PhD Candidate, Associate Lecturer, Creative Writing, Aberystwyth University Mari is currently a PhD Candidate at Aberystwyth University, specialising in Early Modern Welsh Witch Trails. She is also a part time teacher for the university's School of Languages and Literature, currently teaching Introduction to Poetry, and a tutor within the School of Lifelong Learning. Mari's debut poetry collection, Salacia, was shortlisted for Wales Book of the Year 2019. She has since placed second in both the Lucent Dreaming Short Story Competition and the Sylvia Plath Poetry Prize. Her poetry collection Pearl and Bone was selected as Wales Arts Review’s Number 1 of 2022, and is available from Parthian. Mari lives on the west coast of Wales with her husband, their two sons, and their very adorable poochon. She is the founder of Pay for Poets, a free resource to help writers earn a living through their work.
Associate Professor, Mathematical Statistics and Actuarial Science, University of the Free State Area(s) of Interest Statistics Education, Sequential Regression Multiple Imputation, Incomplete Data, Multivariate Statistics, Causal Inference
Associate Professor in Tropical Plant and Soil Sciences, University of Hawaii My research program focuses on deciphering the molecular mechanisms that control plant development using genetic, molecular and genomic approaches. We use maize as a model system and integrate genetic, genomic, molecular, bioinformatic, histological and physiological studies conducted in the field, green house and molecular lab. My research projects are multi-scale, ranging from dissecting the structure-function relationships of a plant hormone receptor protein, to defining the gene expression networks acting at cellular scales in defined plant tissues, to determining the molecular mechanisms by which different plant hormone pathways interact to control overall organ (leaf) growth. We use maize as a model system and integrate genetic, genomic, molecular, bioinformatic, histological and physiological studies conducted in the field, green house and molecular lab.
Professor in the Economics of Innovation and Public Value and Founding Director of the UCL IIPP, UCL Mariana Mazzucato is Professor in the Economics of Innovation and Public Value at University College London, where she is Founding Director of the UCL Institute for Innovation & Public Purpose (IIPP). Her previous posts include the RM Phillips Professorial Chair at the Science Policy Research Unit at Sussex University. She is winner of international prizes including the Grande Ufficiale Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana in 2021, Italy's highest civilian honour, the 2020 John von Neumann Award, the 2019 All European Academies Madame de Staël Prize for Cultural Values, and the 2018 Leontief Prize for Advancing the Frontiers of Economic Thought. Most recently, Pope Francis appointed her to the Pontifical Academy for Life for bringing ‘more humanity’ to the world. As well as The Entrepreneurial State: debunking public vs. private sector myths (2013), she is the author of The Value of Everything: making and taking in the global economy (2018), Mission Economy: a moonshot guide to changing capitalism (2021) and The Big Con: How the Consulting Industry Weakens our Businesses, Infantilizes our Governments and Warps our Economies (2023). She advises policy makers around the world on innovation-led inclusive and sustainable growth. Her roles have included for example Chair of the World Health Organization's Council on the Economics of Health for All, Co-Chair of the Global Commission on the Economics of Water, Co-Chair on the Council on Urban Initiatives, and a member of the South African President’s Economic Advisory Council. Previously, through her role as Special Advisor for the EC Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation (2017-2019), she authored the high-impact report on Mission-Oriented Research and Innovation in the European Union, turning “missions” into a crucial new instrument in the European Commission’s Horizon innovation programme, and more recently, authored a report with the UN’s Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) on Transformational Change in Latin America and the Caribbean: A mission-oriented approach.
Master’s Student in Public Administration, American University Madelyn is currently pursuing a Master of Public Administration (MPA) with a concentration in Health Policy at American University. Madelyn graduated summa cum laude in 2019 from CUNY Hunter College with a B.A. in Political Science and a minor in Human Rights. While pursuing her degree, Madelyn is also working with Vibrant Emotional Health, a national mental health non-profit, where she is responsible for analyzing mental health policies and trends with an equity-based lens. Her prior professional experience includes working with organizations such as the Center for Reproductive Rights, Pregnancy Justice (formerly National Advocates for Pregnant Women), and the New York City Fire Department’s (FDNY) Office of Intergovernmental Affairs. Madelyn’s life and career are guided by her passion for gender equity and healthcare access, particularly when it comes to championing policies that best serve women, children, and families. Madelyn is originally from a small town just outside of Ocean City, New Jersey, and now resides in Washington, DC.
Associate Dean of Research and Professor of Biomedical Informatics, College of Health Solutions, Arizona State University Matthew Scotch is Visiting Professorial Fellow at the Kirby Institute at UNSW. He is also Interim Assistant Dean of Research and Professor of Biomedical Informatics in the College of Health Solutions at Arizona State University (ASU), and Assistant Director of the Biodesign Center for Environmental Health Engineering. His research focuses on genomic epidemiology and bioinformatics of RNA viruses with a particular interest in influenza A viruses. Current projects include studying approaches to advance genomic epidemiology by enrichment of virus sequence metadata (funding: NIH/NIAID 1R01AI164481-01A1) and analysis of viruses from wastewater using bioinformatics (funding: NIH/NLM U01LM013129). The latter is partially funded by the NIH RADx-rad initiative. His lab group is also interested in the molecular epidemiology of viruses including the amplification and sequencing of influenza A and B viruses for short and long-read high-throughput sequencing (HTS) and public health surveillance.
