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Dr. Vinod Kumar
Senior Scientist
Fermentation and Microbial Biotechnology Division
CSIR – Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine,Canal Road, Jammu – 180001
Email: vinod[dot]udsc[at]iiim[dot]res[dot]in
Bio Sketch
He has significantly contributed in the area of Fermentation technology and bioprocess technology for the production of value-added biomolecules. He has developed a prototype for pilot-scale production of bacterial cellulose using liquid whey. Expertise in research and technological development efforts focus on Industrial microbiology and fermentation technology, focusing on biomass to chemicals (xylitol, biofuel, etc.), waste to wealth (bacterial cellulose), industrial enzymes, and platform chemicals. Expert in separation technique, detoxification of lignocellulose hydrolysate using membrane filtration. Expert in screening, process development/engineering (shake flask to fermenter). He has visited Korea, China, and Switzerland.
Education
| Degree | Subjects | University | Qualifying Year |
| Ph.D | Microbiology | University of Delhi, New Delhi | 2014 |
| M.Sc. | Microbiology | Allahabad Agricultural institute – Deemed University, Prayagraj | 2007 |
| B.Sc. | Biology | Bundelkhand University | 2003 |
Position Held
| Position Held | Period | Organization |
| Senior Scientist | 30-06-2024 – Present | CSIR-IIIM |
| Scientist | 30-06-2020 – 29-06-2024 | CSIR-IIIM |
| Technical Officer (Microbial Technology) | 09-02-2016 to 24/06/2020 | Center of innovative and applied bioprocessing, Mohali |
| Young Scientist | 26/10/2015 to 08/02/2020 | Center of innovative and applied bioprocessing, Mohali |
| Research Associate | 07/04/2014 to 25/-10/2015 | Center of innovative and applied bioprocessing, Mohali |
Area of Expertise
- Valorization of agro-industrial waste and biomass processing to produce high-value functional biomolecules.
- Fermentation Technology (along with process of recovery and purification from fermentation broth), worked on Bacterial cellulose, Xylitol, Ethanol, D-allulose.
- Production of industrially important enzymes (Lipase, Protease, L-Asparaginase, etc.).
- Bioprocess for Detoxification and separation of sugars from lignocellulosic biomass hydrolysate.
- Currently working on production of secondary metabolites and low calories sugar alcohol.
Projects
-
CSIR- Seed Fund IHP24/02: Fermentative production, Isolation, and structure of α-glucosidase inhibitor produced by Streptomyces sp., strain
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Aroma Mission HCP-007: Efficient and eco-friendly bioconversion Process of aromatic spent Biomass to Nanocellulose, Xylitol, prebiotics (Xylo-oligosaccharides) and its potential applications in health sector
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PPP240005: Fermentation Pilot Plant
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MMP2025302: Microbial Biodiversity of Western Himalaya Region, its Evaluation for the Production of Therapeutic enzymes and Bioactive Molecules
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MLP 1008 – Bioprospecting microbial species from unexplored ecological niches for novel molecules and enzymes. (IIIM/MLP/2012/00505)
Publications
| Authors | Title | Journal |
|
Sonali Sharma, Ishfaq Nabi Najar, Anu Radha, Nagaraju Nekkala, Varsha Sharma & Vinod Kumar |
An effective method for developing cellulose-based polymer from spent lemongrass. |
Biomass Conversion and Biorefinery (2025) |
|
Ishfaq Nabi Najar, Prayatna Sharma, Rohit Das, Sonia Tamang, Krishnendu Mondal, Nagendra Thakur, Sumit G Gandhi, Vinod Kumar |
From waste management to circular economy: Leveraging thermophiles for sustainable growth and global. |
Journal of Environmental Management (2024) |
|
Ishfaq Nabi Najar, Prayatna Sharma, Rohit Das, Krishnendu Mondal, Ashish Kumar Singh, Sonia Tamang, Nagendra Thakur, Rajendra Bhanwaria, Sumit Gandhi and Vinod Kumar |
In search of Poly-3-Hydroxybutyrate (PHB): A Comprehensive Review Unveiling Applications and Progress in Fostering a Sustainable Bio-Circular Economy |
Food and Bioproducts Processing (2024) |
|
Manoj Kumar, Vinod Kumar & Saurabh Saran |
Current research and advances in the molecular aspect of bacterial cellulose synthesis with special emphasis on the production of bacterial cellulose from waste and its food applications |
Cellulose (2024) |
|
Gajendra K. Yadav, Syed Hujjat Ul Baligah, Sabha Jeet, Vinod Kumar, Rajendra Bhanwaria |
Therapeutic potential and chemo-morphological characterization of silver nanoparticles synthesized using aqueous extracts of Monarda citriodora Cerv. ex Lag |
Biocatalysis and Agricultural Biotechnology (2024) |
|
Vinod Kumar, Anu Radha, Varsha Sharma, Nagaraju Nekkala, Saurabh Saran |
Utilization of xylose enriched extract from spent lemongrass hydrolysate for clavulanic acid production using Streptomyces clavuligerus (MTCC 1142) |
Bioresource Technology (2023) |
|
Maninder Meenu, Vasudha Bansal, Sudha Rana, Nitya Sharma, Vinod Kumar, Vaishali Arora, Monika Garg. |
Deep eutectic solvents (DESs) and natural deep eutectic solvents (NADESs): Designer solvents for green extraction of anthocyanin. |
Sustainable Chemistry and Pharmacy (2023) |
| Anu Radha, Vivek Ahluwalia, Amit Kumar Rai, Sunita Varjani, Mukesh Kumar Awasthi, Raveendran Sindhu, Parameswaran Binod, Saurabh Saran, Vinod Kumar*. | The way forward to produce nutraceuticals from agri‑food processing residues: obstacle, solution, and possibility | J Food Sci Technol (2023). |
| Kumar, M., Kumar, V.* & Saran, S* | Efficient production of bacterial cellulose-based composites using zein protein extracted from corn gluten meal. | J Food Sci Technol (2022). |
| Vinod Kumar, Vasudha Bansal, Aravind Madhavan, Manoj Kumar, Raveendran Sindhu, Mukesh Kumar Awasthi, Parameswaran Binod & Saurabh Saran. | Active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) chemicals: a critical review of current biotechnological approaches. | Bioengineered, (2022) 13:2, 4309-4327. |
| Mukesh Kumar Awasthi, Raveendran Sindhu, Ranjna Sirohi, Vinod Kumar, Vivek Ahluwalia, Parameswaran Binod, Ankita Juneja, Deepak Kumar, Binghua Yan, Surendra Sarsaiya, Zengqiang Zhang, Ashok Pandey, Mohammad J. Taherzadeh. | Agricultural waste biorefinery development towards circular bio economy”. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews.2022, 158, 112122. | |
| Diksha Raina, Vinod Kumar* | A critical review on exploitation of agro-industrial biomass as substrates for the therapeutic microbial enzymes production and implemented protein purification techniques, Chemosphere, 294, 2022, 133712. | |
| Vinod Kumar, D. K. Sharma, P. P. Sandhu, J. Jadaun, R. S. Sangwan., Sudesh Kumar Yadav | Scale-up process for the sustainable production of bacterial cellulose by an Acetobacter pasteurianus RSV-4 (MTCC 25117) on whey medium | Cellulose 2020 (Accepted) |
| Karnika Thakur, Vinod Kumar, Varun Kumar, Sudesh Kumar Yadav. | Genomic characterization provides genetic evidence for bacterial cellulose synthesis by Acetobacter pasteurianus RSV-4 strain. | International Journal of Biological Macromolecules. 2020, (156), 598-607. |
| Karnika Thakur, Manisha Chownk, Varun Kumar, Anjali Purohit, Alokika Vashisht, Vinod Kumar & Sudesh Kumar Yadav | Bioprospecting potential of microbial communities in solid waste landfills for novel enzymes through metagenomic approach | World Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology. 2020 (36). |
| Vinod Kumar, Pankaj Preet Sandhu, Vivek Ahluwalia, Bhuwan Bushan Mishra, S. K Yadav. | Improved upstream processing for Detoxification and recovery of xylitol produced from corncob | Bioresource Technology. 291 (2019), 121931. |
| Alokika Vashisht, Karnika Thakur, Baljinder S. Kauldhar, Vinod Kumar, Sudesh Kumar Yadav. | Waste valorization: Identification of an ethanol tolerant bacterium Acetobacter pasteurianus SKYAA25 for acetic acid production from apple pomace. | Science of The Total Environment. 690 (2019), 956-964.
|
| Vinod Kumar, Devendra Kumar Sharma, Vasudha Bansal, D Mehta, R. S. Sangwan, S. K. Yadav | Efficient and economic process for the production of bacterial cellulose from isolated strain of Acetobacter pasteurianus of RSV-4 bacterium. | Bioresource Technology. 275 (2018), 430-433. |
| Vinod Kumar, Meena Krishania, Pankaj Preet Sandhu, Vivek Ahluwalia, Edgard Gnansouno, Rajender S. Sangwan | Efficient Detoxification of corn cob hydrolysate with ion-exchange resins for enhanced xylitol production by Candida tropicalis MTCC 6192. | Bioresource Technology. 2018, (251) 416-419. |
| Vivek Ahluwalia, Sasikumar Elumalai, Vinod Kumar, Sandeep Kumar, Rajender Singh Sangwan | Nano silver particle synthesis using Swertia paniculate herbal extract and its antimicrobial activity. | Microbial Pathogenesis. 2018, (114); 402-408. |
| Vinod Kumar, Divya Mathur, Smriti Srivastava, Shashwat Malhotra, Neha Rana, Suraj K. Singh, Brajendra K. Singh, Ashok K. Prasad, Anjani J. Varma, Christophe Len, Ramesh C. Kuhad, Rajendra K. Saxena and Virinder S. Parmar | Biocatalytic Synthesis of Novel Partial Esters of a Bioactive Dihydroxy 4-Methylcoumarin by Rhizopus oryzae Lipase (ROL). | Molecules. 2016, (21), 1499.
|
| Vinod Kumar, Firdaus Jahan, Richi V. Mahajan, Rajendra Kumar Saxena (2016). | Efficient regioselective acylation of quercetin using Rhizopus oryzae lipase and its potential as antioxidant | Bioresource Technology 2016. (218):1246–1248. |
Patents
| Inventors | Title | Description |
|
Zabeer Ahmed, Vinod Kumar, Anu Radha, Varsha Sharma, Saurabh Saran, Mahendra Kumar Verma, Nalli Yedukondalu, Boobalan Gopu, Sanket Kumar Shukla, Deepika Singh, Diljeet Kumar, Rajendra Bhanwaria, Jasha Momo Hmsunghel, Sumeet Gairola, Rajendra Gochar |
Fermented composition with anti-inflammation and wound healing properties. |
Indian patent no: 202311070419 |
Awards and Honours
- The American Chemical Society (ACS) at the “Innovations in Biotechnology for Sustainability” (IBS-2024) conference held at JNU, New Delhi, India, between November 23-25, 2024. Her work, titled “Process optimization and enhancement of ectoine production leveraging minimal salt conditions using putative novel species Halomonas sp. IIIVA-6,”.
- Invited as speaker in International conference SWTM-2019 at Yangling, China.
- Invited as speaker in International conference IBA-AMBERS 2018 at Tianjin, China.
- Visiting Scientist, EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland (Sep. to Oct., 2016).
- Young scientist, Research Project, SERB, DST (2015).
- National Renewable Energy Fellowship, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), 2010-2014
- International Travel grant, DBT (2012)
- International Travel grant, CSIR (2012).
- Life member in the Biotech Research Society (India)(LM-1535).
- International travel grant (SERB- ITS) approved to attend “X Biennial International Forum on Industrial Bioprocessing – 10th International Conference of IBA-IfIBiop 2022 to be held at National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology, Taiwan during October 27-30, 2022″.
Students
| Photo | Name | Area of Interest |
 |
Anu Radha
CSIR UGC JRF |
Production of bioactive molecules using Halophilic microbes |
 |
Varsha Sharma
DST INSPIRE JRF |
Production of bioactive molecules using Halophilic microbes |
 |
Ms. Sonali Sharma Project associate – I |
Efficient and eco-friendly bioconversion Process of aromatic spent Biomass to Nanocellulose, Xylitol, prebiotics (Xylo-oligosaccharides) and its potential applications in health sector |
 |
Mr. Sudhanshu Koushal |
Microbial Biodiversity of Western Himalaya Region, its Evaluation for the Production of Therapeutic enzymes and Bioactive Molecules |
