Prof. Chittaranjan Kole is an internationally reputed scientist with an illustrious professional career spanning over forty years and globally recognized for his original contributions in the fields of plant genomics, biotechnology and molecular breeding leading to the publication of more than 150 quality research articles. He has edited over 170 books for the leading publishers of the world including Springer, Wiley-Blackwell and Taylor and Francis Group. His scientific contributions and editing acumen have been appreciated by seven Nobel Laureates including Profs. Norman Borlaug, Arthur Kornberg, Werner Arber, Phillip Sharp, Günter Blobel, Lee Hartwell and Roger Kornberg. He has been honored with a number of fellowships, honorary fellowships, and national and international awards including the 'Outstanding Crop Scientist Award' conferred by the International Crop Science Society. Prof. Kole has served in all prestigious positions in academia including as Vice-Chancellor of the BC Agricultural university and Project Coordinator of Indo-Russian Center of Biotechnology in India, and Director of Research of the Institute of Nutraceutical Research of Clemson University, in USA. He worked also in the Pennsylvania State University and Clemson University as Visiting Professor in USA. He was awarded with the Raja Ramanna Fellow by the Department of Energy, Government of India. He is also heading the International Climate-Resilient Crop Genomics Consortium, International Phytomedomics and Nutriomics Consortium and Genome India International as their Founding President. Prof. Kole has recently established the Prof. Chittaranjan Kole Foundation for Science and Society and working for his Founding Chairman. Dr. Manish K Pandey is currently leading the Groundnut and Pigeonpea Genomics, Prebreeding & Bioinformatics group at International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), Hyderabad, India. His key contributions include reference genome sequence for diploid progenitor and both the subspecies of cultivated tetraploid groundnut, gene expression atlas, low to high density SNP genotyping assays, diagnostic markers for key traits, quality control panel, marker-assisted pyramiding and genomic selection in groundnut. Through genomics-based breeding, his team developed three high oleic groundnut varieties which are released for cultivation in six states of India. He has published more than 170 scientific articles (>8000 citations) in various international journals including Nature Genetics, PNAS-USA and Molecular Plant. His efforts have been recognized at international level as he has been invited to deliver presentations in several international conferences, review the proposals for international funding agencies and he is collaborating with a large number of scientists at international level. He is also Adjunct Associate Professor in University of Southern Queensland (USQ), Australia & Distinguished Professor, in Institute of Crop Genetic Resources of Shandong Academy of Agricultural Sciences (SAAS), China. He is now been inducted in many scientific academies of India namely as Fellow in National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (NAAS)-New Delhi, and Telangana Academy of Agricultural Sciences (TAAS)-Telangana, while Associate Fellow/Member in Andhra Pradesh Academy of Agricultural Sciences (APAS)-Andhra Pradesh, and Member of The National Academy of Sciences-India (NASI). He was also among the top 2% highly cited researcher in 2019-2021 compiled by Stanford University, USA. Naveen Puppala is a Professor at New Mexico State University, USA. His research focuses on genetic characterization and improvement of Valencia peanuts through molecular techniques & conventional breeding approaches. His Valencia breeding emphasizes variety development for high yield; high oleic; four seeds per pod; good taste, and disease resistance. He has published 86 peer-reviewed journal articles, six book chapters, and 170 meeting abstracts as author or co-author. He has given numerous invited presentations at national and international conferences. Seventeen graduate students have been supported with grants secured from USAID funds, USDA-NIFA, New Mexico Peanut Research Board, and National Peanut Research, where he was the Principal Investigator or co-PI of the project. He has served as an advisor, co-advisor, and on a graduate student committee. He has mentored National peanut breeders from ten different countries to develop high-yielding, disease-resistant Valencia peanuts to increase the livelihood of economically poor farmers. He served as a President-Elect for American Peanut Research and Education Society from 2014 to 2015. He has released 14 peanut cultivars. He served as a peanut crop germplasm committee chair from 2009 to 2011. He served on grant review panels for USDA-NIFA. He was an associate editor for BMC Plant Biology, Journal of Plant Registration, and Peanut Science.
