S. K. Raj - Virus Diseases of Ornamental Plants: Characterization, Identification, Diagnosis and Management

did his Ph.D. degree in Botany (Plant Virology) from CSIR-National Botanical Research Institute (NBRI), Lucknow (registered at Kanpur University, Kanpur), in 1990 on the topic Characterization of a virus causing ring spot disease in Brinjal (Solanum melongena L.) and its management. He started his carrier as Scientist B at Molecular Virology Laboratory, CSIR-NBRI, Lucknow, India, in 1986 and continued as Chief Scientist/Sr. Deputy Director/Prof. AcSIR till his superannuation on 31 July 2015. He has been a visiting scientist at the Institute of Genetics and Crop Research, Gatersleben, Germany, in 1991 (INSA-DFG fellowship) with Prof. R. M. Leiser; and at Scottish Crop Research Institute, Dundee, UK, in 1997 (INSA-Royal Society fellowship) and 2000 (DBT fellowship) with Prof. Micheal Taliansky to carry out research on molecular biology of plant viruses with special reference to develop viral resistance in plants through pathogen-derived resistance strategies utilizing viral genes. He had been the principal investigator of many projects funded by the Department of Biotechnology (Govt. of India), U.P. Council of Science and Technology (UP-CST), and Department of Science and Technology (Govt. of India). Out of his research work, he has published more than 211 research papers in national and international journals and guided twelve Ph.D. students. He has been honored by Vigyan Ratan Award 20102011 from Uttar Pradesh Science and Technology (UPCS&T), Lucknow, U.P. Government, India, for his scientific contributions in the area of Plant Virology and Biotechnology. He has been conferred Plant Pathology Leadership Award 2012 and honored and elected as the Fellow of Indian Virological Society by the Indian Virological Society, New Delhi, India, in 2013. At present he has been actively engaged in science by contributing his services to national research institutes, scientific organizations, and universities in India.

earned his PhD in 2005 and is now Professor in the Department of Biotechnology at Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gorakhpur University, Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, India. His Ph.D was on molecular characterization of sugarcane viruses, viz., mosaic, streak mosaic, and yellow luteovirus. He received MASHAV fellowship of Israel government for his postdoctoral studies and joined the Volcani Centre, Israel, and BenGurion University, Negev, Israel. In 2007 he received the Visiting Scientist Fellowship from Swedish Institute Fellowship, Sweden, to work in the Ume University, Ume, Sweden. He received Post-Doc Fellowship from ICGEB, Italy, in 2008. He has made significant contributions on sugarcane viruses and published 130 national/international papers, authored 17 edited books, and presented about 50 papers in national and international conferences. He has visited several laboratories of USA, Canada, New Zealand, UK, Thailand, Sweden, and Italy. Currently, he is handling many national and international grants and international collaborative projects on plant viruses and disease management.

received a PhD in agricultural sciences with specialization in horticulture in 2002 at the Department of Plant Genetics, Breeding and Biotechnology, Faculty of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, Warsaw Agricultural UniversitySGGW and now works on plant virology at the Plant Breeding and Acclimatization InstituteNational Research Institute (IHAR-PIB), Mochw Research Center, Poland. He has worked on 2 international and 7 national projects, published 33 research articles, 5 book chapters, 20 conference papers, and gave 42 oral presentations in national/international conferences, invited lectures, and seminars. He was awarded for his PhD study and scientific achievements by SGGW-Poland in 2001, 2002, and 2007, Ministry of Education of China in 2004, Polish Academy of Sciences in 2007, and IHAR-PIB in 2016 and 2018. He has made scientific visits to SASA UK and ECU USA and was the Polish representative of the PVYwide organization.