Prof. Tilak Raj Sharma, a well-known Plant Molecular Biologist, is presently working as ICAR-National Professor-BP Pal Chair at NIPB, IARI, New Delhi. He has more than 10 years’ experience as a Research Administrator in different capacities such as Deputy Director General (Crop Science), ICAR, New Delhi; acting DDG (Horticulture Science), Director, IARI, New Delhi, IARI Assam, IARI Jharkhand and Director, NIBSM, Raipur; Executive Director, DBT- National Agri-Food Biotechnology Institute, Mohali; Chief Executive Officer, DBT-Center of Innovative and Applied Bioprocessing; Director, ICAR- National Institute for Plant Biotechnology, New Delhi and OSD, ICAR- Indian Institute of Agricultural Biotechnology Ranchi.
He obtained three Post Doctorate trainings on Plant Molecular Biology and Genome analysis, one at University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada and two from Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, New York, USA.
Prof. Sharma is the fellow of all four national academies viz; Indian National Science Academy, Indian Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Sciences and National Academy of Agricultural Sciences. He has been awarded (twice) the prestigious JC Bose National Fellowship of the Department of Science and Technology, Govt of India.
For his outstanding research contributions Dr. Sharma has been Awarded various awards like; University Gold Medal, Young Scientist Award, National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (NAAS), ICAR Young Scientist Award (Crop Sciences), Prof. Umakant Sinha Memorial Award in Biochemistry, Biophysics and Biotechnology, Indian Science Congress Association, International World Technology Award for Biotechnology (jointly to Int. Rice Genome Sequencing Team), DBT National Bioscience Award for Career Development,. NAAS Recognition Award; VASVIK Award, Rafi Ahmed Kidwai Award-ICAR, , NASI-Reliance Industries Platinum Jubilee Award, Prof MGK Menon Lecture Award (NASI)., Prof. BS Samundari Memorial lecture award (GNDU Amritsar), Prof. K.S. Bilgrami Memorial Medal (INSA), ICAR Team Research Award and OP Bhasin Award in Agricultural Sciences, Dr DS Barar Award in Agricultural Sciences by GS Khush Foundation. Besides also received Dr. Mundkur, Dr. SP Raychaudhuri, Dr. Gopinath Sahu, Dr PS Bhatnagar & Dr SVS Shastry Memorial lecture awards.
His major research interests are in the areas of Genomics and plant disease resistance. Prof. Sharma has contributed extensively to the improvement of rice for over 35 years and identified and cloned a new rice blast resistance gene Pi54 which has been deployed in more than 40 rice varieties in India and abroad. He was associated with the decoding of complete genomes of Rice, Tomato, Pigeonpea, Jute, Wheat, Mango, Guar, Lathyrus, Tea and many plant pathogens. Prof. Sharma has guided 32 Ph D students and published more than 225 research papers (two in the prestigious journal Nature), obtained six Indian patents and associated in the development of three blast resistant rice varieties Pusa 1637, HPR2880, and Pusa Samba1850.
Prof. Sharma has published more than 225 research papers: Citation Index: more than 20000; h index = 68; i10-Index = 178.
Prabodh Kumar Trivedi is Professor and Director in the Department of Plant Biotechnology, CSIR–CIMAP. Earlier, he served as Chief Scientist at the CSIR–NBRI, Lucknow. His research focuses on functional genomics and metabolic engineering of plant secondary products, fruit ripening, and plant–environment interactions. He has contributed to the development of transgenic and molecular tools for pathway engineering in plants. He is an Elected Fellow of INSA, NASI, IASc, and NAAS. He is also recipient of the J C Bose National Fellowship, the Tata Innovation Fellowship (DBT), and others. With Citations of more than 14500 and h-index 70, he has authored more than 180 publications and guided several doctoral students. His leadership in plant molecular biology has significantly advanced both basic and translational research.
Rupesh Deshmukh is Professor and Head of the Department of Biotechnology at the Central University of Haryana. His research focuses on crop genomics, molecular breeding, QTL mapping, and genome editing, with notable contributions to understanding the role of aquaporins. He has functionally characterised several aquaporin from diverse plant species to understand the evolution of the transport mechanism of silicon and other metalloids in plants. A recipient of the NASI–Scopus Young Scientist Award, Professor K. S. Bhargava Memorial Award and the P. S. Khankhoje Gold Medal, he is recognized as Clarivate Highly Cited Researcher (top 1%) and featured in Stanford University’s list of the world’s Top 2% Scientists. With Citations of more than 11500 and h-index 58, he also serves as Associate Editor for several leading international journals.
Akanksha Singh is Senior Scientist at CSIR–Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (CIMAP), Lucknow. Her research focuses on plant–microbe interactions, particularly beneficial endophytes and their role in enhancing plant growth, stress tolerance, and metabolite production. She employs metagenomics, transcriptomics, and molecular tools to explore the ecological and functional basis of microbial symbiosis in crops and medicinal plants. Her contributions have been recognized through distinguished honors such as the INSA Young Scientist Award, the BRSI Young Scientist Award, and the DST Women Scientist Fellowship. She has authored numerous research papers and book chapters and is actively engaged in mentoring young researchers. With Citations more than 3500 and h-index 33, her expertise brings an important perspective on the microbial applications for sustainable and smart agriculture.
