Varun Deshpande serves as Managing Director at the Good Food Institute Asia, where he is focused on building the future of food by working with scientists, foundations, governments, entrepreneurs, and corporations to build the alternative protein sector across the continent. As the son of a cancer surgeon from Mumbai, Varun has been deeply immersed in healthcare and technology from a very young age.

Prof. William Chen is the Michael Fam Endowed Professor and Director of Food Science and Technology Programme with Nanyang Technological University Singapore (NTU). He is also Director of Singapore Agri-food Innovation Lab (SAIL), and Co- Director of Singapore Future Ready Food Safety Hub (FRESH).

Dr. P K Joshi superannuated as the Director-South Asia, International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington DC. Prior to this he was holding the positions of the Director, ICAR-National Academy of Agricultural Research Management, and the Director of the ICAR-National Centre of Agricultural Economics and Policy Research. After his superannuation, he is serving as the Policy Adviser to the World Bank, the Food and Agriculture Organization, Harvest Plus of the CGIAR; Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research; and the BAIF Development Research Foundation.

From 1986 to 2003 he worked at the Research Institute of Economics and Organization of Agricultural Production of the Tajik Academy of Agricultural Sciences; 2003 to 2007 as the Dean of the Faculty of Economics of the Tajik Agrarian University; 2007 to 2011 as Director of the Research Institute of Economics and Organization of Agricultural Production of the Tajik Academy of Agricultural Sciences; 2011 to 2014 as the head of the department of agriculture and land use of the Executive Office of the President of the Republic of Tajikistan; November 2014 to January 2017 as the Head of the Depar

Aziz Elbehri is a senior economist at the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) since 2008. Currently, he leads the socio-economic development and policy group at the FAO AsiaPacific Regional office in Bangkok. Aziz specializes in climate and food systems interactions, agricultural policy and development, trade and markets, water policy, and digital agriculture.

Sangjun helps leverage the Republic of Korea’s agricultural and rural development experience in ADB projects. Prior to his current role, he has worked for the Korean Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs for ten years.

He has a bachelor’s degree from Seoul National University and a master's degree from the University of Birmingham. 

Umair is the CEO of Vital Agri Nutrients (VAN) which manufactures agri inputs and Vital Green pvt ltd (VG) which is an agri services company.

VAN is a leading producer of Value-added fertilizers / Slow-release fertilizers, Micronutrients, Soil amendments, Bio Fertilizers in Pakistan.

Dr. Kaz Maruyama is President and Representative Director of DSM Japan K.K., Japanese arm of Royal DSM, a global purposeled science-based company in Health, Nutrition and Bioscience. He is overseeing DSM’s all business operations in Japan as well as making efforts in advocacy on Food Systems Transformation, Nutrition Improvement and ESG management. Kaz played a pivotal role at Tokyo Nutrition for Growth Summit 2021, including as a panelist at the Plenary Session “Resilience” representing the private sector.

Education and training: MD (Mahidol University), MSc (Human Nutrition, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine), Dip. Thai Board of Pediatrics and Pediatric Nutrition (FRCPed T), and Fellow of the International Union of Nutritional Sciences (FIUNS).

As Vice-President, Global Technical Services and Chief Technical Advisor at Nutrition International, Mandana oversees the technical quality of Nutrition International’s programming in 10 countries and leads a team of experts to address the most challenging gaps in evidence and practice in order to improve nutrition, especially for vulnerable populations and those most in need, including adolescents’ girls, women, and young children.