Professor Olubukola Oluranti Babalola (Pr.Sci.Nat, MASSAF, FASLP, FTWAS, FAS, FAAS), Vice-President of The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS), and Vice-President of the Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World (OWSD) (Africa region) is an NRF-rated scientist, an MBA graduate, a Director and Principal Investigator at NWU. After a PhD with a Fellowship from the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and OWSD, she had postdoctoral experiences at the Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel, and the University of the Western Cape, South Africa. She has over 20 years of experience focusing on rhizosphere metagenomics. She is a member or International Advisor to several editorial boards and has completed the supervision of 31 doctoral fellows, 24 masters, and numerous Honors students. Prof Babalola has more than 300 publications. Her international experience spans the Americas, Asia, Europe, and Oceania including research grants and international partnerships across the globe.
Prof. Joginder Singh is a Professor at the Department of Botany, Nagaland University, Lumami, Nagaland, India. Previously, he worked as a Professor in the School of Bioengineering and Biosciences, Lovely Professional University and also as a Young Scientist at Microbial Biotechnology and Biofertilizer Laboratory, Department of Botany, Jai Narain Vyas University on a research project funded by the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India. He is an active member of various scientific societies and organizations, including the Association of Microbiologists of India, the Indian Society of Salinity Research Scientists, the Indian Society for Radiation Biology, and the European Federation of Biotechnology. He has published extensively with Elsevier and Springer both in journals and books. He serves as a reviewer for many prestigious journals, including Current Research in Engineering, Science and Technology; Journal of Cleaner Production; Science of the Total Environment; Environmental Monitoring and Assessment; Pedosphere; Soil and Sediment Contamination; Symbiosis; International Journal of Phytoremediation; Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety; Annals of Agricultural Sciences; and Annals of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences.
Dr. Gustavo Santoyo obtained his Doctor of Science degree in Biomedical Sciences at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) in 2005 and did postdoctoral studies during 2005-2007 at the Center for Cancer Research, NIH, USA, as well as a sabbatical year (2014-2015) at the Wilfrid Laurier University, Canada. He is currently a full-time research professor at the Institute of Chemical and Biological Research of the Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo, in Morelia, Mexico. His research interest is led towards plant-microbe interactions, biocontrol of fungal pathogens, development of bioinoculants for agricultural crops, and basic research on microbial diversity of extreme environments. In these research areas has published 80 scientific publications with more than 4000 citations and a h-factor 29. In the Academy, He has supervised more than 30 doctoral, master and undergrad thesis. Dr. Santoyo is a member of the Mexican Academy of Sciences and the National Research System (SNI) of the National Council of Science and Technology (CONACYT) in Mexico.
Dr. Ajay Kumar is currently working as an assistant professor at Amity Institute of Biotechnology, Amity University, Noida, India. Dr. Kumar recently completed his tenure as a visiting scientist from Agriculture Research Organization, Volcani Center, Israel. He has published more than 175 research, review articles, and book chapters in international and national journals. He serves as an associate editor for
Frontiers in Microbiology and as guest editor for various journals such as
Plants, Microorganisms, and Sustainability. Dr. Kumar has also edited more than 32 books with the leading publishers such as Elsevier, Springer, and Wiley. Dr. Kumar has wide area of research experience, especially in the field of plant-microbe Interactions, microbial biocontrol, Postharvest management of fruits, microbial endophytes related to medicinal plants and cyanobacteria-pesticides interactions.
