Biographical note

Dr. Sylvester Chibueze Izah
Bayelsa Medical University
Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, Nigeria

Dr. Sylvester Izah holds a Ph.D. in Public Health, and Applied Microbiology and Environmental Health, an M.Sc. in Applied Microbiology, and a B.Sc. in Biological Sciences from Niger Delta University, Nigeria. He is a licensed Environmental Health Specialist in Nigeria. He brings over ten years of experience from his work with an environmental consultancy firm specializing in soil, water, and atmospheric assessments. During the early stages of his career, Dr. Izah conducted studies on vegetation cover and biodiversity, focusing on species diversity, composition, and utilization. Presently, he serves as a lecturer at Bayelsa Medical University in Yenagoa, Nigeria, where he holds the position of Assistant Director of Academic Planning, Research, and Innovations. Dr. Izah’s extensive research portfolio encompasses water, air, and soil quality, applied microbiology, biotechnology, public and environmental health, risk assessment, bioenergy, toxicology, medicinal plants, herbal medicine, and biodiversity. He has an impressive track record of over 300 peer-reviewed publications, including journal articles, book chapters, and edited books. Dr. Izah’s Google Scholar total citation, h-index, and i10-Index are >6330, 44, and 169, respectively. His current research interests are centered around Sustainable Human-Environmental Health Interactions, covering areas such as environmental sustainability trends, toxicology, hygiene, sanitation, food science, public-environmental health assessment, medicinal plants, herbal medicine, bioactive and natural compounds, vegetation, and wildlife. Dr. Izah has also collaborated on research projects with colleagues worldwide and actively contributes as an editorial and review board member for several esteemed journals.

Prof. Matthew Chidozie Ogwu
Appalachian State University
Boone, NC, USA
Dr. Ogwu is an assistant professor of Integrated Ecology and Sustainable Development in the Goodnight Family Sustainable Development Department at Appalachian State University, USA. He obtained his Ph.D. in Biological Sciences with a research focus in the Molecular Biology of Soil Microbial and Geographical Ecology from Seoul National University. He holds an M.Sc. (Distinction) and a B.Sc. (First Class) in Plant Diversity and Conservation and Plant Biology and Biotechnology respectively from the University of Benin, Nigeria. After receiving his Ph.D., he worked as a researcher at the Centre for Floristic Research of the Apennines, Italy, where he contributed to numerous European Unionfunded research including the famous NATURA 2000 project for sustainable ecosystem and biodiversity management. Before that, Dr. Ogwu was a lecturer at the University of Benin, Nigeria, where he taught courses in plant biology and biotechnology, biometry, economic botany, cytogenetics, etc., and supervised and co-supervised honors and graduate students’ theses. Dr. Ogwu is an interdisciplinary academic with transdisciplinary skills pertinent to the assessment of coupled human and natural as well as socio-ecological systems and has numerous awards, research grants, and scholarships to his name. His research and teaching revolve around sustainable biodiversity and ecosystem management by assessing the realm of coupled systems for sustainable environmental development as well as addressing sustainable development issues arising from various scales of biogeographical interactions. Some of his research interests include soil microbial and geographical ecology, molecular and genomic characterization of economic plant species for breeding, conservation, and sustainable utilization as well as biodiversity issues and policies, climate change science, gut and fecal microbiota, bioinformatics, biosystems and bioeconomy, sustainable agriculture and food production systems, ethnoscience (including traditional biotechnological practices), land use patterns, waste management, microbial diversity, environmental and social systems integrity, landscape preservation, and pollution ecology. He is spearheading some convergence works (One Health and Eco Health) in the Human Environmental and Agricultural Laboratory (HEAL lab) at Appalachian State University. Dr. Ogwu has published over 100 peerreviewed works including several in high-impact journals and has presented his results at different international conferences. Dr. Ogwu has attended numerous professional courses and serves on the board of and as a reviewer for many peer-reviewed international journals. He continues to volunteer his time and skills to promote sustainable community development, especially in the Global South. Dr. Ogwu is fluent in several languages and loves to travel and meet new people.

Dr. Muhammad Akram
Government College University Faisalabad
Faisalabad, Pakistan
Dr. Muhammad Akram is an associate professor in the Department of Eastern Medicine, Government College University Faisalabad, Pakistan, where he serves as the chairman of his Department. He received his Ph.D. from Hamdard University, Karachi, Pakistan, in 2013. Dr. Akram was chairman of the Department of Eastern Medicine and Surgery, University of Poonch, Rawalakot Azad Kashmir from 2015 to 2017. He received many honors and awards during his career. He serves as an editor and invited reviewer of several national and international journals. He has numerous publications and presentations to his credit, and he is an active member of several professional societies. Dr. Akram has authored and co-authored 16 books, 74 book chapters, and over 350 journal articles. Dr. Akram’s research interests include hyperuricemia, xanthine oxidase inhibition by some selected medicinal plants, enzyme inhibition, traditional medicine, phytochemistry, poisonous plants, bioactivity, and phytopharmaceutical evaluation of herbal drugs and their natural products, biochemistry, and bioinformatics.