Marine Biotechnology for Healthcare: Advances and Biomedical Applications

Dr. Maushmi Kumar is an Associate Professor at the Somaiya Institute for Research and Consultancy, Somaiya Vidyavihar University in Mumbai, India where she is also the course coordinator for the MSc in Chemical Biology and Drug Design. Dr. Kumar earned her PhD in Applied Zoology from Mangalore University in Mangalore, India. Dr. Kumar has more than 17 years of combined experience in academia and in industry. She teaches courses in biochemistry, pharmaceutical microbiology and pharmaceutical biotechnology while pursuing research opportunities for cancer, inflammation, and marine biotechnology. She has contributed more than 46 research publications to Scopus-indexed international and national journals, given 19 oral talks, and authored/edited 5 book chapters and one book. Her research work includes bioactivity screening and compounds isolation from marine macro and microorganisms for inflammation and cancer. She is a Fellow of the Society for Applied Biotechnology and a lifetime member of the Biotech Research Society of India.

Dr. Achlesh Daverey is working as an Assistant Professor in School of Environment and Natural Resources at Doon University, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India. He has completed his M. Tech. in Bioprocess Technology from Institute of Chemical Technology (ICT) Mumbai, India in 2006 and Ph.D. in Biotechnology from Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati (IIT Guwahati), Assam, India in 2011. He worked as a post-doctoral researcher in Institute of Environmental Engineering at National Chiao Tung University, Taiwan before joining Doon University. He is serving as Editorial Board Member of SN Applied Sciences (Springer) and Review Editor for Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology, Frontiers in Environmental Science and Frontiers in Microbiology journals. His area of research includes biological wastewater treatment, anammox, phytoremediation of contaminated soil and water, waste valorization, and bioprocess design and optimization. Dr. Daverey has published 32 research papers in various internationally reputed journals and contributed 7 chapters in edited books (published by Elsevier, Springer, McGraw-Hill, American Society for Civil Engineers).

Dr. Sanket Joshi is currently a Professor at the Amity Institute of Microbial Technology, Amity University, Rajasthan, India. He has academic teaching and research experience of about 16 years, and industrial R&D experience of about 4 years in India and Oman. While working in Indian pharma companies, he undertook several turnkey projects. His current research interests encompass energy (In-situ/ex-situ microbial enhanced light/heavy oil recovery; chemical enhanced oil Recovery; biofuels), microbial products (biosurfactants, biopolymers, R&D and scale-up), and environmental bioremediation (crude oil pollution; analysis, mitigation and control of souring by Sulfate reducing bacteria; HPAM contaminated sites). He has about 125 scientific publications in international journals, book chapters, and conference proceedings, and two books to his credit. He is an Academic/Associate Editor for: Frontiers in Microbiology, PeerJ, Ecotoxicology (Springer), Petroleum Science and Technology (Springer), Biotech (Springer), and Open Biotechnology Journal; guest editor for Frontiers in Microbiology, Sustainability, Scientifica, and Open Biotechnology Journal.

Dr. Buttar has made valuable contributions to nanobiotechnology, phytomedicines, functional foods, clinical nutrition and prevention of cardiovascular diseases, obesity, and diabetes. In January 2014, the International Academy of Cardiovascular Sciences (India Section) established the "Dr. Harpal S. Buttar Oration Award" to recognize his leadership and contributions in promoting dietary and lifestyle changes in the prevention of cardiovascular diseases in Canada and around the world. Based on his scientific accomplishments and distinguished contributions he was awarded Fellowships from the Punjab Academy of Sciences, International College of Nutrition, International Academy of Cardiovascular Sciences, and Indian Society of Pharmaceutical Education and Research. In 2019 the Society for Ethnopharmacology, India, gave the Special Recognition Award to Dr. Buttar for his outstanding contributions made in Phytomedicines and promotion of research in Pharmacology and Pharmaceutical Sciences.He has authored / co-authored 35 book chapters, one monograph, and 142 research and review papers published in peer-reviewed journals.

Dr. Annika Vaksmaa is VENI Research Fellow and Confidential Advisor in the Microbiology and Biogeochemistry Department at the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research. She earned her PhD in Microbiology from Radboud University, the Netherlands and has over 15 years of research experience in different countries such as Estonia, Denmark, Oman, and the Netherlands. She is a carbon cycle-focused field and laboratory microbiologist interested in the role of marine microbes and fungi in transforming hazardous hydrocarbons such as methane, oil, and plastics in our ecosystem. She is an expert in assays with isotopically labelled 13C compounds, bioreactors, cultivation of aerobic and anaerobic microbes, GCMS, IRMS, FTIR, 16S rRNA-based microbial community analyses, qPCR, nanoSIMS, and SEM. She has published several research papers in peer-reviewed journals and a recipient of various international research grants.