Dr. Bhupendra Koul is a Professor in the Department of Biotechnology, School of Bioengineering and Biosciences, Lovely Professional University (LPU), Punjab, India. He did his PhD research at CSIR-National Botanical Research Institute, Lucknow, UP, India and has received his PhD degree from Banasthali University, Rajasthan, India. He was awarded “CSIR-Senior Research Fellowship (SRF)” in the year 2013. His research interests are crop-improvement through plant tissue culture and plant transgenics. He has worked on the optimization, introduction, and expression of modified full-length and truncated versions of Bt-cry1Ab and 1Ac genes in tomato for developing non-chimeric and stable transgenic lines resistant to two lepidopteran insects (Helicoverpa armigera and Spodoptera litura), and evaluated the performance of both the versions of cry1Ab and 1Ac genes in transgenic plants. He has also optimized the regeneration and Agrobacterium-mediated transformation of Stevia (Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni) and has developed herbicide-resistant transgenic Stevia for effective weed-management in Stevia cultivation. His present researches aim towards whitefly (Bemicia tabaci) management strategies for sustainable production of vegetables and biofortification of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) with omega-3 fatty acid (FAD3) content. He has 12 years of post-PhD teaching and research experience and has received the “Teacher Appreciation Award 2016” from LPU in the Discipline of Biotechnology and Biosciences. He recently received “Editor of Distinction Award 2026” from Scientific Reports, Springer Nature. He has designed the full-length synthetic cry1Ac gene (GenBank: KP195020.1) and has published 61 research papers in national and international journals as well as 24 book chapters and 3 authored and 4 edited books. He has guided 8 PhD students, has one international patent and 31 copyrights granted. He was selected in list of top 2% scientists of the world as per Stanford/SCOPUS 2023 and 2024 research database.Dr. Vipul Kumar is a Professor in the Department of Plant Pathology, School of Agriculture, Lovely Professional University (LPU), Punjab, India.  He obtained his Ph.D.  in Plant Pathology, with specialization in biological control research, from C.S. Azad University of Agriculture & Technology, Kanpur, U.P., India. Dr. Kumar has over 11 years of experience in teaching and research, with a strong focus on postgraduate education and mentoring.  He has published more than 50 research papers in national and international journals, authored two books, and contributed several book chapters with reputed publishers. He has successfully guided 22 M.Sc. and 2 Ph.D. scholars. He qualified for the ICAR-NET four times and has been a Co-investigator in the project Promoting Crop Diversification for Small or Middle-scale Farmers” funded by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). Dr. Kumar has also organized multiple workshops and government-funded training programmes on the mass production of biological control and field application of biological control agents. His research primarily focuses on sustainable soil-borne disease management through microbial strategies.