Steering Committee

Prof. Dr. Laura Cortada-Gonzalez i is a Senior Scientific Officer at VIB-IPBO and a Visiting Professor at Ghent University for the International MSc in Nematology. With extensive experience working in Africa, she has collaborated with the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (2016-2020), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (2012-2016), and Koppert Biological Systems Ltd (2011-2012). Her current work focuses on conceptualizing, developing, and implementing R4D activities, while building effective partnerships and global networks to advance science and education in Africa and beyond. Passionate about active learning and teamwork, she is dedicated to promoting gender-inclusive and diverse research environments, ensuring equitable opportunities for current and future generations.

Dr. Annelies Verdoolaege is the coordinator of the Africa Platform of Ghent University Association (www.africaplatform.ugent.be). This Platform maps all Africa-related expertise at Ghent University Association, makes this expertise available to non-academic stakeholders, and facilitates academic collaboration between Ghent University and African partners. The Africa Platform publishes the peer-reviewed journal Afrika Focus (https://brill.com/afoc), it organizes academic symposiums and networking events, as well as public events - such as the Ghent University Nelson Mandela Lecture and the annual Africa Film Festival Ghent. 

Annelies Verdoolaege holds MA degrees in Languages & Literatures (1997, Ghent University), in African Studies (2000, Ghent University) and in Africana Studies (2001, State University of New York at Albany), and a PhD in African Languages and Cultures (2005, Ghent University). She has spent significant parts of her graduate training at the University of Cape Town (South Africa) and SUNY Albany (USA).

Prof. Dr. Eucharia Kenya is the Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Planning, Administration, and Finance at the University of Embu and a Professor of Biotechnology with extensive expertise in Biosafety and Biosecurity. With over 10 years of teaching experience at Kenyatta University, she supervised more than 30 postgraduate students and published numerous peer-reviewed papers. She has secured significant grants benefiting students across East Africa and fostered collaborations to enhance biotechnology capacity. Prof. Kenya played a pivotal role in Kenya's agricultural biotechnology sector, contributing to the Kenya Biosafety Act (2009) and the 'Agricultural Biotechnology Awareness Strategy' (2008). A founding member of the Open Forum for Agricultural Biotechnology in Africa, she also advocates for biosafety and biosecurity on the international stage through her involvement with the Biological Weapons Convention and the Organization for the Prevention of Chemical Weapons.

Dr Anneke Newman is a multidisciplinary scholar specializing in development, with a Master's in Gender and Development from the Institute of Development Studies (UK, 2007). Her research, conducted during her PhD in Anthropology of Development at the University of Sussex (2010-2016), and subsequent postdoctoral roles at Université Libre de Bruxelles (2018-2022) and University of Ghent (2022-2025), focuses on gender relations in education, child/forced marriage, and female genital cutting/mutilation (FGM/C). She has also consulted for organisations such as Georgetown University's Institute of Reproductive Health, ODI, and UNICEF. Her methodological skills include participatory methods and systems change approaches from training at IDS and the Systems Sanctuary and practical experience with The Grandmother Project-Change Through Culture in Senegal (2011-present). Anneke has over a decade of experience teaching development, gender, and African Studies at the university level, earning an award for Outstanding and Innovative Teaching at Sussex (2017). She is knowledgeable about Islamic West African contexts, having lived in Senegal (2010-2012) and being married to a Senegalese national.

Sara Fiorito holds a master’s in Communication and Innovation from Wageningen University, where she focused on facilitating scientific innovation among various stakeholders. For her thesis, she studied the social conditions for collective action in rural Zambia to control Fall Armyworm using biocontrol methods. She has experience assisting in the organization and implementation of capacity-building courses targeting professional agricultural advisors in the Global South. Naturally curious and adaptable, she has successfully worked on diverse topics, allowing her to approach and handle domains outside her immediate area of expertise.