Evangelos Topakas, PhD, Editor-in-Chief
Evangelos Topakas holds a distinguished degree in Chemistry from Aristotle University, Thessaloniki, Greece, and earned his PhD in Industrial Biotechnology from the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA) in 2004. He is now Professor in Industrial Biotechnology at the School of Chemical Engineering, NTUA. Previously, he progressed through several academic roles internationally, such as at the Institute for Cell and Molecular Biosciences, University of Newcastle upon Tyne (UK), Chalmers University (Sweden), and Lulea University of Technology (Sweden), where he has been Visiting Associate Professor in the Chemical Engineering Division since 2015. This dual role has expanded his collaborative efforts and enriched his experiences in Northern Europe. Dr. Topakas is at the forefront of industrial enzyme discovery, focusing on utilizing residual biomass for second generation liquid biofuels and high-value compounds within the realm of Biorefineries. At the helm of the Industrial Biotechnology and Biocatalysis group (IndBioCat), his recent work involves leveraging knowledge from plant cell wall degrading enzymes to combat plastic pollution by converting and upcycling synthetic polymers. Dr. Topakas has co-authored and contributed to more than 30 national and European research programs, published over 170 refereed publications, and presented in more than 300 conferences. He has served as a senior board member for several peer-reviewed journals, including as an Associate Editor for Biotechnology for Biofuels and Bioproducts.
Bijay Kumar Behera, PhD, Associate Editor
Dr. Bijay Kumar Behera is Dean of the College of Fisheries, Rani Lakshmi Bai Central Agricultural University, Jhansi, India. He has more than 21 years of experience in research and teaching in the field of environmental biotechnology, microbiology, bioinformatics and nano-biosensor technology. He earned a PhD from ICAR-Central Institute of Fisheries Education, Mumbai, India. He has published more than 150 research and review articles on peer-reviewed journals and edited 10 books. He holds four patents and developed four products. Dr. Behera is serving as a senior board member in several peer-reviewed journals. He has received Japanese Government-Mombusho MEXT Fellowship and Australian Government-Endeavour Fellowship for Post-Doctoral Research at Ian Potter Nan-Biosensing Facility at RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia. He is a Fellow of National Academy of Agricultural Sciences, India.
Shashi Kant Bhatia, PhD, Associate Editor
Shashi Kant Bhatia is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biological Engineering at Konkuk University, Seoul, South Korea, and has more than ten years of experience in the area of biowastes valorization into bioplastic, bioenergy, and biochemicals. Dr. Bhatia has contributed extensively to the industrial press and served as an editorial board member and Associate Editor for several peer-reviewed journals, including Microbial Cell Factories. He has published more than 150 research and review articles on industrial biotechnology, bioenergy production, biomaterial, biotransformation, microbial fermentation, and enzyme technology in international scientific peer-reviewed journals, edited 4 books, and holds 12 international patents. He was selected to the Top 2% Scientist List of Stanford University. He earned an M.Sc and a Ph.D. in biotechnology at Himachal Pradesh University (India). He has qualified JNU combined biotechnology entrance, DBT-JRF, GATE, CSIR exams. Dr. Bhatia has worked as a Brain Pool Post Doc Fellow at Konkuk University (2014–2016), South Korea.
Mingfeng Cao, PhD, Associate Editor
Mingfeng Cao is the Minjiang Distinguished Professor in the Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, the Director of the Institute of Bioengineering, and an Honorary Research Fellow of the Tan Kah Kee Innovation Laboratory at Xiamen Laboratory, China. He was awarded his PhD from Nankai University in 2011, and between 2011-2013 worked as a Research Associate at Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences. He completed postdoctoral studies at Iowa State University and was a Research Scientist at University of Illinois from 2018-2021. His research focuses on the development of synthetic biology and metabolic engineering strategies to establish microbial cell factories for value-added and green chemical production. Dr. Cao has published over 50 journal articles and filed more than 10 patents. He also serves as the Associate Editor for several peer-reviewed journals like Microbial Cell Factories and Biotechnology for Biofuels and Bioproducts.
Ning He, PhD, Associate Editor
Ning He is now working as Professor in the Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, Xiamen University, China. She was awarded her PhD in Fermentation Engineering from Jiangnan University in 2002. Between 2005 and 2006 she worked as a postdoctor at Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster in Germany, and had some experiences as a visiting scholar in 2016 and 2019 at the State University of New York at Binghamton, USA. Her research focuses on microbial manufacturing, including the development of technologies to enhance the efficiency of biological manufacturing processes, and analyzing the physiological characteristics and metabolic mechanisms of microbial cells. Dr. He has published over 100 journal articles and filed more than 20 patents. She also serves as the Associate Editor for Microbial Cell Factories.
Sachin Kumar, PhD, Associate Editor
Sachin Kumar is a Scientist in the Animal Nutrition Division, ICAR-National Dairy Research Institute, Karnal, India. He received his Ph.D. in Animal Nutrition from the Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Izatnagar, India, and joined the Agricultural Research Service of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research. Dr. Kumar pursued post-doctoral training at Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIRO) Agriculture and Food, Brisbane, Australia. Dr. Kumar served as an expert of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations in the Expert Meeting on “Alternative and advanced feed practices to promote the responsible use of antimicrobials”. Dr. Kumar is working in the areas of rumen microbiology, nutraceuticals, and biotechnology. He has handled research projects of different sponsoring agency such as Indo-USA, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, DBT, DST, NASF, NDDB, ICAR, and NDRI, as principal and co-principal investigator. He has developed safe and eco-friendly probiotic technologies and filed a patent. He has also developed synbiotic formulations to enhance the growth of calves and to improve the gut health of neonatal calves. He has isolated, characterized and deposited about 130 novel microbial cultures form indigenous animals to national repository of ICAR. He has published 60 research papers and edited two books.
Tae Seok Moon, PhD, Associate Editor
Prof. Moon is an EBRC council member, the Moonshot Bio founder, and the SynBYSS chair. He aims to solve global agricultural, environmental, manufacturing, and health problems through engineering biology. His research projects have been supported by Gates Foundation and 12 different US agencies (23 external grants), and he has secured >$10M (>$37M for the entire teams since 2012). These projects and his prior efforts have resulted in 83 publications, 155 invited talks, and 10 patents. His achievements have been recognized with awards, including a Langer Prize, a B&B Daniel I.C. Wang Award, an NSF CAREER award, an ONR Young Investigator Award, and a John Sluder Fellowship (MIT) to name some.
Jasmina Nikodinovic-Runic, PhD, Associate Editor
Jasmina Nikodinovic-Runic is a full research professor, and an Eco-biotechnology and drug development group leader at the Institute of Molecular Genetics and Genetic Engineering, University of Belgrade. She was awarded her PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics from University of New South Wales in 2004. Between 2004 and 2006 she worked as a postdoctoral fellow at Chemistry Department of University of Montana, USA, followed by postdoctoral position in Biocatalysis group at University College Dublin, Ireland from 2006-2010. She conducts research in the field of molecular genetics of bacteria, directed evolution of enzymes, isolation and characterization of novel biocatalysts, conversion of petrochemical plastic monomers to biopolymers (PHA, bacterial nanocellulose), and works on biotechnological process optimizations. Her research interests include microbial biotechnology, biocatalysis, bacterial bioactive secondary metabolites, and novel bio-materials. The group is active in eco-green molecular biotechnologies and in the design and optimization of bioactive molecules. She has co-authored 190 scientific articles, 3 book chapters and holds 5 patents in the field of biotechnology.
See the whole Editorial Board Here
