Biography and academic profile
Vishakha Raina completed her bachelor’s and master’s degree in zoology with a specialisation in cell and molecular biology at the University of Delhi. She also has a bachelors in education from University of Delhi. Later, she fulfilled her Ph.D. in molecular biology at the University of Delhi (1999 to 2004) during which she was a visiting fellow at EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland (2001). Later, she joined at EAWAG (Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology), Duebendorf, Switzerland (2005 to 2007) as a postdoctoral fellow. In 2007 she joined as Assistant Professor in KIIT, Odisha, India and was one of co-founding members of school of biotechnology. Currently, she is an Associate Professor II (2016) at School of Biotechnology, KIIT, Odisha, India.
Her research interests are 1) Biodegradation and bioremediation of Xenobiotic compounds especially organochlorines (Hexachlorocyclohexane, endosulfan) and organophosphates (chloropyrifos) from contaminated soil and wetlands to develop a decontamination technology; 2) Microbial ecology of natural ecosystems (aquatic and terrestrial) for microbial biodiversity and bioprospecting using genomics, exploration of industrially important enzymes, bioactive compounds and secondary metabolites and study of biogeochemical cycles for understanding global climate change; 3) Production of biofuels like biodiesel and bioethanol from waste cooked vegetable oil and cooked food waste by using green chemistry and microbial enzymes. 4) Interested in socially relevant issues relating to the environment (waste management) and food safety of baked foods.
She also is managing director and co-founder of Krea food and beverages Pvt. Ltd., a manufacturing start-up motivated to create a unique state of the art Bakery and confectionary products clubbed to creating innovation and sustainable technologies for developing safe foods by use of enzyme biotechnology.
She has 13 years of teaching and mentoring experience in Microbiology, Animal physiology anatomy and Environmental Biotechnology. She has been involved in academic administration and is Associate Dean (Academics) at KSBT. She is responsible for developing teaching learning programmes for under-graduate, post graduate and Ph.D. students of Biotechnology and Microbiology. Her teaching and research is aimed at mentoring students for social and sustainable innovations, developing innovative solutions to environmental problems and to promote sustainable biotechnological processes in waste management. She dreams of having a clean and green sustainable environment. She is also ISME young ambassador from India for promoting microbial ecology.
