Raj Kumar Singh Author & Editor

Yashpal Singh Malik is presently working as “ICAR National Fellow” at the premier Veterinary Institute of the country—Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI), Izatnagar, India. His major research achievements include contributions in viral disease epidemiology, virus-host interactions, microbial biodiversity, characterization, and diagnosis. He acquired advanced training in Molecular Virology from the University of Minnesota, Saint Paul, USA; Division of Virology, Ontario Research Institute, University of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; and Wuhan Institute of Virology, Wuhan, China. He is a recipient of several prestigious national, state, and academy awards/honors including ICAR Jawaharlal Nehru Award (2001), Young Scientist Award of the Association of Microbiologists of India (2000), and Young Scientist Award from Uttarakhand Council of Science and Technology (2010). He is an active member of noted scientific and professional societies of international and national repute. He has been bestowed with several honors in the form of distinguished Associateships/Membership viz. Associateship of National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (2010); Membership—National Academy of Veterinary Sciences (2010); CSIR—Senior Research Fellowship (1997–2000); ICAR—Junior Research Fellowship (1995–1997); and Academic Merit Scholarship in bachelor’s degree (1990–1995). He is an elected Fellow of the Indian Virological Society, Indian Association of Veterinary Public Health Specialists, Indian Society for Veterinary Immunology and Biotechnology, and National Academy of Biological Sciences. Dr. Malik is a member of the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) on Birnaviridae and Picobirnaviridae study group and a managing committee member of the World Society for Virology. He has supervised 3 Ph.D. and 17 M.V.Sc. students. Over the years, he has developed several technologies and diagnostic kits and also has filed two national patents. He has authored 5 books, 25 book chapters, and published 2017 scientific research and review articles in peer-reviewed national/international journals of high impact factor. Dr. Malik has been the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Immunology Immunopathology and also edited a special issue of the Springer journal VirusDisease on “Enteric Viral Infections in Humans and Animals”; a special issue on “Emerging and Zoonotic Virus Challenges of Developing Nations” in Bentham’s The Open Virology Journal; a special issue on “Therapeutic Advances and Their Biomedical Perspectives” for the Journal of Current Drug Metabolism; and a special issue on “Biomedical Perspectives of Advances in Disease Diagnosis and Therapeutics (BPADDT)” edited for the Journal of Experimental Biology and Agricultural Sciences.

Raj Kumar Singh is currently the Director-cum-Vice-Chancellor of the ICAR-Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Izatnagar. Dr. Singh is a noted scientist of high repute with specialization in veterinary microbiology, biotechnology, molecular epidemiology, diagnostics, and vaccinology. He has served as the Head of the Division of Virology, Station-in-Charge at IVRI, Mukteswar campus, Uttarakhand, and later as Director of the NRC on Equines and VTCC, Hisar. Dr. Singh has 10 national patents (granted—2 and^8 live attenuated vaccines/vaccine candidates, and >26 diagnostic tests/assays/kits. He has authored 2 books, 23 book chapters, and published over 245 scientific research papers, 52 reviews, 15 lead papers, and 24 guest editorials/compendium chapters. Dr. Singh has supervised 8 doctoral and 11 master’s students. He received several prominent awards including prestigious ICAR Rafi Ahmad Kidwai Award and Team Research Award, DBT Tata Innovation Fellowship Award, Agriculture Research Leadership Award, FAO Fellowship for training at the University of California Davis, USA, and many others. He serves as the President of ISVIB and has several distinguished fellowships and life memberships of prestigious professional societies.

Mahendra Pal Yadav former Director, IVRI, Izatnagar, and Vice-Chancellor, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel University of Agriculture and Technology, Meerut, is among the most renowned scientists working in the field of virology. The major research contributions to his name include the development of indigenous vaccines against equine influenza, infectious laryngotracheitis and colisepticemia in poultry, isolation and characterization of animal viruses, and development of several animal diseases diagnostic kits. Dr. Yadav has served as Professor of Virology (1981–1982) and Professor and Head of the Division of Virology at IVRI Mukteswar (1982–1987), Principal Scientist and In-charge of the Animal Health Unit (1987–1993), and Director of the National Research Centre on Equines, Hisar (1993–2000). He has also served as Director-cum-Vice-Chancellor of IVRI, Izatnagar (2000–2006), and later as Vice-Chancellor of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel University of Agriculture and Technology, Meerut (2006–2009). As an eminent scientist, he is a recipient of several prestigious awards and fellowships including Fellow—National Academy of Veterinary Science (FNAVS); Fellow—National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (FNAAS), New Delhi, India; Fellow—Indian Association for Advancement of Veterinary Research (FIAAVR); President of Indian Association of Veterinary Microbiologists, Immunologists and Specialists in Infectious Diseases (IAVMI); Fellow—Indian Virological Society (FIVS); Fellow—Indian Society of Veterinary Immunology and Biotechnology (FISVIB); Fellow—Society for Immunology and Immunopathology (FSIIP); and Fellow—Royal Society of Crop Sciences (FRSCP). Dr. Yadav has received many prestigious awards including Chancellor’s Medal 1966; Lance Award, 61 Cavalry, India 1996; ICAR Special Award 1998; Major (Mrs.) Malika IAAVR Award 2001; OIE International Meritorious Award (2000); Distinguished Veterinarian Award 2002 of IAAVR; Dr. P. Richard Masillamony Oration Award 2003; Vocational Education and Development Award 2003; Higher Education and Development International Award 2004; Order of Merit Award in Management 2004, Swadeshi Vigyan Puruskar of Vigyan Bharti, India (2004); Dr. P. Bhattacharya Memorial Award of NAAS (2004); World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Geneva Award (2005); NRDC Meritorious Invention Award (2005); Vigyan Gaurav Award of U.P. Council of Science and Technology (2005); Dr. C.M. Singh Samman 2005; IAVPH Life Time Achievement Award 2006; Society of Plant Research Eminence Award 2007; World InstitutionBuilding Programme Life Time Achievement Award, 2008; Lakhi Ram Memorial Award 2008; Lalbahadur Shashtri Honor 2008; Padma Vibhushan Dr. M.S. Swaminathan Agricultural Scientist Award 2009; IAVMI Dr. P. G. Pandey Oration Award 2010; ISACP Life Time Achievement Award, 2011; Dr. A. Lingard Memorial Award, 2012, by the Indian Academy of Environmental Sciences; Dr. M.R. Dhanda Memorial Oration Award, 2012, by IAPH; and Excellence in Virology Award of Indian Virology Society (2013). Dr. Yadav served as President, Indian Virological Society (1996–2003); President, IAVMI (1999 to date); President, IAUA (2006–2007); President NAVS(I) (2011–2013); FAO National Consultant; and Consultant, Haryana Farmers’ Commission. He has expertise in areas such as veterinary virology, bacteriology, infectious diseases, vaccinology, biotechnology, and equine infectious diseases.