2023-2028) by World Academy of Sciences. He is also a member of the National Committee for IUPAC (2024-2027).

Stella Tsani is Associate Professor at the Department of Economics, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece. She is a member of the Global Young Academy, lead author of the UNEP 7th Global Environment Outlook (GEO-7), member of the Board of Directors of the Euro-Mediterranean Forum of Institutes of Economic Sciences, expert member of the foresight group “MED 2050”; and contributor in the IPCC AR7 Scoping. Her work applies economic methods and tools at micro- and macro- level, with systems perspective, to address questions related to sustainable development, policy assessment, sovereign wealth management (Sovereign Wealth Funds), natural resources with focus on renewables, hydrocarbons and water, Water-Energy-Food-Ecosystems Nexus, institutions, labour markets, technology innovation, economy energy and environmental modelling and scenario analysis.

Martijn van der Meer is a historian of medicine and science at the Erasmus Medical Center and Erasmus University Rotterdam, in the Netherlands. His research focuses on the history of public health as a form of collective action. Previously, he served as a senior research policy advisor at Tilburg University and chaired the Center of Trial and Error. In recognition of his role as co-founder of the Journal of Trial and Error, he was featured on the Forbes Europe 30 Under 30 list in the category Science and Healthcare.

Dr. Jane Yau is a senior researcher at the DIPF Leibniz Institute for Research and Information in Education in Germany. She is a member of the Global Young Academy and co-led the Science Education for Youth and UN SDGs working groups from 2022-24. She is also a member of the International Science Council and an expert member of the Science Education consultative working group. In addition, she is an Advisory Committee member of the Smithsonian Science Education Center based in Washington DC. Previously, she was a Visiting Researcher at the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning, Hamburg. She is currently the Program Manager of a Horizon Europe project – GREAT Realising Effective and Affective Transformation (2023-26), that aims to use games as an effective global communication channel between citizens and policy-makers. Via games, citizens’ attitudes on climate policies are collected with the aim of supporting policy-makers to make policies more suited to their needs. She has published over 80 articles in Mobile Learning, Learning Analytics and Educational Technologies.