Biographical note

Krishna Kant Mishra is currently working as Principal Scientist and Incharge Head, Crop Protection Division in Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR)-Vivekananda Parvatiya Krishi Anusandhan Sansthan, Almora, Uttarakhad, India. Dr. Mishra received his B.Sc. (Biology) degree from the University of Allahabad, Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh, India with Gold Medal. He obtained his M.Sc. (Plant Pathology) and Ph.D. in Plant Pathology with minor in Molecular Biology and Genetic Engineering from G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar, Uttarakhand, India. He worked as Junior Research Officer at the Department of Plant Pathology, G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar, Uttarakhand, India from 2006 to 2010. He was given the P.R. Verma Award by the Indian Society of Mycology and Plant Pathology, Udaipur, India in 2006 for his Ph.D. thesis, as well as the Young Scientist Award by Uttarakhand State Science and Technology Congress in 2011. During his career, Dr. Mishra has published a more than 50 research papers, two edited books, two authored books, three technical bulletins, more than 30 book chapters, 30 extension leaflets, and more than 50 popular articles. He has attended and participated in many local and international workshops and conferences. He was elected the Zonal President-2021, Mid-Eastern Zone by the Indian Phytopathological Society, New Delhi. He has served as a member of organizing committees and as editorial board member and reviewer for a number of scientific journals.

Santosh Kumar is currently working as Associate Professor at the Department of Chemistry, Harcourt Butler Technical University, Kanpur, India. He has also served as Research Professor in the Department of Organic and Nano System Engineering, Division of Chemical Engineering, Konkuk University, Seoul, South Korea. Dr. Kumar received his B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Chemistry and D.Phil. in Organic Chemistry from the University of Allahabad, India. He worked as a Research Associate (Council of Scientific and Industrial Research: CSIR) at the Department of Chemistry, Motilal Nehru National Institute of Technology, Allahabad, India. He was awarded a Chinese Academy of Sciences–The World Academy of Sciences (CAS-TWAS) postdoctoral fellowship in 2008 and worked in Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun, China. Later he joined as a Konkuk University Brain Pool Professor and researcher at the Konkuk University, Seoul, South Korea (2010–2013). He was awarded a Fundação para a Ciência a Tecnologia (FCT) Postdoctoral Fellowship in 2012 and worked at the Chemistry Centre, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal from 2013 to 2017. During his career, Dr. Kumar has published more than 82 research papers, edited one book and seven book chapters, and attended and participated in local and international workshops and conferences. He has served as a member of organizing committees and an editorial board member and reviewer for a number of scientific journals. He is Associate Editor of the Asian Chitin Journal and is Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Biological Engineering Research and Review. Current research interests involve source apportionment of chemical modification, optical and biological properties of chitosan biopolymer for biomedical applications, hydrogel, aerogel, nanomaterials, drug and gene delivery, and environmental chemistry.