Following our open call in September 2024, we are excited to announce the appointment of three new members to eLife’s Global South Committee for Open Science, almost two years after its formation. In line with our commitment to diverse representation, our membership now spans1 Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, the Indian Subcontinent, and Latin America, with new members from the latter regions enhancing our geographic reach. The new members will join our eight founding members in helping to expand eLife's outreach and support in these regions.
Around 40 eligible applications were assessed using a blind evaluation process, carried out by the Committee’s founding members and eLife staff. To ensure a fair selection, all applications were anonymised and reviewed based on a predefined set of criteria and objectives outlined in our open call. This rigorous process culminated in a final selection of new members, whose diverse experiences will meaningfully enhance the Committee's efforts.
The newly appointed members will help elevate voices from underrepresented communities in the global research landscape. Their insights will help address the underrepresentation of researchers from the Global South and advocate for open science practices that empower these communities.
Meet the new Committee members:
Carolina Santacruz (MSc Biotechnology, PhD Biophysics) is a Senior Science Officer of the Regional Focal Point for Latin America and the Caribbean of the International Science Council. Having completed four post-doctoral posts in multidisciplinary areas, Carolina now specialises in Nanotechnology. In the past, Carolina received scholarships in Brazil from TWAS, CNPq, CAPES, FAPESP and from the Center for Biomembrane Research at Stockholm University.
Carolina also served as Scientific Advisor to the Research Support Foundation of the State of São Paulo (FAPESP) in Brazil, and to the National Secretariat of Science, Technology and Innovation (SENACYT) in Panama.
In addition to her research work, Carolina uses her expertise to advise organisations such as INGSA (International Network for Government Science Advice), LAC Chapter, where she is a Steering Committee member, the Regional Scientific and Advisory Group within the Regional Office for the Americas and the Caribbean of the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), and the Latin American Research Advisory Council. She is also the current Chair of OWSD (Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World), Colombian chapter.
Henry Awika is a trained environmental scientist and a plant geneticist, breeder, and physiologist. His professional life spans many years in nonprofit organisations, private business and academia. He has core interests in agriculture and the environment and loves research. He uses enhanced smart-plant behaviour sensing and machine-based learning and statistical prediction modelling in the diagnosis of crop health and produce quality, and in the management of crop improvement, ecological stability, and resource use. His goal is to liberate science in the mind and action for a resilient and sustainable agriculture and environment. He has an innate affinity for building multi- and cross-disciplinary partnerships and has many collaborators spread around the world. He obtained his BS in Environmental Science from Kenyatta University, Nairobi, Kenya, and both MS and PhD in Plant Breeding and Genetics from Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, US. He is an avid traveller and nature enthusiast.
Chandana Basu is currently a DBT/Wellcome Trust India Alliance Early Career Fellow in the Centre for Genetic Disorders, Banaras Hindu University (BHU). She obtained her PhD in Molecular Biology from University of Tartu, Estonia. Thereafter, worked at The Roslin Institute, University of Edinburgh, UK, as a Marie Curie Fellow. After spending almost a decade abroad, she joined BHU where she started her journey as an independent researcher. Her keen interest is in understanding the basis of human diversity and harnessing this knowledge for the betterment of healthcare. She has previously worked on topics such skin pigmentation genetics and lactose intolerance, and she currently investigates why people have diverse hair shapes and its genetics. She has received several awards, including the SMBE Young Investigator Award 2019, and was featured as investigator of the month in Journal of Investigative Dermatology for her work. She is a great sci-comm enthusiast, was a UK STEM ambassador and is currently a co-founder of GENETIKS4U (which aims at bringing concepts of genetics to school children through comics and story-telling).
The three newly appointed members will guide and influence the work of eLife in how it can support researchers from the Global South to feel more represented. This includes:
- Providing feedback on how researchers in the Global South can actively contribute to the wider global conversation
- Identifying resources that can equip researchers in the Global South with the skills they need to participate in academic publishing
- Identifying opportunities to help improve the visibility of researchers from the community
- Supporting eLife's work to promote greater equity, diversity and inclusiveness in research and research communication
Incoming members of the Global South Committee will serve two-year terms, starting on January 1, 2025, with the option of two annual renewals (up to a maximum of four years in total).
Learn more about the work of the Global South Committee:
- Equity, Diversity and Inclusion: Introducing the eLife Global South Committee for Open Science
- More about the Global South Committee for Open Science
- Webinar: Promoting Open Science in and from the Global South
1 Despite our efforts, we were unable to recruit researchers from the Pacific Islands. We will continue efforts to recruit from this region on an ongoing basis.
