Dr Vishnu Walsan K

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Mr. Vishnu Walsan K currently serves as Research Officer (Botany) at the Captain Srinivasa Murthy Central Ayurveda Research Institute (CSMCARI), Chennai, under the Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences (CCRAS), Ministry of AYUSH, Government of India. He is presently pursuing his doctoral research in Biotechnology at the Regional Cancer Centre (RCC), Thiruvananthapuram. He began his research career as a DST-SERB Research Fellow at RCC and later continued as a CSIR-JRF in the same institution. His early work focused on exploring the bioactivity of natural products through in-vitro and in-vivo experimental models, particularly in the context of inflammation and tumour biology.

In 2021, he joined the Regional Ayurveda Research Centre (RARC), Dimapur, as Assistant Research Officer (Botany). There, he conducted extensive ethnomedicinal surveys across several districts of Manipur and Nagaland, documenting traditional plant-based knowledge. He established the Department of Botany and developed the first indexed regional herbarium of Nagaland (DMP) at the Centre. He also organized seminars, farmer’s meets, and traditional healers’ meets to strengthen community engagement and promote collaborative research on medicinal plants.

At present, at CSMCARI, Chennai, he is engaged in ethnobotanical documentation from remote regions of Tamil Nadu, including the Kolli and Pachamalai Hills, and in translational research on selected medicinal plant leads with therapeutic potential. He currently serves as Principal Investigator / Co-Principal Investigator in two Intramural (IMR) projects and has previously supervised one Extramural (EMR, NMPB-funded) and one IMR project. He also serves as the Curator of the Captain Srinivasa Murthy Herbarium (CSMH), a recognized regional herbarium. He has authored several research papers in reputed journals such as Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology, Materials Science & Engineering C, Phytokeys, and Discover Plants. He has presented his research at various national and international scientific forums, receiving Best Oral Presentation Awards at the 32nd Kerala Science Congress (2020) and the 7th International Symposium on Minor Fruits, Medicinal & Aromatic Plants (2024). He has also received specialised training in NABH Standards Implementation (QCI), Traditional Knowledge and Intellectual Property (CSIR-TKDL & IKS), and Molecular Biology and Protein Purification Techniques (RGCB, Thiruvananthapuram).