Dr. Awanish Kumar is currently an Associate Professor and Head of the Department of Biotechnology at the National Institute of Technology, Raipur (CG), India. He has more than 16 years of research experience. He received his PhD in Biotechnology from the CSIR-Central Drug Research Institute, Lucknow, India, and Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi, India, and completed his postdoctoral studies at McGill University, Montreal, Canada. His research interests are infection biology, drug targeting, and drug discovery. He has served on various national and international organizations in different academic and research capacities. He has also served on many national committees and scientific advisory panels, as a member of many international professional research societies, and as a reviewer and editorial board member of reputed and refereed journals. He has authored or edited several monographs, books, and book chapters.

Aditya Upadhyay is a PhD Scholar at the Department of Biotechnology, National Institute of Technology in Raipur, India. His research focuses on infection biology, antibiotic resistance, and drug discovery in relation to biofilm formation. He holds a Master of Technology degree in Biotechnology (Honors) from Rajiv Gandhi Proudyogiki Vishwavidyalaya, Bhopal, India and a Bachelor of Technology in Biotechnology from Dr. A.P.J Abdul Kalam Technical University, Lucknow, India. Aditya is currently working on the design of new drugs and therapies to treat salmonella biofilm infections and combat antibiotic resistance. He has published articles in various SCI journals and contributed book chapters.