Events / Info / Speakers
Anna Koivuniemi
Head, Google DeepMind Impact Accelerator
Prof Bambang Brodjonegoro
Dean and CEO, Asian Development Bank Institute
Dr Claus Runge
Senior Vice President, Global Head of Public Affairs, Sustainability & Internal Engagement and Chief Health Equity Officer, Bayer
Prof David M. Baker
Director, Swire Institute of Marine Science, The University of Hong Kong
Dominic Barton
Chair, Rio Tinto
Dr Gabriel Leung
Executive Director, Charities and Community, The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust
Karen Sack
Executive Director, Ocean Risk and Resilience Action Alliance
Dr Ma Jun
President, Institute of Finance and Sustainability
Dr Marina Romanello
Executive Director, Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change, University College London
Munib Madni
CEO, FAST-P Office
Naina Subberwal Batra
CEO, AVPN
Prof Ramanan Laxminarayan
Founder and President, One Health Trust
Siddharth Sharma
CEO, Tata Trusts
Siti Kamariah Ahmad Subki
Managing Director, Yayasan Hasanah
Dr Soumya Swaminathan
Chairperson, M S Swaminathan Research Foundation
Tracy Wong Harris
Executive Vice President, Hong Kong Green Finance Association
Wilson White
Vice President, Government Affairs & Public Policy, Google
Woochong Um
CEO, Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet
Dr Ya-Qin Zhang
Dean & Chair Professor, Tsinghua University
Dr Zishuai Bill Zhang
Assistant Professor, College of Environmental Science & Engineering, Peking University

Anna Koivuniemi

Head, Google DeepMind Impact Accelerator
Anna Koivuniemi leads the Google DeepMind Impact Accelerator, an organization that accelerates the social impact of Google DeepMind's technologies and expertise to benefit humanity. She joined Google DeepMind in June 2023, prior to which she was a partner in McKinsey & Company where she worked for almost 17 years, leading the largest AI alliance and the global Growth Strategy practice with the purpose to raise aspirations and support companies to drive sustainable and inclusive growth. Anna worked in the technology industry for over two decades prior to joining McKinsey and is passionate about combining technology with purpose. Anna sits on the Governance Board for Tuberculosis Vaccination Initiative (TBVI) and the Supervisory Board for Aflatoun International, an organization whose mission is to socially and economically empower children and young people so they can act as agents of change in their own lives for a more equitable world. Anna is a Finnish citizen has a Master of Science in Industrial Engineering from Tampere University of Technology, and an MBA from the Executive Global OneMBA at RSM Erasmus University in Rotterdam, where she received the Wall Street Journal Scholarship and graduated with Dean’s honors.

Prof Bambang Brodjonegoro

Dean and CEO, Asian Development Bank Institute

Bambang Brodjonegoro, an Indonesian national, is the Dean and CEO of the Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI). Before joining ADBI in April 2025 he was Special Advisor to the President of the Republic of Indonesia for Economic Affairs and National Development. He served the Government of Indonesia in several senior leadership roles from 2011. He was Indonesia’s Minister of Finance (2014–2016), Minister of National Development Planning (2016–2019), and Minister of Research and Technology (2019-2021). Besides government and academic, he also served as Director General of Islamic Research and Training Institute (IRTI), Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) (2009-2010).

 

Dean Brodjonegoro holds a doctorate and master's degree in urban and regional planning from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a bachelor's degree in economics from the Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Indonesia, where he was full Professor and serving as Dean during 2005-2009.

Dr Claus Runge

Senior Vice President, Global Head of Public Affairs, Sustainability & Internal Engagement and Chief Health Equity Officer, Bayer
Since February 2018, Claus Runge led the Global Market Access group, as of July 2019, the Global Market Access, Public Affairs & Sustainability Group and as of June 2024, he is leading the Public Affairs, Sustainability & Internal Engagement Group at Bayer AG – Division Pharmaceuticals, and acts as its Chief Health Equity Officer. 

 

 

Claus Runge has twenty-six years of experience in working in the pharmaceutical industry. He has held senior roles on both local and global level in various multinational companies, such as GSK, Wyeth and  AstraZeneca. In his career, he has been responsible for a broad span of functions, including Commercial, Pricing & Market Access, Communications, Governmental Affairs as well as Patient Advocacy. Claus also is Bayer representative/member of the IFPMA Council, the IFMPA-AMR and the PhRMA Heads of International Committee. Additionally, he will also join the Executive Council of the Bill & Melinda Gates CEO RT. 

 

 

Claus Runge is a pharmacist and health economist by training and holds a Ph.D. from the Humboldt University in Berlin. He served as one of the editors of the European Journal of Health Economics from 2006-201, helping it to become a renowned journal in the field. He has published numerous articles in high impact journals, with a focus on health economics and quality of life research. Since 2022, he serves as a board member of the “Technologie Stiftung Berlin”. 

Prof David M. Baker

Director, Swire Institute of Marine Science, The University of Hong Kong
David M. Baker is a Professor at the University of Hong Kong's School of Biological Sciences and Interim Director of the Swire Institute of Marine Science. He received his Ph.D. in Ecology & Evolutionary Biology from Cornell University and joined HKU in 2013 after a postdoc with the Smithsonian and Carnegie Institutions. With over 100 publications, Dr. Baker's research combines biogeochemistry and molecular ecology to study ecological and evolutionary questions, with a focus on coral reef ecology and restoration. 

In addition to his academic pursuits, Dr. Baker is passionate about ecological entrepreneurship. He co-founded Archireef, Ltd., a student-led startup resulting from a collaborative research project with architects and government managers. He also advises student-led companies like isoFoodTrace, Ltd., Regenerative Solutions, Ltd., Biochrom, Ltd., and Common Farms, Ltd. Furthermore, he serves as the founding Director of MarineGEO-Hong Kong, a grassroots partnership with the Smithsonian's Global Earth Observatories. 

Dominic Barton

Chair, Rio Tinto

Dominic is Chair of Rio Tinto; Chair of LeapFrog Investments, an impact-investment firm focused on emerging markets; and the Chair of Asia House, a leading think tank and advisory firm in London. He is also a senior advisor and partner at Radical Ventures, a leading AI investment firm; and a senior counselor at Eurasia Group, a global political risk consultancy.

 

Previously, Dominic was a Senior Partner at McKinsey & Company and served as Global Managing Partner for three terms from 2009 to 2018. Dominic completed his role as the Ambassador of Canada to the People’s Republic of China from 2019 to 2021.He served as Chairman of Teck Resources and Non-Executive Director at the Singtel Group (Singapore) and Investor AB (Sweden). He brings a wealth of global business experience, as well as a deep insight of geopolitics, corporate sustainability, and governance.

Dr Gabriel Leung

Executive Director, Charities and Community, The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust

 

One of Asia’s most respected higher education, health and philanthropic leaders, Gabriel Leung is known for his commitment to improving human capabilities, nurturing impactful innovation and building strong institutions. He is Executive Director (Charities and Community) of the Hong Kong Jockey Club overseeing its Charities Trust, while serving as a Governor of Welcome Trust. Gabriel’s career has straddled academe, public service and philanthropy. From 2013 to 2022, he was the longest-serving Dean of Medicine and inaugural Helen and Francis Zimmern Professor in Population Health at the University of Hong Kong (HKU). Formerly, he was Hong Kong's Under Secretary for Food and Health then Director of the Chief Executive's Office in government. His research defined the epidemiology of three novel viral epidemics, namely SARS in 2003, H7N9 influenza in 2013 and most recently COVID-19. As minister, he led Hong Kong government's response against the 2009 influenza pandemic. He was founding co-director of HKU's World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Control and established the Laboratory of Data Discovery for Health (D24H) at the Hong Kong Science and Technology Park. Around the world, Gabriel regularly advises national and international agencies including the World Health Organisation, World Health Summit, Prince Mahidol Award Conference, Pasteur Network, Communicable Diseases Agency of Singapore and Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention. He is an elected member of the US National Academy of Medicine and holds honorary professorships at Tsinghua, Peking Union Medical College Hospital and HKU. 

 

Karen Sack

Executive Director, Ocean Risk and Resilience Action Alliance

 

Karen is the co-founder, President and Executive Director of the Ocean Risk and Resilience Action Alliance (ORRAA), a unique multi-sector collaboration between the private sector, governments and civil society designed to build resilience in the regions and communities most vulnerable to ocean risk, by pioneering finance and insurance products that incentivise investment into nature-based solutions. She has spent her career working on ocean conservation, advocacy and policy and has spoken and written extensively on ocean conservation, climate and sustainable finance. She previously served as CEO of Ocean Unite, a non-profit co-founded in 2015 by Karen, Sir Richard Branson and former Costa Rican President José María Figueres which focused on achieving the 30x30 biodiversity target. Before that, she was Senior Director for International Oceans at The Pew Charitable Trusts where she initiated the Global Ocean Commission. She has also been head of Greenpeace International’s Political & Business Unit and of their international oceans campaign. She has spearheaded global campaigns to secure a new high seas biodiversity treaty, establish large marine reserves and sanctuaries, reform the EU’s Common Fisheries Policy, end illegal fishing and high seas bottom trawling, and drive political and policy action to protect marine species. Karen has a M.Phil in International Environmental Law from the University of Cape Town, and a M.A. in International Political Economy from the American University in Washington, D.C.. She is originally from South Africa and currently lives in the United States. In 2024, she was a Rockefeller Bellagio Resident Fellow. 

Dr Ma Jun

President, Institute of Finance and Sustainability
Dr. Ma Jun is the Founder and President of Institute of Finance and Sustainability, Chairman of China Green Finance Committee, Chairman of Hong Kong Green Finance Association, Co-Chair of the Steering Committee of the Green Investment Principles for the Belt & Road, Chairman of the Capacity-building Alliance of Sustainable Investment (CASI), and Co-Chair of IPSF Taxonomy Working Group. In the past years, Dr. Ma served as Co-Chair of G20 Sustainable Finance Working Group (SFWG), and chairs of two workstreams of the Central Banks and Supervisors’ Network for Greening the Financial System (NGFS).

Between 2018 and 2020, Dr. Ma was the Director of Center for Green Finance Development at Tsinghua University. During 2014-17, Dr. Ma served as the Chief Economist at the PBOC’s Research Bureau. Between 2018-21, he was a member of the PBOC’s Monetary Policy Committee. Before joining the PBOC, he worked for 13 years at Deutsche Bank, where he was Managing Director/Chief Economist/Investment Strategist for Greater China. During 1992-2000, he worked as a senior economist and economist at the World Bank and the IMF.

Dr Marina Romanello

Executive Director, Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change, University College London

Marina is Associate Professor at University College London, and the Executive Director of the Lancet Countdown: Tracking Progress on Health and Climate Change. The Lancet Countdown is an independent and multi-disciplinary research collaboration between over 100 academic centres and UN organisations from around the world, in strategic partnership with WHO, and headquartered at University College London’s Institute for Global Health.

 

She is also a member of the UK's Climate Change Adaptation Committee, and is one of the seven global experts selected to refine the Global Goal on Adaptation indicators for health under the Paris Agreement. In 2025 she was appointed honorary member of the UK Faculty of Public Health.

 

Marina trained as a clinical biochemist in the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina, and holds a PhD in biomedical sciences from the University of Cambridge. Her research background spans from toxicology through to environmental health and climate change, and before joining the Lancet Countdown she carried out her research in the Instituto Tecnologico de Buenos Aires, the University of Cambridge, and the Francis Crick Institute in London, UK.

Munib Madni

CEO, FAST-P Office

Munib is the Chief Executive Officer of FAST-P Asia Pte Ltd, overseeing the strategic direction and execution of Financing Asia’s Transition Partnership (FAST-P), a blended finance initiative launched by the Monetary Authority of Singapore. FAST-P brings together international public, private and philanthropic partners to support Asia’s decarbonisation and climate resilience. 

 

Munib has 30 years of Investment Management experience. Prior to leading FAST-P, he founded Singapore’s first B Corp-certified fund management firm, and had spent 14 years at Morgan Stanley Investment Management, where he served as CIO of Asia Equity and co-Portfolio Manager for a global mandate with US$14 billion under his watch.  

 

Munib is a CFA Charterholder with a Master of Science in Environmental Management from the National University of Singapore. He also holds a Bachelor of Laws and a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance (First Class Honours) from the University of Technology, Sydney. 

Naina Subberwal Batra

CEO, AVPN

Naina Subberwal Batra is the CEO of AVPN, Asia’s largest network of social investors that aims to increase the flow of financial, human and intellectual capital for impact. 

 

Naina’s leadership since 2013 has nurtured the AVPN community, growing the membership base by more than four times and elevating the organisation into a truly regional force for good. Under her direction, AVPN has grown from focusing only on venture philanthropy to supporting the entire ecosystem of social investors, from catalytic philanthropists to impact investors and corporate CSR professionals. 

 

Naina is currently a Board Director for the Blue Earth Foundation, as well as a Board Member of the Menzies Foundation and Blue Planet Environmental Solution Pte Ltd. 

 

Naina was featured on the list of Asia's Most Influential by Tatler Asia in 2025 and 2021, and was a fellow at The Bellagio Center Residency Program in 2022. She was awarded by CSRWorks as one of Asia's Top Sustainability Superwomen in 2019. 

Prof Ramanan Laxminarayan

Founder and President, One Health Trust

 

Ramanan Laxminarayan is founder and president of the One Health Trust in Washington, D.C. and Bangalore, a senior research scholar at Princeton University, and director of the WHO Collaborating Center on Antimicrobial Resistance in New Delhi. He is an affiliate professor at the University of Washington, senior associate at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and a visiting professor at the University of Strathclyde in Scotland and the National University of Singapore Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health. He is founder at HealthCubed, which works to improve access to healthcare and diagnostics worldwide.  

 

Since 1995, Laxminarayan has worked to improve the understanding of antibiotic resistance as a problem of managing a shared global resource.  His work encompasses extensive peer-reviewed research, public outreach, and direct engagement across Asia and Africa through the Global Antibiotic Resistance Partnership. Through his prolific research, active public outreach (including a TED talk that has been viewed over a million times) and sustained policy engagement, he has played a central role in bringing the issue of drug resistance to the attention of leaders and policymakers worldwide and to the United Nations General Assembly in 2016 and 2024. 

 

During the Obama Administration, Laxminarayan served on the U.S. President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology’s antimicrobial resistance working group and in 2015 was appointed a voting member of the U.S. Presidential Advisory Council on Combating Antimicrobial Resistance where he served until 2023.  From 2018 to 2024, Laxminarayan was the first board chair of GARD-P, a global product development partnership created by the World Health Organization, that aims to develop and deliver new treatments for bacterial infections. He is a series editor of the Disease Control Priorities for Developing Countries, 3rd edition. 

 

In 2003-04, he served on the National Academy of Science/Institute of Medicine Committee on the Economics of Antimalarial Drugs and subsequently helped create the Affordable Medicines Facility for malaria, a $450 million novel financing mechanism for antimalarials that reduced the cost of antimalarials worldwide.  In 2012, Laxminarayan created the Immunization Technical Support Unit that supports the immunization program of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare of the Government of India and which is credited with helping introduce four new vaccines and extending vaccination coverage to 3 million infants.  As Vice President, Research and Policy at the Public Health Foundation of India between 2011 and 2015, he led the growth of a research division to over 700 technical and research staff.  

 

Laxminarayan led the largest Covid-19 epidemiology study in the world based on extensive contact tracing in India. The flagship paper from this study was published in Science in 2020.    

 

Laxminarayan is a fellow of the American Association for Advancement of Science and the Infectious Diseases Society of America, and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.  He was named a distinguished alumnus by the Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani in 2019, and by the University of Washington Department of Economics in 2020.  He is a winner of the Ella Pringle medal by the Royal College of Physicians in Edinburgh (Pringle was the first ever woman elected to the RCPE), the BP Koirala medal in honor of Nepal’s first democratically elected Prime Minister and 2024 Garrod Medal by the British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy.  

 

Laxminarayan’s work has been featured on ABC’s 60 minutes and on PBS Frontline as well as various documentary films, and has been widely covered in major media outlets including the New York Times, Washington Post, Associated Press, BBC, Financial Times, CNN, the Economist, LA Times, NBC, NPR, Reuters, Science, Wall Street Journal, and the National Journal.  His research includes over 400 books, book chapters, and peer reviewed papers in leading journals in science, medicine and economics.  

 

Siddharth Sharma

CEO, Tata Trusts

Mr. Siddharth Sharma is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Tata Trusts, one of Asia’s oldest and largest philanthropies, which are committed to making a positive and irreversible impact on millions of lives through their interventions in areas such as health, education, nutrition, livelihood, sustainability, urban habitat, sanitation and hygiene. Apart from providing administrative leadership to the Trusts, he also sits on the Boards of various not-for-profit organizations and Section 8 Companies.

 

Prior to his appointment as the CEO of Tata Trusts, Mr. Sharma was the Group Chief Sustainability Officer at Tata Sons, where he spearheaded the Tata Group’s sustainability agenda, including crafting the Group’s ambitious ‘Net Zero by 2045’ agenda. He was, in that capacity, also the Chair of the Tata Group Sustainability Council, the apex sustainability body of the Tata Group.

 

He started his career in October 1992 as a civil servant and spent more than two and half decades in key Ministries and Departments of Government of India, including as the Financial Advisor to the 13th and 14th Presidents of India before transitioning to the Tata Group in February 2019.

Siti Kamariah Ahmad Subki

Managing Director, Yayasan Hasanah

 

Siti Kamariah Ahmad Subki is a Chartered Accountant with qualifications from the University of Sydney and the University of New South Wales. She has over 20 years of professional experience across Malaysia, Australia, and the United States. Her career includes leadership roles such as the Chief Executive Officer of Wanita Berdaya Selangor, an organization dedicated to celebrating talent and empowering women in Selangor in leadership, economic, and social fields. She has also served at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), Khazanah Nasional Berhad, and the United Nations (UN). From 2015 to 2016, Siti served as an Economic, Financial, and Private Sector Advisor to the United Nations Humanitarian Financing High-Level Panel Secretariat in New York. During this time, she led the Islamic Social Finance for Humanitarian Action initiative, which was officially launched at the World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul in May 2016 by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. Her extensive background in both the commercial sector and social development has played a key role in fostering entrepreneurship, social progress, and sustainable development. In addition to her professional achievements, Siti is also a self-taught visual artist, blending creativity with financial expertise to drive innovation, promote Malaysia's cultural heritage, and advance the country's economic, social, and sustainability growth. She currently serves as the Trustee and Managing Director of the Hasanah Foundation, a leading impact-driven foundation in Malaysia. At the same time, Puan Siti is a board member of Yayasan Khazanah, INCEIF University, and Think City Sdn Bhd. Puan Siti has completed the Art and Practice of Leadership Development program in June 2025 and the Leading Economic Growth program in December 2025, both at the Harvard Kennedy School Executive Education. Additionally, she has been appointed as a member of the National Unity Advisory Council (MPPN) for the 2025-2027 term, under the Ministry of National Unity (KPN). 

Dr Soumya Swaminathan

Chairperson, M S Swaminathan Research Foundation

Soumya Swaminathan is a pediatrician and global expert in tuberculosis and HIV research.

 

She recently served as the World Health Organization’s first Chief Scientist, and previously as Director General of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India (2015–2017). She became Chairperson of the M S Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) in February 2023.

 

She is also Principal Advisor to the National Tuberculosis Elimination Programme (NTEP) and National Science Chair of the Anusandhan National Research Foundation, Government of India.

Tracy Wong Harris

Executive Vice President, Hong Kong Green Finance Association
Tracy Wong Harris is a globally recognized leader in sustainable finance, currently serving as Private Capital Mobilization Strategy Advisor at the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and Executive Vice President of the Hong Kong Green

Finance Association (HKGFA).

 

At AIIB, Tracy leads the development of innovative private capital mobilisation platforms that channel institutional investment into sustainable infrastructure at scale. At HKGFA, she drives policy advocacy and market development to position Hong Kong as a leading green finance hub.

 

Tracy previously served as Managing Director and Head of Asia Sustainable Finance at Standard Chartered, and earlier held fixed income and structured products roles at JPMorgan, Mizuho International, Barclays Capital, and BNP Paribas in London and Hong Kong.

 

Beyond her anchor roles, Tracy is Board Director of both the Hong Kong Green Building Council (HKGBC) and Sprinkle Charity Foundation. She also sits on the Policy Research Committee of the Hong Kong Financial Services Development Council (FSDC) and is Senior Advisor to the HK2050isNow Green Building Project.

 

She has contributed to the Securities & Futures Commission Climate Change Technical Expert Group, and previously held board positions with AIDS Concern and the Hong Kong LGBT+ Interbank Network, where she founded JPM PRIDE HK.

 

She holds BA and MSc degrees in International Finance and Capital Markets from the UK, completed the Social Finance Executive Programme at Oxford Saïd Business School, and is certified by the Hong Kong Institution of Bankers in Green and Sustainable Finance.

Wilson White

Vice President, Government Affairs & Public Policy, Google

Wilson L. White is Vice President, Government Affairs & Public Policy at Google, where he is the global head of government affairs and public policy for Google’s Platforms & Devices business unit as well as Google’s government affairs operations across the Asia Pacific region.

 

With 20+ years of experience as an engineer and technology attorney, Wilson has used his multidisciplinary background and expertise to provide a lawmakers, regulators and other key opinion formers across the Americas, Europe, Africa and Asia with thought leadership on the rapidly growing and changing technology landscape and the societal implications of emerging technologies.

 

Wilson earned his Bachelor of Science degree, summa cum laude, in Computer Engineering from NC State University. He earned a Juris Doctor degree with honors from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Law, where he served on the Editorial Board of the North Carolina Law Review.

Woochong Um

CEO, Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet

Woochong Um is the Chief Executive Officer of the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (GEAPP), a multi-sector coalition established in 2021 to address one of the most pressing challenges of our era: eradicating energy poverty and combating the climate crisis through an equitable transition to renewable energy. As CEO, Woochong is committed to advancing GEAPP's mission to unlock sustainable, green energy solutions across Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean—fostering economic progress, resilience, and inclusive prosperity for all. His leadership brings new momentum to accelerating the clean energy transition in emerging and developing economies, providing millions of people and businesses with better and safer access to power.

 

Before GEAPP, Woochong's extensive career in international development, spanning over three decades, includes a distinguished tenure at the Asian Development Bank (ADB) as Managing Director General. In this role, he led transformative global partnerships and innovative funding mechanisms designed to foster economic growth, sustainability, and community resilience across diverse sectors, including health, education, agriculture, and humanitarian aid. Woochong championed ADB’s environmental and renewable energy agenda, embedding climate action plans at the heart of the bank’s development initiatives.

 

Prior to his role as Managing Director General, Woochong served as Director General for ADB’s Regional and Sustainable Development Department, where he oversaw the bank’s climate finance initiatives, emphasizing private sector engagement and carbon market financing. His portfolio encompassed sustainable infrastructure, social development, governance, environmental safeguards, and public management.

 

Earlier in his tenure at ADB, he served as Secretary, overseeing relationships between shareholders and management. He also played a pivotal role in the Mekong Department, leading major infrastructure projects, including the groundbreaking Nam Theun 2 Hydroelectric Project in the Lao People's Democratic Republic, developed in collaboration with the World Bank.

 

Before joining ADB, Woochong gained valuable private-sector experience as a Corporate Information Systems Specialist at Pfizer Inc. in New York and as Lead Programming Analyst at Pitney Bowes Inc. in Stamford, Connecticut.

 

A Korean national, Woochong holds an MBA in finance and international business from New York University and a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science and Management from Boston College.

Dr Ya-Qin Zhang

Dean & Chair Professor, Tsinghua University
Dr. Ya-Qin Zhang is Chair Professor of AI Science at Tsinghua University, and Dean of Institute for AI Industry Research of Tsinghua University (AIR). He was the President of Baidu Inc. from 2014 to 2019. Prior to Baidu, Dr. Zhang was a Microsoft executive for 16 years with different key positions, including Managing Director of Microsoft Research Asia, Chairman of Microsoft China, and Corporate Vice President and Chairman of Microsoft Asia R&D. 

Dr. Zhang was elected to the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE), the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (AAA&S), the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering (ATSE), the National Academy of Inventors (NAI), and the Euro-Asia Academy of Sciences. He is a Fellow of IEEE and CAAI. He is one of the top scientists and technologists in digital video and AI, with over 500 papers, 60 granted US patents, and 11 books. His original research has become the basis for start-up ventures, new products, and international standards in digital video, cloud computing, and autonomous driving. He was awarded the China Friendship Award in 2023.

Dr Zishuai Bill Zhang

Assistant Professor, College of Environmental Science & Engineering, Peking University
Zishuai Zhang is an Assistant Professor at Peking University’s College of Environmental Science & Engineering. His work focuses on electrochemical carbon management and ocean-based carbon removal, with an emphasis on scalable systems that couple carbon capture, mineralization, and durable storage. He leads a multidisciplinary team developing “artificial coral” and related electro-mineralisation platforms designed to turn dissolved inorganic carbon into stable carbonate solids while enabling practical monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV) for real-world deployment.

Zhang’s research spans interface engineering, reactor design, and pilot-scale translation, bridging fundamental electrochemistry with engineering pathways for climate impact. He collaborates with academic and industry partners to accelerate scale-up and commercialisation of carbon removal technologies, and his work has been published in leading journals. At PAS 2026, he will share perspectives on how innovation in electrochemical systems can unlock new, verifiable, and economically viable approaches to permanent carbon removal.