P. Lava Kumar is the Head of the Germplasm Health Unit and the Virology and Molecular Diagnostics Unit at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA). Prior to this, he served as a Virologist at ICRISAT. He received his B.Sc. in Biology and Chemistry and his M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in Virology from Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupati, India, in 1993, 1995, and 2000, respectively. He conducted his Ph.D. and post-doctoral research at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) and the Scottish Crop Research Institute (SCRI), UK. His research programs are focused on (a) protecting germplasm health from pathogens and pests; (b) tackling virus diseases of IITA crops (cassava, yam, banana/plantain, cowpea, soybean, and maize), cacao, and vegetables; (c) developing convenient diagnostic tools for the identification of pathogens (viruses, bacteria, fungi, and phytoplasma), pests, and mycotoxins (aflatoxins).