About the Editors

Gokare A. Ravishankar, Ph.D., is an adjunct honorary Vice President of Research & Development (R&D) in Life Sciences and Biotechnology (partly remote position) at Dayananda Sagar Institutions [Dayananda Sagar University; Dayananda Sagar College of Engineering affiliated to Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU)], Bengaluru, India. He is also an international consultant in the domains of biomass production, agro-technologies, food science and technologies in the United States.

Earlier, he had a distinguished research career of over 30 years at the Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI), Mysore and in the institutions of the Government of India. At CFTRI, he served as Director-Grade Scientist and Head of the Plant Cell Biotechnology Department for 18 years till his voluntary retirement in 2012. Later, he served as Chairman of the board of studies in biotechnology at the Visvesvaraya Technological University and Academic Council Member of Dayananda Sagar University. He has also been a member of the boards of eight universities. He served as Visiting Professor/Scientist to universities in Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and Russia. He is also a research advisory committee member of ICAR-Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, Bengaluru and a member of the expert committee on All India Coordinated Project on Seaweeds, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi. He was the founding director of E2E Biotech Pvt Ltd, Bengaluru and is now the honorary advisor.

He is an internationally recognized expert in the areas of food science and technology, plant biotechnology, algal biotechnology, food biotechnology and postharvest technologies, plant physiology, plant secondary metabolites, functional foods, herbal products, genetic engineering, microbial technologies, plant-microbe interactions, biomass production, and biofuels. He is listed in the top 2% of the world's scientists reported by Stanford University, United States.

Dr. Ravishankar holds a master's and a Ph.D. degree from Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda. He mentored over 40 Ph.D. students, 62 master's students, 7 postdocs, and 8 international guest scientists. He has authored over 265 peer-reviewed research papers, 30 review articles, 70 Book chapters, and 55 patents in India and abroad and edited 7 books. His research publications have received over 25,000 citations with an h-index of 73. He has presented over 220 lectures at various scientific meetings in India and abroad, including visits to about 30 countries.

Dr. Ravishankar has received international honors as a Fellow of the International Academy of Food Science and Technology (Canada), Institute of Food Technologists (United States), Institute of Food Science and Technology (United Kingdom), and as a Certified Food Scientist, United States.

He was honored as a fellow of several organizations in India, namely, the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Association of Microbiologists of India, Society of Agricultural Biochemists, Society of Applied Biotechnologists, Indian Botanical Society, Biotechnology Research Society of India, and the Association of Food Scientists and Technologists of India. He is also an elected member of the Plant Tissue Culture Association of India. He is an Executive Council Member of the Indian Academy of Microbiological Sciences.

Dr. Ravishankar received several coveted awards as follows: Young Scientist Award (Botany) by the then Prime Minister of India in 1992; National Technology Day Award of the Government of India in 2003; Laljee Goodhoo Smarak Nidhi Award for food biotechnology R&D of Industrial Relevance; the Prestigious, Professor V. Subramanyan Food Industrial Achievement Award; Professor S.S. Katiyar Endowment Lecture Award in New Biology by Indian Science Congress; Professor Vyas Memorial Award of Association of Microbiologists of India; Professor V.N. Raja Rao Endowment Lecture Award in Applied Botany, University of Madras; Lifetime Achievement Award by the Society of Applied Biotechnologists, Dr. Diwaker Patel Memorial Award by Anand Agricultural University, Anand; Prof. C.S. Paulose Memorial Oration Award by Society for Biotechnologists of India; Prof. Gadgil Memorial Lecture Award from Plant Tissue Culture Association of India; and Lifetime Achievement Award of the Association of Microbiologists of India.

He has held honorary positions as President of the Society of Biological Chemists, Mysore Chapter; President of the Association of Microbiologists of India, Mysore, and Bangalore Chapters; and Vice President (HQ) of the Association of Food Scientists and Technologists of India. He is a lifetime member of the Nutrition Society of India and several biotechnology societies including the Plant Tissue Culture Association of India, Society for Biotechnologists of India, Biotechnology Research Society of India, International Coffee Genome Network, American Society of Plant Biologists, Global Harmonization Initiative (Austria), and many more.

He has also served as an advisor and resource person in international conferences, seminars, workshops, and short courses and has convened national and international seminars in biology, biotechnology, and food science and technology. He is an associate editor and reviewer of a large number of reputed research journals. Dr. Ravishankar has served on advisory committees of the Government of India, namely, Department of Science and Technology (DST), Department of Biotechnology (DBT), and Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), among many others for the selection of national/international research projects, recruitment of scientists, and HRD-related activities. He also participated as a member of the working group on biotechnology at Institute of Food Technologists (IFT), United States.

Ambati Ranga Rao, Ph.D., is Senior Scientist and Associate Professor in the Department of Biotechnology, School of Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Sciences at Vignan's Foundation for Science, Technology, and Research (Deemed to be University), Andhra Pradesh, India. He is also serving as Director for the Center of Excellence. He is involved in teaching cum research for graduate and undergraduate students. Recently, he is listed in the Top 2% of the World`s Scientists reported by Stanford University, United States.

Dr. Ranga Rao holds a bachelor's and master's degree from Acharya Nagarjuna University, Andhra Pradesh, India and a Ph.D. degree from the University of Mysore. He started his research career in 2004 as a research assistant at the Department of Plant Cell Biotechnology, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)-Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI), Mysuru, India, under the supervision of Dr. G. A. Ravishankar and Dr. R. Sarada. He was awarded Senior Research Fellow of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), New Delhi in the year 2007. His Ph.D. work at CFTRI focused on the production of astaxanthin from cultured green alga, Haematococcus pluvialis, and its biological activities.

He worked extensively on process optimization of algal biomass production, the mass culture of various algal species in raceway ponds and photobioreactors, and downstream processing of algal metabolites, and evaluation of their possible nutraceutical applications in in vitro and in vivo models. Furthermore, Dr. Ranga Rao was involved in a project on "Studies on filed cultivation and harvesting of seaweeds-Porphyra, Enteromorpha, Eucheuma and their use in processed foods."

Dr. Ranga Rao worked as Lead Scientist in Algal Technologies, Carot Labs Pvt. Ltd, India; Postdoctoral Research Associate in Laboratory of Algal Research and Biotechnology, Arizona State University, United States, under the supervision of Prof. Milton Sommerfeld and Prof. Qiang Hu; Visiting Assistant Professor in Food Science and Technology Program, Beijing Normal University and Hong Kong Baptist University, United International College, China, under the supervision of Prof. Bo Lei; and Visiting Senior Research Fellow (Associate Professor Grade) in Institute of Ocean and Earth Sciences, University of Malaya, Malaysia, under the guidance of Prof. Phang Siew-Moi.

He is the author of 55 peer-reviewed publications, 76 International/national conferences/symposia/invited talks/Faculty Development Programme (FDPs)/workshops/Quality Improvement Programme (QIP)-short-term courses, refresher courses, and 30 chapters in books. His research citations exceed 4550 with h-index (23) and i10-index (37) in Google Scholar. He has delivered lectures as Invited Speaker at international/national conferences/symposia in the United States, Canada, Brazil, Russia, China, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Oman.

He has edited five books (CRC Press, Academic Press, Springer Nature) as editor and co-editor, namely, Sustainable Global Resources of Seaweeds: Industrial Perspectives-Volume-I; Bioresources, cultivation, trade, and multifarious applications; Sustainable Global Resources of Seaweeds: Industrial Perspectives-Volume II: Food, pharmaceutical and health applications. Handbook of Algal Technologies and Phytochemicals: Volume-I Food, Health, and Nutraceutical Applications; Handbook of Algal Technologies and Phytochemicals: Volume II Phycoremediation, Biofuels, and Global Biomass Production; and Global Perspectives on Astaxanthin: from Industrial Production to Food, Health, and Pharmaceutical Application.

He was honored with the award of The World...