Muntasir Alam received his PhD in Microbiology from Kumamoto University, Japan in 2016 and is a graduate of the Department of Microbiology, University of Dhaka. With 16 years of experience, he is currently an Assistant Scientist in the Emerging Infections group at the Infectious Diseases Division, icddr,b, Bangladesh. Dr. Alam specializes in pseudovirus production, viral vector systems (VSV and Lentivirus), and the development of neutralization assays for vaccine and antibody evaluation. His research includes leading and co-leading projects on vaccine immunology and diagnostics for emerging infections, such as Nipah virus and SARS-CoV-2. He also works on several projects including Child Health and Mortality Prevention Surveillance (CHAMPS), investigating infectious causes of child death in low- and middle-income countries. Dr. Alam has published over 25 peer-reviewed articles and is a member of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH), the American Society for Microbiology (ASM), the Bangladesh Society of Microbiologists (BSM), and One Health Bangladesh, Bangladesh Bio-safety, and Bio-security Society (BBSS).

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Mustafizur Rahman received his Master of Science in Microbiology from the University of Dhaka and his PhD in Virology from KU Leuven, Belgium, in 2008. He currently heads the Virology Laboratory and Genome Center at icddr,b in Bangladesh, where he has advanced through various roles including Research Officer, Scientist, and Senior Scientist (2019-Present). Dr. Rahman specializes in enteric virus genomics, particularly rotavirus research, where he discovered a novel human rotavirus strain P; this represents a breakthrough that earned him the Dr. Mario Escobar Award in 2004. His research focuses on zoonotic transmission dynamics, viral evolution, and the genomic characterization of emerging pathogens, with recent work including Nipah virus and avian influenza threat assessments in Bangladesh. He has published over 100 peer-reviewed articles and mentors graduate students from multiple universities. Dr. Rahman actively contributes to virology societies including the American Society for Virology and Rotavirus Classification Working Group.