GJONESKA B., M.D., Ph.D., (North Macedonia) holds a medical degree from "Ss Cyril and Methodius" University of Skopje (MK) and a doctoral degree in psychology and social neuroscience from "Sapienza" University of Rome (IT). Her educational background of a medical doctor and neuroscience researcher (supported by scholarships from the respective Ministries of Education), is coupled with a professional affiliation of a Research Associate at the Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts. Specifically, her occupation represents a synthesis of explorative and applicative research, covering topics related to Neuropolitics and Neuroethics (with emphasis on neurophysiological and behavioral correlates of ideological division and group distinction), thus successfully binding several domains (from Social Psychology to Cognitive Neuroscience). Special focus is placed on the topic of leadership (in medicine, science and politics) that is both explored (via her research) and practiced (via her latest engagements on a booklet stemming from Young Researchers Leadership Workshop at WSF).

In addition to the aforementioned academic achievements, Dr. Gjoneska had managerial success in national participation, representation, promotion and coordination of several international projects (funded by EU FP6/FP7/Horizon/COST Programs). Currently (2017-ongoing), she acts as a national coordinator for the YPL program, a national representative for the COST Action on Comparative Analysis of Conspiracy Theories, and a leader of the national task force for the COST Action on Problematic Usage of Internet. She single-authored several peer-reviewed publications, and has appeared as author in publications for journals from the Royal Society (Open Science, 2019) and Lancet (2012).

In her pastime she combines her love for cognitive neuroscience (i.e., verbalization of the thoughts) and social psychology (i.e., communication of thoughts), with her passion for literature by exploring wide array of sound literary devices, and implementing the theory of mind principles in her poetry and prose articles. Her works are written in Macedonian and English. In addition to English, she is also fluent in Italian, the languages form the South Slavic group, and has basic understanding of French. Most importantly, Biljana likes to discover distant spaces and cover long distances (between people or countries), whether by running (as in sports via half-marathons) or graceful walking (as in life and daily situations).