Dr. Makesh. M. obtained his doctorate from Madras Veterinary College, Chennai, India on crustacean virology. He joined ICAR-Central Institute of Fisheries Education, Mumbai in 1999 and worked on fish and shrimp diseases and their diagnosis. He was awarded the Department of Biotechnology, Cutting-Edge Research Enhancement and Scientific Training (CREST) Award. He did his post-doctoral research at University of Idaho, Moscow, USA on fish mucosal immunity during 2013-14. Later, he moved to ICAR-central Institute of Brackishwater Aquaculture, Chennai in 2015. Currently Dr. Makesh is a principal Scientist at Fish Culture Division of Central Institute of Brackishwater Aquaculture. He has more than 70 peer reviewed research publications, three edited books, and several conference presentations to his credit. He has developed an injectable recombinant viral nervous necrosis vaccine and is currently working on technologies for mucosal delivery of fish vaccines.
Dr. Rajendran. K.V. graduated from the University of Calicut. He joined ICAR-Central Institute of Brackishwater Aquaculture, Chennai, as Scientist in 1993. In 1998, he moved to ICAR-Central Institute of Fisheries Education, Mumbai as Senior Scientist. He was awarded the Korea Science and Engineering Foundation (KOSEF) post-doctoral fellowship and worked at Yeosu National University, South Korea (2000-2001). In 2003, he worked as Fish Pathologist at CSIRO, Australia, (2003-2006). He was awarded Fulbright-Nehru Senior Research Fellowship in 2010 and worked at Auburn University, USA. Currently, Dr. Rajendran is a Principal Scientist & Head, Division of Aquatic Environment & Health Management, ICAR-CIFE, Mumbai. Rajendran has published more than 100 research papers in peer-reviewed journals, apart from various other publications and contributions to various national and international seminars and conferences. He is one of the Editors of the journal Virus Disease (Springer) and Editorial Board Member, Fish & Shellfish Immunology Reports (Elsevier).