Antimicrobial Peptides : From Science to Applications

Prof. Anil Kumar Chhillar is currently Professor at the Centre for Biotechnology and is the former Director of Research at Maharshi Dayanand University (MDU), Rohtak, Haryana, India. He has also previously served as the Head of the Department of Biochemistry, the Director of the Centre for Biotechnology, and the Centre for Bioinformatics at MDU. Dr. Chhillar completed his PhD from Kurukshetra University in Kurukshetra, India and worked as Post Doctoral Fellow at the CSIR-Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB) in New Delhi. He has more than 20 years of research and teaching experience. He has guided 15 students for their PhD thesis and supervised four Post Doctoral Fellows. He has published more than 100 research papers in reputable journals. He is presently the coordinator of UGC-SAP and DST-FIST program and the Chairman of the Institutional Animal Ethics Committee and the Institutional Biosafety Committee.

Dr. Pawan K. Jaiwal is an Emeritus Professor at the Centre for Biotechnology, Maharshi Dayanand University in Rohtak, India where he was formerly the Director and Dean of the Faculty of Life Sciences. He has nearly 32 years of post-graduate teaching experience in molecular biology, genetic engineering, and plant biotechnology, has guided 27 students for their PhDs, and has completed 12 major research projects funded by various national and international agencies. Dr. Jaiwal has contributed 16 books and authored 28 book chapters and 112 research papers in nationally and internationally reputed research journals. He is a member of several academic bodies and is on the editorial board of national and International journals. Dr. Jaiwal has worked and trained at the Institute of Plant Sciences, ETH, Zurich (Switzerland), the National Research Centre on Plant Biotechnology, New Delhi, and the University of Ghent, Belgium and has visited labs in Japan, China, and the United States for collaborative research.

Ranjana Jaiwal is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Zoology at Maharshi Dayanand University (MDU), Rohtak, India. She earned her MSc and MPhil in Zoology from the CCS University, Meerut, and PhD from the Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India. She was a CSIR pool scientist for five years before joining Maharshi Dayanand University (MDU), Rohtak as an Assistant Professor. She has more than 20 years of teaching and 30 years of research experience. She has guided four students toward their PhD, and four more are pursuing PhD under her guidance. She has published more than 47 research papers in peer-reviewed journals with good impact factors, contributed several book chapters, and edited one book.. She has delivered invited talks and presented research papers at national and international conferences. Her current research interests are in antimicrobials and edible vaccine production in plants and the management of insects by RNAi technology.

Darshna Chaudhary is currently an Associate Professor in the Centre for Biotechnology, Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak, Haryana, India where she also earned a master’s in biotechnology and PhD in Plant Biotechnology. She has published more than 30 research papers in peer-reviewed journals, has authored four book chapters, an edited one book. Dr. Chaudhary has been awarded seven major research projects funded by national funding agencies like DBT, DST, UGC, SERB and HSCSIT. Her current research interest is edible vaccine production in plants, oil qualities improvement in Indian mustard (Brassica juncea L.) by using CRISPR-Cas9 management of insects by dsRNAs Delivery and genetic transformation of grain legumes (Vigna species).

Dr. Yogesh K. Ahlawat is a plant biotechnologist and molecular biologist who earned his PhD from Michigan Technological University, United States, where his doctoral research focused on enhancing biofuel production through the manipulation of plant cell wall biosynthesis. In addition to bioenergy research, Dr. Ahlawat investigates postharvest trait improvement in fruits and vegetables using multi‑omics approaches, examines soil microbial biodiversity, and explores bioremediation strategies for environmental management. With over 13 years of experience in functional genomics, postharvest genomics, and crop improvement methodologies, he has an established record of impactful publications and has worked extensively across a wide range of crops to dissect key quantitative and qualitative traits supporting smart agriculture practices. He serves on the editorial boards of several leading journals, including BMC, Frontiers, and MDPI. He is the recipient of multiple national and international honors, including a National Overseas Fellowship, a Doctoral Finishing Fellowship, a Best Graduate Teaching Award, and several competitive international and national travel grants awarded by prestigious funding agencies.