Dr. Mitesh Kumar Dwivedi has completed PhD from Department of Biochemistry, The M. S. University of Baroda, Vadodara (2013); M.Sc. Microbiology from University of Mysore (2006) and B.Sc. Microbiology from Sardar Patel University (2004). Since 2014, he is serving as Assistant Professor at C. G. Bhakta Institute of Biotechnology, Uka Tarsadia University. He has published 42 research papers in reputed journals and written 5 book chapters. His research interests include exploring the immunological, genetic causes and therapeutics for autoimmune diseases such as Vitiligo, rheumatoid arthritis, thyroidism, etc. and use of probiotics in human health and diseases. N. Amaresan is a microbiologist and Professor at the Saveetha Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Saveetha University, Chennai. He was previously an Assistant Professor at C.G. Bhakta Institute of Biotechnology, Uka Tarsadia University, Gujarat. He earned his PhD on endophytic plant growth-promoting bacteria from Bharathidasan University, Tamil Nadu. With extensive experience in teaching and research, he has made a number of original contributions across several allied fields of microbiology, principally plant–microbe interactions, bioremediation, and plant pathology. For his discoveries on agriculturally important microorganisms, he has received young scientist awards from the Association of Microbiologists of India and the National Academy of Biological Sciences, along with a visiting scientist fellowship from the National Academy of Sciences, India, to pursue advanced techniques. He has deposited more than 380 bacterial 16S rDNA and fungal ITS rDNA sequences in GenBank (NCBI, EMBL, and DDBJ) and preserved over 150 microbial germplasm accessions in culture collection centers across India. Dr. A. Sankaranarayanan is working as an Assistant Professor in Microbiology, C.G. Bhakta Institute of Biotechnology, Uka Tarsadia University, Gujarat from 2015 onwards. Prior to his present position he served as an Assistant Professor & Head, Department of Microbiology, K.S.R. College of Arts & Science, Tiruchengode, Tamil Nadu from 2002-2015. He has experience in the fields of antimicrobial activity, antibacterial potential of nanoparticles and environmental microbiology. His current research focus is on antibacterial potential of herbal products against multi drug resistant microbial pathogens and pesticide / insecticide degradation by bacteria and fungi in freshwater ecosystem. Dr Helen Kemp completed her PhD in Microbiology at the University of Warwick and the Centre for Applied Microbiology and Research, Salisbury, in 1988. Since 1989, she has worked at the University of Sheffield as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology and then in the Department of Oncology and Metabolism. She has a long-standing interest in the autoimmune and genetic aspects of the depigmenting disease vitiligo and has international collaborations on projects to profile autoantibody responses against melanocytes in melanoma, vitiligo and alopecia areata. She is also interested in characterizing autoimmune responses against the calcium-sensing receptor in patients with parathyroid autoimmunity. She has published more than 70 research papers and has contributed to books and review articles. She has been on the British Skin Foundation Grant Review Board and served as Section Editor for the British Journal of Dermatology.
