Dr Ismahane Elouafi is the Executive Managing Director of CGIAR, effective December 1, 2023. She previously held the position of Chief Scientist at the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations. She has held several senior scientific and leadership positions and has been a member of several governance boards including IFPRI, CABI, and the Professional Development Institute in Canada.

Nityen Lal is Founding Partner at ICOS Capital, a European venture capital firm investing in next-generation sustainability, climate and digital technologies that deliver cost leadership, carbon reduction and industrial-scale impact. Since co-founding ICOS Capital in 2005, he has worked closely with founders building transformative companies across food systems, industrial decarbonization, (bio)materials and data-driven platforms. Nityen serves on the boards of multiple growth-stage technology companies, including Squirro, eAgronom and Rainmaker Holland, where he supports management teams on strategy, scaling, partnerships and capital formation. In parallel, he is a member of the Venture Capital Steering Committee of Invest Europe, contributing to policy dialogue and strategic direction for Europe's VC ecosystem. With a background in computer science and business from universities in the US and Europe, Nityen began his career in an IT startup in California before transitioning into venture capital in Europe. He brings a rare combination of technical depth, commercial insight and long-term investment perspective, and is an active participant in the European climate-tech and innovation community.

Dr. Mehmood Khan’s distinguished career has included several senior corporate roles, including Vice
Chairman and Chief Scientific Officer of Global Research and Development at PepsiCo, and
President of Global R&D at Takeda Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Khan has extensive experience in both
developing and developed markets, with deep knowledge of creating sustainable initiatives and
breakthrough innovations.
He is currently CEO of Hevolution, a first-of-its-kind global organization that provides grants and earlystage investments to incentivize independent research and entrepreneurship to improve human
healthspan for the benefit of all humanity. Under his leadership, Hevolution is now the world’s largest
philanthropic funder of healthspan science.
He was a faculty member in endocrinology at the Mayo Clinic and Medical School, where he served
as Director of the Diabetes, Endocrine and Nutritional Trials Unit. He also dedicated nine years to
leading programs in diabetes, endocrinology, metabolism, and nutrition for the Hennepin County
Medical Center, Minneapolis, and University of Minnesota.
Dr. Khan is a member of the Board of Directors of International Flavors & Fragrances, the Saudi
Research, Development, and Innovation Authority (RDIA), and a member of the Saudi National
Biotechnology Strategy Steering Committee. He was the past Chairman of the Visiting Committee on
Advanced Technology of the United States’ National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST),
past CEO and Executive Chairman of Life Biosciences, and former board member of Reckitt
Benckiser Group PLC and Cormedix.
Dr. Khan earned his medical degree from the University of Liverpool School of Medicine, England,
and completed a fellowship in clinical endocrinology and nutrition in the Department of Medicine and
Food Science and Nutrition at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. He is the recipient of several
honorary degrees and international honors. He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians in
London, a Fellow of the American College of Endocrinology, and an Elected Fellow in the Department
of Pharmacology at University of Oxford.