Qualification: Ph.D. (Plant Pathology), CSKHPKV, Palampur, India.

Professional and Academic Appointments

§ Assistant Scientist, SKUST, Srinagar, India; 11 June 2004- 28 Feb 2005

§ Project Scientist, HP Agriculture University, Palampur, India; 1 March 2005-26 Sep 2006

§ Scientist, Cereals Pathology, ICRISAT, 27 Sep 2006– 31 March 2010

§ Senior Scientist, Cereals Pathology, ICRISAT, 1 April 2010- 6 Sep 2011

§ Senior Scientist, Cereals Pathology and Head PQL, ICRISAT, 7 Sep 2011- 30 June 2015

§ Principal Scientist, Cereals Pathology and Head, Plant Quarantine Unit, ICRISAT, 1 July 2015- 30 June 2021

§ Principal Scientist and Cluster Leader – Crop Protection & Seed Health, 1 July 2021 – till date

Professional Experience

Disease detection and phenotyping; disease management through host plant resistance; integrated disease management; monitoring virulence spectrum of plant pathogens; seed pathology and plant quarantine; application of molecular tools to study genetic diversity in plant pathogens- Sclerospora graminicola and Magnaporthe grisea (rice, pearl millet, and finger millet blast), development of PCR-compatible markers and their use in genetic diversity assessment; elucidating the molecular basis of plant-pathogen interaction, identification of resistance sources and association mapping for disease resistance in sorghum; development of diagnostic protocols and salvaging techniques for infested/infected germplasm. Guided over 10 M.Sc. and Ph.D. students, mentored many researchers and PDFs, and organized training/capacity building programs for NARS in Asia and Africa.

Awards and Honors

·       Gold medal for Ph.D. conferred by Him-utkarsh Society, Una, H.P. India

·       International Plant Protection Congress Award for Scientific Achievement (2019) – Presented by International Association for the Plant Protection Sciences (IAPPS)

·       Organizing Secretary 19^th International Plant Protection Congress (IPPC2019)

·       Chief Editor, Indian Journal of Plant Protection (2016-18)

·       Vice-President (2014-16) Plant Protection Association of India

·       ICRISAT Science Award (2014 and 2019) for Outstanding Partnership

·       Certificate of Merit (2009) by ICAR-AICPMIP

Scientific Publications: Research Articles – 80; Book – 1; Book Chapters – 20; Lead paper/poster presentations – >50

Google Scholar: http://scholar.google.co.in/citations?user=cTYTILcAAAAJ&hl=en

Research Gate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Rajan_Sharma7/publications