Dr. Noubar Afeyan is founder and CEO of Flagship Pioneering, a company that creates bioplatform companies to transform human health and sustainability. An entrepreneur and biochemical engineer, Dr. Afeyan holds more than 100 patents and has co-founded more than 70 life science and technology startups during his 35-year career. He is co-founder and chairman of the board of Moderna, the pioneering messenger RNA company addressing the global COVID-19 pandemic through life-saving vaccines, and chairs the boards of several private and public companies. 

Noubar entered biotechnology during its emergence as an academic field and industry, completing his doctoral work in biochemical engineering at MIT in 1987. He was a senior lecturer at MIT’s Sloan School of Management from 2000 to 2016, a lecturer at Harvard Business School until 2020, and he currently serves as a member of the MIT Corporation. He teaches and speaks around the world on topics ranging from entrepreneurship, innovation, and economic development to biological engineering, new medicines, and renewable energy. In 2022, Noubar was elected to the National Academy of Engineering. 

Dr. Afeyan has received multiple awards for his passionate advocacy of the contributions of immigrants to economic and scientific progress. He is the co-founder of the Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity and a number of other philanthropic projects focused on Armenia. 

Prof. Özlem Türeci, M.D., Co-Founder and Chief Medical Officer of BioNTech, is a physician, immunologist, and cancer researcher with translational and clinical experience. Türeci has helped lead the discovery of cancer antigens, the development of mRNA-based individualized and off-the-shelf vaccine candidates and other types of immunotherapies which are currently in clinical development.

Türeci leads the clinical development of BioNTech’s “Project Lightspeed,” the company’s successful effort to develop and distribute an mRNA-based vaccine against COVID-19, a historic achievement completed in less than one year.

Türeci previously served as CEO and Chief Medical Officer of Ganymed Pharmaceuticals AG, which she co-founded with Ugur Sahin and Christoph Huber. She is also a professor for Personalized Immunotherapy at the University Medical Center Mainz and the Helmholtz Institute for Translational Oncology Mainz (HI-TRON) and currently serves as President of the Association for Cancer Immunotherapy (CIMT) in Germany. She is a recipient of the German Sustainability Award, among other notable recognitions. Türeci is married to Prof. Ugur Sahin.

Her Excellency Samia Suluhu Hassan is the sixth President of the United Republic of Tanzania and Chairmanship of the Ruling Party, Chama cha Mapinduzi (CCM). She was sworn in on 19th March 2021 following the untimely death of His Excellency President Dr. John Pombe Joseph Magufuli. Her Excellency is the first woman to hold this key position in the history of the United Republic of Tanzania and the first Vice President in Tanzania and East Africa to ascend to presidency. Prior to assuming the Presidency she was the fourth Vice President of the United Republic of Tanzania after the re-introduction of the multiparty system in 1992.

In 2016, she was appointed by the then UN Secretary General Mr. Ban Ki Moon to be a Member of the UN High Level Panel on Women’s Economic Empowerment in charge of East and South regions of Africa from 2015 to 2017. During her tenure she tabled 27 commitments to the Panel of which the Tanzanian Government earmarked steps to be taken in the implementation of Strategic Programs for provision of sustainable approach in the realization of the gender prosperity to ensure full economic empowerment for women.

Among the initiatives undertaken were: Overseeing the creation and set up of women economic platforms countrywide that linked women’s small and medium enterprises to cross-border markets, soft loans and entrepreneurial skills; and liaised with the Ministry of Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly and the Children in preparing and launching the campaign to increase accountability in reducing maternal and new-born deaths locally known as ‘Jiongeze tuwavushe Salama’

Prof. Ugur Sahin, M.D., Co-Founder and CEO of BioNTech, is a physician, immunologist and leader in the development of novel approaches to fight cancer and infectious diseases. Sahin is one of the world’s foremost experts on messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) medicines. He has pioneered several fundamental breakthroughs enabling the development of mRNA vaccines and other types of immunotherapies.

Sahin initiated and oversees “Project Lightspeed,” the historic development of the first mRNA vaccine for COVID-19, moving from lab and clinical testing to conditional approval within an unprecedented 11-month period. He also leads BioNTech’s research and development of neoantigen specific mRNA cancer vaccines which are individually tailored and produced on demand according to the profile of non-synonymous mutations identified by next-generation sequencing in patients’ tumors. Ugur Sahin is co-inventor of more than 500 filed patents applications and patents.

Sahin’s academic credentials include serving as a Full Professor in Translational Oncology & Immunology at Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, Germany, where he was the supervisor of more than 50 PhD students. He also holds the role of Chairman of the Scientific Management Board of the Helmholtz Institute for Translational Oncology (HI-TRON). Based on his contributions to scientific discovery, Dr. Sahin has received numerous awards and recognitions, including the German Sustainability Award, the Mustafa Prize, and the German Cancer Award. He is married to Prof. Özlem Türeci.

Gianni Infantino was elected FIFA President on 26 February 2016, in the period of the worst crisis in the football world governing body’s history. Re-elected on 5 June 2019, he has led the institution into a new era of stability, transparency, and prosperity, making FIFA a well-respected and trusted institution and a reliable partner to many.

Under his presidency, FIFA went through a series of internal good governance reforms. Unprecedented financial results coupled with a significant increase in investment and oversight of football development funds in FIFA’s 211 member associations were also reached, together with the creation of a dedicated Women’s Football Division, and the integration and commitment to Human Rights in FIFA’s statutes. FIFA also signed a number of partnerships – with UNESCO, the World Health Organization, the World Food Programme, UN Women, the Council of Europe, the African Union, the Caribbean Community and the Pacific Islands Forum – aiming to use the social power of football as a tool to help face global challenges and achieve universal goals.

Before being elected FIFA President, Gianni Infantino was the UEFA General Secretary since October 2009, having joined the organisation in 2000. Giovanni Vincenzo Infantino, under his full name, was born on 23 March 1970 and fluently speaks six languages.

H.E. Hassan Al Thawadi is the Secretary General of the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy (SC), the organisation responsible for coordinating amongst public and private entities to ensure that infrastructure and development projects are delivered in readiness for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. 

His Excellency also serves as the Chairman of the 2022 FIFA World Cup LLC, – the joint venture between FIFA and the SC responsible for organising and staging the event

He serves as a board member at Qatar Investment Authority, Qatar Museums, Katara Hospitality, Qatar International Islamic Bank, and Qatari Diar.

He sits on the Joint Advisory Board member at Northwestern University Qatar and is an Advisory Council member at Hamad bin Khalifa University (College of Humanities and Social Sciences).

His Excellency previously served as General Counsel for Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) and Qatar Holding.

Sir Mo Farah is a British long-distance runner. He won 4 Olympic Games gold medals, 6 World Championships titles and 8 European Championships. At the Olympic Games he completed the distance ‘double double’, winning the 5000m and 10,000m at London 2012 and repeating this feat at Rio 2016.

He was part of the famous Super Saturday in London 2012 with Jessica Ennis and Greg Rutherford. Mo holds the World Record in the 2 miles indoor, the European 10,000m Record and multiple British Records. He has a best time of 2:05.11 in the marathon set while winning the Chicago marathon in 2018.

Mo lives in London with his wife Tania and four children. He is the only person to have beaten “The Cube” on ITV, appeared in “I’m a Celebrity” last year and played in three editions of Socceraid for Unicef.

Website: www.mofarah.com

Twitter: @mo_farah

IG: @gomofarah

Dr. Noubar Afeyan is founder and CEO of Flagship Pioneering, a company that creates bioplatform companies to transform human health and sustainability. An entrepreneur and biochemical engineer, Dr. Afeyan holds more than 100 patents and has co-founded more than 70 life science and technology startups during his 35-year career. He is co-founder and chairman of the board of Moderna, the pioneering messenger RNA company addressing the global COVID-19 pandemic through life-saving vaccines, and chairs the boards of several private and public companies. 

Noubar entered biotechnology during its emergence as an academic field and industry, completing his doctoral work in biochemical engineering at MIT in 1987. He was a senior lecturer at MIT’s Sloan School of Management from 2000 to 2016, a lecturer at Harvard Business School until 2020, and he currently serves as a member of the MIT Corporation. He teaches and speaks around the world on topics ranging from entrepreneurship, innovation, and economic development to biological engineering, new medicines, and renewable energy. In 2022, Noubar was elected to the National Academy of Engineering. 

Dr. Afeyan has received multiple awards for his passionate advocacy of the contributions of immigrants to economic and scientific progress. He is the co-founder of the Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity and a number of other philanthropic projects focused on Armenia.