Preetham Elumalai, PhD, is an Associate Professor at the Department of Marine Biology, Cochin University of Science and Technology, Kochi, Kerala, India. He earned a Master’s degree from the University of Madras and a PhD in biochemistry and molecular immunology from the Institute for Immunology, University of Regensburg, Germany. His research practice includes bioassay-guided identification of novel marine compounds, unveiling fish lectins in innate immune defense, aquatic vaccine development, evaluation of cost-effective feed additives and nutrigenomics, and effects of environmental pollutants on marine ecosystems. He has been a partner in numerous EU-, Indian-, and UK-funded projects (e.g., IVVN, BactiVac). He has written more than 70 peer-reviewed articles and has 2 patents in his name apart from editing 5 books (Springer, CRC Press) and has presented his work at more than 60 national and international conferences. He has been awarded the prestigious INSA fellowship (2018); MASTS, Fellowship (2019); IVVN award, UK (2020); FRSB, UK (2021); and BactiVac award, UK (2022).Kim Thompson, PhD, is a Principal Investigator at Moredun Research Institute, where she heads the Aquaculture Research Group. She earned a BSc in biochemistry from the University of Stirling, an MSc in immunology from the University of Aberdeen, and a PhD in fish immunology from the University of Stirling. She has published over 160 articles in international journals relating to her work on fish health. Her research interests include vaccine development for fish pathogens (viral, bacterial, and parasitic), examining the immune response of fish to these pathogens and understanding the factors that influence this response. She is interested in developing alternative therapies for disease control in fish (e.g., functional feeds, immunostimulants, and probiotics).Sreeja Lakshmi, PhD, is a Postdoctoral Research Scientist in collaboration with Moredun Research Institute (MRI), UK. She graduated from Calicut University and earned a PhD in biochemistry and functional genomics from the Institute for Molecular Biology, University of Regensburg, Germany. She has published research articles in peer-reviewed international journals and authored books and book chapters. She has been awarded prestigious research grants from the Bavarian Research Foundation (Bayerische Forschungsstiftung), Government of Bavaria, Germany; an HRD-Fellowship for Women Scientists from the Department of Health Research, Government of India; and a MASTS (Marine Alliance Science and Technology, Scotland) Award for Postdoctoral and Early Career Research Exchanges (PECRE), visited the University of Aberdeen, Scotland, and received IVVN Fellowship grant from the International Veterinary Vaccinology Network (IVVN), UK.
