Dr. Dilip K. Lakshman is a research plant pathologist with the USDA-ARS Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, Beltsville, ML, USA. He received his Ph.D. in Plant Pathology (Cornell University, USA, 1984), M.Sc. in Plant Pathology (Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, 1997), M.S. in Information Systems (University of Maine, USA, 2003), and B.Sc. (Ag) Hons in Plant Pathology (Visva-Bharati University, 1974). He was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada (1984-1986) and the University of Maine (1986-1998) and served in the University of Maine graduate faculty. Dr. Lakshman has been actively involved in promoting the Indian Phytopathological Society (IPS) internationally. Dr. Lakshman is the recipient of a Fullbright Fellowship for mentoring international researchers (2013) and two Borlaug Fellowship awards (2016, 2020) for training international researchers in his laboratory on alternative disease management. Dr. Lakshman's current research includes developing molec