MISSION STATEMENT

Dr. Vinod Vijayan has an M.Sc in Microbiology, M.Phil and PhD in Biotechnology with more than 15 years of R&D experience. An accomplished researcher, his research interests lie in biotechnology and advanced molecular biology. At EML, he works closely with the FSSM unit and molecular biology lab. In his previous stints, he has worked on customized medication and life science research. He has many publications to his name in peer reviewed journals and book chapters, and also holds a patent from his doctoral work.

Arvind holds a Master's degree in Analytical Instrumentation and Analysis and possesses more than 18 years of experience spanning 14 yearsin the pharmaceutical R&D and bio-research industry. His expertise lies in instrumentation and laboratory analysis, conducting regulatory inspections, validating analytical methods, and performing bio-analysis using LC-MS/MS. He is a certified LCMS scientist and also skilled in implementing Good Laboratory Practices, safety protocols, and quality systems within diverse frameworks.Arvind has worked with many reputed pharmaceutical researchorganizations. In their pharmaceutical experience, he trained more than 50 bio-scientists for bioanalysis and LCMS technique, He handled 100+ pharmaceutical molecules for their bioequivalence or pharmacokinetic study method development and validation, and he was a key player in establishing a few leading Indian CROs.At CSE EML, he is closely involved with the FSSM unit, where he manages a diverse array of sampling and laboratory analysis tasks. These include working with wastewater, solid waste, and FSM research, as well as handling ICP-OES for heavy metal analysis across different matrices. Additionally, Arvind assumes a leadership role in the Food Safety and Toxins (FST) unit, actively supporting the FST policy team of CSE in their sampling and analysis endeavors.

Ashitha Gopinath has completed M. Tech in Environmental Engineering and Ph.D. in Environmental Science with specialization in functionalization of fabrics for organic pollutant degradation and microbial decontamination. Her research interests include environmental chemistry, functionalization of fabrics, wastewater treatment and analytical instrumentation. After her Ph.D., she worked for CSIR-NEERI in environmental impact assessment division. Her research contributions include 15 articles in peer reviewed journals and 2 book chapters. In environmental monitoring laboratory, she is associated with analytical unit of the FSM Lab.

Sama Kalyana Chakravarthy holds a Master’s and a Ph.D. degree in Plant Sciences with a specialization in microbial diversity from coastal ecosystems. He has more than 18 years of research experience in life sciences and his research interests lie in the areas of microbial systematics, applied microbiology, microbiome and metagenomics, and environmental microbiology. Previously, he had worked on biofuels in the biochemistry division of ICAR-IIMR Institute. Later, he worked on the metagenomics of human faecal and ocular microbial communities in the microbiology division of L. V. Prasad Eye Institute, a non-profit research organization engaged in developing new treatment therapies for ocular diseases. He has more than 20 publications in highly reputed peer-reviewed journals to his credit. In CSE, at the Environment Monitoring Laboratory (EML), he works in the FSSM unit and handles a wide variety of sampling and lab analysis work (physico-chemical and microbiological parameters). He is mainly associated with the Microbiology unit of the lab and has expertise in the testing and analysis of different kinds of pathogens from a wide variety of samples including fecal sludge, wastewater, solid waste, and other samples.

Megha Tyagi holds a Master’s degree in Biotechnology and a PhD. degree in Environmental Sciences with specialization in industrial wastewater treatment from Indian Institute of Technology (ISM), Dhanbad. Her key competencies and research interest lies at the intersection of three disciplines, Microbiology, Environmental sciences and Biotechnology. She has six research publications from her PhD work in highly reputed peer reviewed journals. Apart from this, she has three years of teaching and research experience. At EML, she has been working on Microbiology unit of the FSM lab

Saumya has a Master’s degree in Microbiology from Jaypee Institute of Information Technology, Uttar Pradesh. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Microbiology from Amity University, Uttar Pradesh. She had been associated with the microbiological unit in a reputed organisation for the internship program. In CSE, EML, she is associated with the Microbiology unit and works on the analysis of different kinds of pathogens.