Biographical note

Shyam Mohapatra is Distinguished USF Health Professor, Director of the Division of Translational Medicine at the University of South Florida. He also directs the USF Center for Research and Education in Nanobioengineering and is a Research Career Scientist at the James A. Haley VA Hospital in Tampa. He also serves as Associate Dean of Graduate Programs at the USF College of Pharmacy, and established a highly innovative Master of Science program in Pharmaceutical Nanotechnology. He has published over 170 papers and holds over 30 U.S. and international patents. He is a Fellow of the AAAAI, NAI, and AIMBE, and a 2014 inductee of the Florida Inventors Hall of Fame. Dr. Shivendu Ranjan has extensive expertise in Micro/Nanotechnology and is currently working as Head R&D and Technology Development at E-Spin Nanotech Pvt. Ltd. He has founded and drafted the concept for the first edition of the “VIT Bio Summit” in 2012, and the same has been continued till date by the university. He has worked in CSIR-CFTRI, Mysuru, India as well as UP Drugs and Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., India and IIFPT, Thanjavur, MoFPI, Govt of India. At IIFPT, Thanjavur, he was involved in a project funded by a leading pharmaceutical company, Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories and have successfully engineered micro-vehicles for model drug molecules. His research interests are multidisciplinary and include: Micro/Nanobiotechnology, Nano-toxicology, Environmental Nanotechnology, Nanomedicine, and Nanoemulsions. . He is the associate editor of Environmental Chemistry Letters – a Springer journal of 3.59 impact factor – and an editorial board member in Biotechnology and Biotechnological Equipment(Taylor and Francis). He is serving as executive editor of a journal in iMed Press, USA, and also serving as editorial board member and referee for reputed international peer-reviewed journals. He is the author of many books and edited six books. Dr. Nandita Dasgupta has vast working experience in Micro/Nanoscience and is currently working at LV Prasad Eye Institute, Bhubaneswar, India. She has exposure of working at university, research institutes and industries including VIT University, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India; CSIR-Central Food Technological Research Institute, Mysore, India; and Uttar Pradesh Drugs and Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., Lucknow, India and Indian Institute of Food Processing Technology (IIFPT), Thanjavur, Ministry of Food Processing Industries, Government of India. At IIFPT, Thanjavur, she was involved in a project funded by a leading pharmaceutical company, Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories and have successfully engineered micro-vehicles for model drug molecules. Her areas of interest include Micro/Nanomaterial fabrication and its applications in various fields – medicine, food, environment, agriculture biomedical. She is the author os many books and edited more than 6 books. She has authored many chapters and also published many scientific articles in international peer-reviewed journals. She has received the Certificate for “Outstanding Contribution” in Reviewing from Elsevier, Netherlands. She has also been nominated for advisory panel for Elsevier Inc., Netherlands. She is the associate editor of Environmental Chemistry Letters – a Springer journal of 3.59 impact factor – and also serving as editorial board member and referee for reputed international peer-reviewed journals. She has received several awards and recognitions from different national and international organizations. Prof. Sabu Thomas is a Professor of Polymer Science and Engineering and the Director of the School of Energy Materials at Mahatma Gandhi University, India. Additionally, he is the Chairman of the Trivandrum Engineering Science & Technology Research Park (TrEST Research Park) in Thiruvananthapuram, India. He is the founder director of the International and Inter-university Centre for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology at Mahatma Gandhi University and the former Vice-Chancellor of the same institution. Prof. Thomas is internationally recognized for his contributions to polymer science and engineering, with his research interests encompassing polymer nanocomposites, elastomers, polymer blends, interpenetrating polymer networks, polymer membranes, green composites, nanocomposites, nanomedicine, and green nanotechnology. His groundbreaking inventions in polymer nanocomposites, polymer blends, green bionanotechnology, and nano-biomedical sciences have significantly advanced the development of new materials for the automotive, space, housing, and biomedical fields. Dr. Thomas has been conferred with Honoris Causa (DSc) by the University of South Brittany, France. Raghvendra Kumar Mishra is a Materials Scientist in the Chemical Engineering Department at IIT Delhi, India, and he has previously held research positions at Cranfield University (United Kingdom), Madrid Institute of Advanced Studies (Spain), and Mahatma Gandhi University (India). His research interests focus on nanomaterials and polymer composites, including new applications of nanomaterials, developing nanomaterials-based systems for diverse functionalities, creating biopolymer-based composites, and utilizing advanced fabrication techniques such as electrospinning and 3D printing.