Prof. Dr. BK. Tyagi is a renowned medical arthropodologist/entomologist of international repute, well known for his significant contributions on vector ecology, biology, and control as well as epidemiology and management of vector-borne diseases like malaria, filariasis, leishmaniasis, Japanese encephalitis, dengue and chikungunya etc. He is best known for his innovative malariological research in the IGNP irrigated Thar Desert in Rajasthan; discovery of Aedes albopictus as a primary and only vector of dengue fever in Kerala State, and invention and development of various different vector mosquito traps/breeding preventers. He has discovered new species of mosquitoes, and published for the first time a complete catalogue of Indian mosquitoes (Culicidae). Recipient of many prestigious national and international Awards/Prizes, viz., WHO-TDR First Prize in a worldwide competition (1995-96), ICMR’s Dr. M.O.T. Iyengar Memorial Award (2007) for outstanding biomedical research, he has published 28 books and more than 575 research titles, in addition to one Indian patent and two Technology Transfers to the State Government of Tamil Nadu. Dr Tyagi has been a member of various expert committees in the India Council of Medical Research, Department of Biotechnology etc. He had research collaborations with Brandeis University, USA, International Water Management Institute, Sri Lanka, World Health Organization, National Institute of Public Health, Hanoi (Vietnam) etc. Dr. Tyagi is also the originator of ‘Conferences of Medical Arthropodology’. Dr. D. Dhanasekaran is working as an Assistant Professor, Department of Microbiology, School of Life Sciences, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli, India. He has experience in fields of actinobacteriology and mycology. His current research focus is on actinobacteria, microalgae, fungi and mushroom for animal and human health improvement. He has received the UGC-Raman Post doctoral Fellowship to visit USA, University of New Hampshire, Durham. He has deposited around 64 nucleotide sequences in GenBank, 5 bioactive compounds in Pubchem, published 89 research and review articles and books on Antimicrobial compounds: Synthetic and Natural compounds. 2016. He has guided 7 Ph.D candidates and organized several national level symposia, conference and workshop programs.
