Dr Shankar is a Professor of Immunology and Microbiology in the Department of Biotechnology at the Central University of Tamil Nadu, Thiruvarur since 2016. He is an alumnus of PG IBMS, Chennai. His team investigates anti-pathogen immunity and inflammation, with a focus on the identification of novel immune biomarkers, the development of functional modalities against chronic viral infections, and immune monitoring in viral infections. As a post-doctoral scientist at the Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Linkoping University, Sweden, he has worked on dendritic cell-T cell interactions in the context of HIV infection. He has worked as an Associate Professor at the Department of Medical Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya Medical Center (UMMC), Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from 2011-16.

He has published over 165 peer-reviewed ISI publications till date with an h-index of 41 and an i10-index of 110 on Google Scholar (with ~6000 citations). He is serving on the editorial boards of leading biomedical journals such as Frontiers in Immunology, Frontiers in Microbiology, PLoS One, Scientific Reports, Medicine and BMC Immunology as an Associate/Academic Editor. He is a certified medical microbiologist, and is a member of the Scientific Advisory Committee of the RMRC BB (ICMR, Bhubaneswar).

Dr Vijayakumar Velu is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Microbiology and Immunology at the Emory National Primate Research Center. He is also a faculty in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the Emory University School of Medicine.

Velu's research focuses on studying non-human primate immune responses to HIV/SIV infection and vaccines. This includes understanding the basic biology of anti-viral T, B and NK cell responses, and their interactions for generating effective cellular and humoral immunity during SIV/HIV and following vaccination. Currently, his team investigates the dynamics of T cell, B cell and NK cell subsets in the lymphoid and non-lymphoid tissues to determine the relationship between antiviral (HIV, SIV) immunity and respective viral reservoirs and their control.

In addition, his lab also focuses on studying Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection in human and non-human primate models. His lab uses a macaque model to investigate the cellular dynamics of T and NK cells in Mtb (latent, active) and Mtb/SIV infection. His specific research includes characterization of frequency, phenotype and function of tissue resident helper T cells (TRMs), T follicular helper cells and NK cells in Mtb and Mtb/SIV co-infected macaques.

Dr Raju is a Deputy Director of the State Public Health Laboratory in the Directorate of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Government of Tamil Nadu. He hails from Kanyakumari, the southwestern district of Tamil Nadu. He moved to Chennai for higher studies, and completed his Masters in Medical Microbiology and PhD from the PG IBMS, University of Madras. He later worked at the Jaya College of Arts and Science, Chennai as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Microbiology for three years.

In 1999, he joined the Directorate of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Government of Tamil Nadu as a public health microbiologist. Since then he has been associated with public health, emergency preparedness and response for 25 years, dedicating his service for the prevention and control of emerging and re-emerging diseases.

In 2014, he was elevated as the Deputy Director (State Public Health Laboratory) and was given the task to establish and strengthen Public Health Laboratories at the Peripheral, District and State level across the state. In 2016, he established the State Public Health Laboratory (SPHL) at the State Headquarters, Chennai, which is a state-of-the-art WHO Reference Laboratory for diphtheria and pertussis, which houses real-time PCR and whole genome sequencing (WGS) facilities.

His areas of research include dengue and other arboviruses, latent TB infection, molecular epidemiology, genomic surveillance, community-based AMR surveillance under the One Health and leptospirosis.

He has been awarded the Honorable Chief Minister’s award with a medal during the COVID-19 pandemic, Best Innovation Award from the Government of India for the establishment of public health laboratories, and the CDC-ASM fellowship on laboratory leadership.

Dr Amudhan is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Microbiology at Government Theni Medical College, Theni, Tamil Nadu. He completed his PhD in Medical Microbiology from PG IBMS, University of Madras. He is an accomplished medical microbiologist, medical teacher and researcher with over 16 years of experience. He is trained in clinical laboratory Quality Management Systems (QMS) and is currently the Quality Manager in his department. He was instrumental in getting their lab accredited by NABL in 2014. He has secured seven research grants from ICMR as principal and co-investigator in collaboration with CUTN, MKU and IIT-Kanpur, and has authored over 35 publications in several peer-reviewed journals.

He is currently the treasurer of the Tamil Nadu Association for Biosafety and Biosecurity (TNABB). He is a life member of the Indian Association of Medical Microbiologists (IAMM), the Indian Association of Biomedical Scientists (IABMS), and the Indian Immunology Society (IIS). He has been awarded The FOCIS Abstract Travel Award 2019 at Asian Advanced Course in Basic and Clinical Immunology, Federation of Clinical Immunology Societies, Jaipur and the Associate Fellow award by the Antiviral Research Society in 2023. His research focuses on the functionality of T cells, particularly MAIT cells, in chronic viral infections.

Dr Prabu completed his MSc and PhD in Medical Microbiology at the PG IBMS, University of Madras, Chennai. Later, he became an Assistant Professor in the Department of Microbiology at the University of Madras. In 2022, he became the Head-in-Charge of the department. He also serves as the Member Secretary of the Institutional Biosafety Committee, University of Madras. Prabu is the President of the Tamil Nadu Association of Biosafety and Biosecurity (TNABB). He works on the molecular epidemiology of viral infections and antibiotic resistance. He has over 40 research papers published in both national and international journals.