Professor Yoshan Moodley is an epidemiologist, senior lecturer, and convener of the Master of Philosophy (Cancer Science) Programme at Stellenbosch University, South Africa (SA). He has shown a strong, sustained commitment to addressing public health problems in SA, particularly the increasing burden of non-communicable diseases such as colorectal cancer (CRC). His research on epidemiological aspects of CRC in KwaZulu-Natal Province, SA spans five years and he has contributed to improving the understanding of the condition in this HIV hyperendemic setting. Through his work on CRC, Prof. Moodley has developed strong collaborations with numerous organizations in SA and the USA. This includes the University of Cape Town (SA), the University of Witwatersrand (SA), the Central University of Technology (SA), the Global Burden of Disease Group (USA) and Columbia University (USA). His ongoing research work includes understanding reasons for failure to engage in oncology care amongst newly diagnosed CRC patients, and studies which investigate links between genetic profiles of CRC tumors in black South Africans with subsequent clinical outcomes in these patients.

Professor Lynn Hendricks is an Associate Professor in the Division of Health Systems and Public Health in the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences at Stellenbosch University (SU) and holds a joint PhD in Social Science and Public Health. She has expertise in methods innovation, stakeholder engagement, and knowledge translation, and leads the Social and Environmental Determinants of Health transdisciplinary interest group at SU. She is the founding director of the research consultancy Research Ambition and founding co-director of the NPO Hearts in Action. She is a fellow of Gilead Public Health as well as a fellow of Microsoft Society & AI. She is a board member of the Centre for HIV/AIDS Management at SU. A long-standing previous executive member of the Psychological Society of South Africa, she now serves as a divisional executive for the Division of Climate and Environmental Psychology. She has a keen interest in creative and co-productive research in communities and works with digital mediums as well as primary arts-based methods. Her work includes co-producing a local and international public art exhibition with the Iziko South African Museum and a community-led documentary about young Cape Flats-based women who contracted HIV perinatally. She has received the 2023 Springer Nature Inclusive Health Research Award, the 2023 Cochrane Thomas C Chalmers Award, and the 2024 PsySSA Community Service Award in recognition of her work.

Professor Taryn Young, Distinguished Professor at Stellenbosch University, has a driving passion to enhance the capacity to advance the conduct of and use of relevant research. She has experience in coordinating international and national collaborative projects which facilitate the use of best evidence in healthcare policy and practice. She leads the Centre for Evidence-Based Health Care and Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, and led the Department of Global Health, at the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, South Africa.