Dr. Rajiv Kumar, Ph.D., is a co-founder and executive director of QLEAP Academy, India; former chief scientist and head of Tata Chemicals Innovation Centre, Pune, India; and former head of Catalysis Division, National Chemical Laboratory, Pune. He has received several awards like the Eminent Scientist Award of the Catalysis Society of India, Chem-Con Distinguished Scientist, Dr. K.G. Naik Gold Medal for Excellence in Chemical Sciences and Technology, Best Scientist of the Year Award of NCL Research Foundation, and Young Scientist Award (Bhattacharya Medal) of the Catalysis Society of India. His areas of interest and expertise include zeolites, catalysis, biosynthesis of nanomaterials, cannabis/hemp, environment, and sustainability. He has approximately 180 papers published in scientific journals and more than 65 patents to his credit. He is/has been a member of the editorial boards of Applied Catalysis-A, Advances in Nano-porous Materials and Pollution Research. He has guided approximately 20 Ph.D. and M.Tech. students.
Dr. Muralikrishnan Dhanasekaran is a professor at Harrison School of Pharmacy, Auburn University, USA. He obtained his Ph.D. from the Indian Institute of Chemical Biology, Kolkata, India, and then received his postdoctoral training from renowned scientists Dr. Manuchair Ebadi (University of North Dakota) and Dr. Bala Manyam (Scott & White Clinic/Texas A&M, USA). Dr. Dhanasekaran’s research areas are pharmacology, neuroscience, toxicology, dietary, natural products, and the development of drugs/compounds targeting Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. Dr. Dhanasekaran completed the New Investigator Research Grant from Alzheimer’s Association, several Auburn University grants, and several other research projects from a pharmaceutical company. Dr. Dhanasekaran has guided 16 students (as a mentor) and currently has 5 graduate students under his leadership, and he has trained more than 50 undergraduate students in his lab. Dr. Dhanasekaran has received several teaching awards from Auburn University. He has published more than 200 scientific abstracts, 103 peer-reviewed publications, 2 books, and several book chapters.
