Current Developments in Biotechnology and Bioengineering Designer Microbial Cell Factories: Metabolic Engineering and Applications

Swati Joshi is currently a Scientist at the ICMR-National Institute of Occupational Health (NIOH) in Ahmedabad, India. She previously served as Assistant Professor and BioCARe Women Scientist in the School of Life Sciences at Central University of Gujarat (CUG). Dr. Joshi earned a PhD in Microbiology from the University of Delhi, working at the interface of microbiology, biotechnology and molecular biology using next gen platforms to develop industrial strains of methylotrophic Pichia sp. Her research focuses on applied microbiology, biotechnology, microbial enzymes, proteins, phage discovery, and microbe-derived molecules for therapeutic and diagnostic applications especially for occupational health. She has published over 27 peer-reviewed papers, reviews, book chapters, and edited two Elsevier books. Dr. Joshi is a life member of BRSI, MSI, AMI, and ILS and has been recognized with the Dr. M. J. Thirumalachar Young Scientist Award (Mycological Society of India) and Young Scientist Award (Association of Microbiologists of India).

Professor Ashok Pandey is currently Distinguished Scientist at the Centre for Innovation and Translational Research, CSIR-Indian Institute of Toxicology Research, Lucknow, India and Executive Director (Honorary) at the Centre for Energy and Environmental Sustainability - India. Formerly, he was Eminent Scientist at the Center of Innovative and Applied Bioprocessing, Mohali and Chief Scientist & Head of Biotechnology Division and Centre for Biofuels at CSIR's National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology, Trivandrum. His major research and technological development interests are industrial & environmental biotechnology and energy biosciences, focusing on biomass to biofuels & chemicals, waste to wealth & energy, industrial enzymes, etc. Professor Pandey is Adjunct/Visiting Professor/Scientist in universities in France, Brazil, Canada, China, Korea, South Africa, and Switzerland and also in several universities several in India. He has ~1400 publications/communications, which include 16 patents, 87 books, >700 papers and book chapters, etc with h index of 102 and ~46,300 citations (Goggle scholar). He has transferred several technologies to industries and has done industrial consultancy for about a dozen projects for Indian/international industries. Professor Pandey is the recipient of many national and international awards and honours, which include Distinguished Scientist, VDGOOD Professional Association, India (2020); Distinguished Professor of Eminence with global impact in the area of Biotechnology, Precious Cornerstone University, Nigeria (2020), Highest Cited Researcher (Top 1% in the world), Clarivate Analytics, Web of Science (2019); IconSWM Life-time Achievement Award 2019, International Society for Solid Waste Management, KIIT, Bhubaneshwar, India (2019); Yonsei Outstanding Scholar, Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea (2019), Highest Cited Researcher (Top 1% in the world; Top 10 in India), Clarivate Analytics, Web of Science (2018); Life-Time Achievement Award from the Biotech Research Society, India (2018); Life-Time Achievement Award from Venus International Research Awards (2018), Most Outstanding Researcher Award from Career360 (2018), Life-Time Achievement Award from the International Society for Energy, Environment and Sustainability (2017); Academician of European Academy of Sciences and Arts, Austria (2015); Honorary Doctorate degree from Univesite Blaise Pascal, France (2007); Thomson Scientific India Citation Laureate Award, USA (2006); UNESCO Professor (2000); Raman Research Fellowship Award, CSIR (1995); GBF, Germany and CNRS, France Fellowships (1992) and Young Scientist Award (1989), etc. He is Fellow of various academies, which include Royal Society of Biology, UK (2016); International Society for Energy, Environment and Sustainability (2016); National Academy of Sciences, India (2012); Association of Microbiologists of India (2008), International Organization of Biotechnology and Bioengineering (2007) and the Biotech Research Society, India (2005).

Dr. Ranjna Sirohi is currently working as Research Professor in Korea University, Seoul. She obtained B.Tech. degree in Biochemical Engineering and M.Tech. degree in Agricultural Engineering with specialization in Food Biotechnology Engineering. She has worked as Visiting Researcher at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland, as Scientist at Centre for Energy and Environment Sustainability, Lucknow and as Senior Project Associate at CSIR-NEERI, Nagpur. She obtained her Ph.D. degree in Process and Food Engineering from G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar, Uttarakhand. Her major research interests are in the field of Bioprocess Technology - Food & Food Waste Valorisation-Waste to Wealth - Biofuels. She has 65 publications/communications that include 32 research and review papers, 12 book chapters, 7 popular articles and 14 conference proceedings.

Dr Sirohi has won several awards and honors that include Research Excellent Award in the international conference on New Horizons in Biotechnology, Trivandrum, India (2019), Best Poster award in 8th International Forum on Industrial Bioprocessing (IBA-IFIBiop 2019), Miri; Sarawak, Malaysia (2019) and Research Excellence Award in International Conference on Bio-Innovation for Environmental and Health Sustainable Developments (BEHSD-2018), Lucknow, India (2018). She is the Life member of Indian Society of Agricultural Engineers (ISAE); the Biotech Research Society, India (BRSI); Indian Science Congress Association (ISCA) and Association of Food Scientists & Technologists, India (AFSTI). Dr. He received a BS (1980) and MS (1982) in Chemical Technology from Seoul National University, Korea and a Ph.D. (1988) in Chemical Engineering from University of California, Davis, USA. Before joining UNIST, he worked at CKD Pharmaceuticals, Korea (1980-82), Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, CA, USA (1988-91), and Pusan National University (PNU), Korea (1991-2017). Dr. Park is former and now honorary Editor-in-Chief of Biotechnology and Bioprocess Engineering (BBE), and a Senior Editor of Journal of Industrial Microbiology and Biotechnology (JIMB). Major research interest lies in metabolic engineering and synthetic biotechnology for microbial production of biofuels and biochemicals from renewable resources. Dr. Park has educated ~100 graduate students and postdocs, published >200 research papers and holds >30 patents.