Deepika Kathuria is an Assistant Professor at University Center for Research and Development, Chandigarh University, Gharuan, Punjab, India. She completed her masters in pharmaceuticals and Doctorate in Pharmaceutical Sciences from National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research, Mohali, India. She has published over 19 peer-reviewed papers in international journals. She has various honors/Fellowship/Awards to her credit i.e. Award of INSPIRE fellowship (JRF) from DST, Award of INSPIRE fellowship (SRF) from DST, Bristol-Mayer Squibb fellowship (Merit-cum-topper scholarship during M.Pharm), Newton Bhabha Placement, DST-exchange programme. She does research in Organic Chemistry, Medicinal Chemistry, Analytical Chemistry, Natural Products, CADD. Dr. Ajay Sharma is a Natural Product Chemist with a strong Organic Chemistry, Photochemistry, Biochemistry, and Ethnobotany background. Presently, he is working as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow, at the University of Mississippi, Oxford, USA. Previously he worked as a Senior Executive - NFSI Nestle R&D Center, India. He completed his (B.Sc. Medical) from Govt. College Hoshiarpur (affiliated to Panjab University, Chandigarh), Master’s in Organic Chemistry (Natural Products) from Punjab Agriculture University Ludhiana and his PhD (Organic Chemistry – Natural product) from SLIET (Sant Longowal Institute of Engineering & Technology, Deemed University) Punjab. He has published over 45 peer-reviewed papers and book chapters with highly reputed publishers. Presently, he has five edited books under development with different international publishers. His research activities have focused on isolation and characterization of bioactive extracts from traditional medicinal plants and evaluation of their biological potential. Currently, his research group at Chandigarh University is investigating the field of more environmentally friendly synthesis of metal nanoparticles and carbon nanodots using plant extracts/plant-based biomass followed by assessing their biological, catalytic, and sensing potential. Jesus Simal-Gandara is Full Prof in Nutrition and Food Science at the Faculty of Food Science and Technology, University of Vigo (Spain). He is Corresponding Member of the Royal Academy of Medicine and Surgery of Galicia (1991), Member of the Scientific Committee of the Spanish Agency for Consumption, Food Safety and Nutrition (2013-2016), Research Medal of the Royal Galician Academy of Sciences 2020 Antonio Casares Rodriguez (Chemistry and Geology), President of the International Association of Dietary Nutrition and Safety (2020), Full Member of the Royal Academy of Pharmacy of Galicia (2021), and Associate Editor in Food Science and Nutrition (Wiley) and Food Chemistry (Elsevier). He leads a research group of excellence, and was leading CIA3 - Environmental, Agricultural and Food Research Center (2008-2018). He was the Head of the Department of Analytical Chemistry and Food Science (2013-2018), and Vice-Chancellor for Internationalization at the University of Vigo (2018).
