Recent Trends in Lignocellulosic Biofuels and Bioenergy

Dr. Mudasir A. Dar is an Associate Professor at Jiangsu University, China, with over 15 years of research experience. He has conducted extensive research at the Biofuels Institute (China), the National Center for Microbial Resource, and the University of Pune (India), focusing on high-throughput sequencing technologies to study lignocellulose bioconversion in animal gut systems. Dr. Dar has received several prestigious grants, including the Foreign Outstanding Young Scientist Grant (NFSC), the China Postdoctoral Fund, and the Foreign Expert Fund from the Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST), PR China. He has published over 90 works, including 58+ Scopus-indexed papers and book chapters, accumulating more than 1,100 citations. He serves as an editorial board member for several international peer-reviewed journals and is a regular reviewer for over 70 high-quality journals. Additionally, he is a Visiting Scientist at the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) in Indonesia. Dr. Dar has edited and authored multiple books with internationally renowned publishers. His accolades include the Maulana Azad National Senior Research Fellowship, DST-PURSE Fellowship, UGC-UPE II Fellowship, and CSIR-UGC-NET (All India Rank 41). Dr. Hossain M. Zabed is a Professor at the School of Life Sciences, Guangzhou University, China. He earned his B.Sc. (Honors) and M.S. in Microbiology from the University of Chittagong, Bangladesh, and a Ph.D. in Biotechnology from the University of Malaya, Malaysia. He has been recognized with several prestigious titles, including “Outstanding Hundred Talent” of Guangzhou University (2023), “Doctor of Innovation and Entrepreneurship” in Jiangsu province (2021), and “Foreign Young Talent” by China’s Ministry of Science and Technology (2020, 2022). His research focuses on synthetic biology-mediated waste and biomass conversion into biofuels and high-value chemicals, covering metabolic engineering, protein engineering, bioprocessing, fermentation technology, and the circular bioeconomy. He has secured grants from NSFC, the Ministry of Science and Technology of China, the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation, and local governments. Dr. Zabed has published over 110 works, including 90+ SCI/ISI-cited papers and 10+ book chapters, with >5,200 citations and an h-index of 31. Listed among the world’s top 2% most highly cited scientists (2021–2023), he has delivered plenary, and keynote talks at numerous conferences. He also serves as an editorial board member, reviewer for 50+ journals, and member of professional societies including ASM, NYAB, ICoRSA, and the Microbiology Society. Dr. Mohd. Shahnawaz is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Botany at Govt. Degree College Drass, a constituent college of the University of Ladakh, India. In 2021, he was selected as an Associate Professor under the Invited Talent Program at the Biofuels Institute, Jiangsu University, China. He also received the DST-SERB National Postdoctoral Fellowship, working at the Plant Biotechnology Division, CSIR-Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine, Jammu. Dr. Shahnawaz has extensive teaching and postdoctoral research experience. His doctoral research at SP Pune University, under Prof. A. B. Ade, focused on bioremediation of polythene. He has received multiple fellowships, including from SPPU, UGC-BSR, UGC-MANF, and DST-SERB. His research interests include ecology, biofuels, microbiology, bioremediation, plant biotechnology, and integrative medicine, with a current focus on mitigating microplastic pollution through bioremediation. He was honored with the Young Scientist Award (2019) by VD Good Professional Association, Vishakhapatnam. Dr. Shahnawaz has published extensively in peer-reviewed journals, authored book chapters, and has authored/edited 16 books with internationally recognized publishers.