Dr. Alok Kumar is a Biotechnology professional with an impressive 18+ years of work experiences. He has graduated with Masters and PhD degree in Biotechnology in 2005 and 2013, respectively from reputed institutes in India. After PhD, he served as a senior researcher at Indian Agricultural Research Institute (ICAR), New Delhi followed by a Postdoc at International Livestock Research Institute (CGIAR), Ethiopia. Currently, he is working as an Associate Professor at Haramaya University, Ethiopia and is actively involved both in teaching and research. He is an in-charge of Biotechnology lab of the College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences of Haramaya University, where he is successfully executing his research projects funded by national and international organizations. He is also supervising research of several Masters and PhD candidates. In his professional career, he did commendable jobs, published articles in high impact peer reviewed journals, chapters in books published by reputable publishers, and presented his research in several national and international conferences. Dr. Alok also received awards for his remarkable performance in research during the national and international conferences. He is also member of several professional societies, editorial member of reputable journals, and reviewing articles for high impact peer reviewed journals.

Kidesena Sebesibe is a lecturer and the Director for Entrepreneurship and Technology Incubation at Haramaya University. She also serves as the Communication Expert for the BREEDTECH Project. Throughout her tenure at Haramaya University, she has contributed extensively in various roles within the institution. Additionally, she has collaborated with colleagues on multiple projects and actively engaged in community service initiatives, demonstrating her commitment to both academic and societal development. She served at Haramaya Univesity for more than one decade.

Dr. Abdi Mohammed is an Associate Professor of Plant Pathology at Haramaya University, Ethiopia, where he has been serving since November 2017. He earned his PhD in Plant Pathology from Haramaya University in 2017 and his MSc in Crop Protection from Hawassa University in 2012. Dr. Abdi specializes in Mycotoxins, Food Safety, Molecular Diversity of Toxigenic Fungi, and Food Safety Risk Analysis. He has extensive research experience through both short- and long-term engagements at renowned institutions worldwide, including USDA-ARS-NPRL in Dawson, GA, USA, during his PhD research fellowship at the University of Georgia, USA; Cranfield University (UK), the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences in Vienna, Austria, and most recently, in 2023, at Ghent University, Belgium, as a Global Mind Fellow funded by VLIR-UOS. He has successfully designed and secured funding for numerous multi-sector projects from organizations such as the African Union, Innovate UK Research Grant, EU Erasmus+, including the BREEDTECH project, OeAD and Africa Uninet (Austria), and VLIR-UOS (Belgium). These projects have been implemented in collaboration with regional and international partners, and he continues to serve as a Principal Investigator (PI) and Co-PI for several of them. Dr. Abdi has supervised and continues to mentor MSc and PhD students in Plant Pathology, Agronomy, Seed Science and Technology, and Plant Breeding till today. Additionally, he has conducted numerous training sessions on agricultural crop production improvement for junior researchers and experts at Haramaya University as part of his community service efforts. He has also contributed in training university lecturers and junior researchers in Molecular Biology under the MoBiLaB project. Since January 2024, Dr. Abdi has been serving as the Vice President for Administration and Development at Haramaya University, Ethiopia.