Dr. Nagesh Sardesai is an accomplished plant biotechnologist with extensive expertise in genetic mapping, crop transformation, genome editing, and molecular biology. He earned his PhD in Botany from the University of Delhi, India, in 1998 and has since made significant contributions to agricultural biotechnology through both academic research and industry innovation. Following his doctoral studies, Dr. Sardesai served as a Research Scientist at the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB), New Delhi, where he focused on identifying rice gall midge resistance genes and developing molecular markers for marker-assisted selection. In 2001, he joined Purdue University, working in USDA’s Hessian fly/Wheat Interaction Lab, identifying insect resistance genes and investigating defense response pathways in wheat. In 2005, he transitioned to the laboratory of Professor Stanton Gelvin at Purdue University, where he identified key regulatory genes influencing Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. Dr. Sardesai entered the private sector in 2011 as a Research Scientist at Dow AgroSciences in Indianapolis, contributing to the Trait Product Development Team by optimizing Agrobacterium-mediated transformation systems for maize, soybean, and cotton. In 2015, he moved to the West Lafayette campus, where he led the Molecular Biology Laboratory and spearheaded the development of herbicide tolerance and insect resistance vectors, Zinc Finger Nuclease-mediated gene targeting systems, and rapid molecular screening assays to enhance efficiency. In 2018, Dr. Sardesai joined Corteva Agriscience in Johnston, Iowa, in the Crop Genome Engineering group. He currently serves in the role of Principal Investigator and was nominated as a Laureate in 2025. He has since pioneered transformative technologies, including morphogene-mediated maize leaf transformation and high-efficiency cotton/dicot transformation systems, significantly accelerating trait development and genome editing strategies for major crops. Dr. Sardesai is an active member of the Society for In Vitro Biology (SIVB), where he has organized and convened Plant Contributed Paper sessions, Lightning Talks, and served as a judge for the Plant Biotechnology Postdoctoral Oral Presentation Competition.
Dr. Addy Alt-Holland is a tenured Professor and a researcher at Tufts University School of Dental Medicine (TUSDM), in Boston, MA. Prior to that, she was an Associate Professor, Assistant Professor, and a Research Associate at TUSDM, a Post-Doc Associate at SUNY at Stony Brook, NY, and a Post-Doc Fellow at Bar-Ilan University in Israel. She earned her PhD degree in Molecular and Cell Biology from Bar-Ilan University, where she also received her M.Sc and B.Sc degrees. As a full-time faculty member and a head of a lab, Addy mentors students, research interns, and residents from TUSDM, Tufts University School of Medicine, and other academic institutions in New England and overseas. Addy is the Director of multiple courses for undergraduate students and post-graduate residents at TUSDM, and she serves as a member of Thesis committees, Research Committees and different Tufts University-wide committees. Beyond Tufts, Addy serves on medical and scientific advisory committees to the Boards of multiple national and international organizations. She also served as a Board member and a co-Chair of the Mentoring Circles Program of the Association for Women in Science, the Massachusetts Chapter, in which she mentored post-docs and junior faculty members from Tufts, Harvard, MIT, Brandeis, UMASS and affiliated hospitals in the Boston area. Addy strongly believes that multidisciplinary collaborations are fundamental for translational research and development of new diagnostic and therapeutic approaches. The development of Addy’s research endeavors and contributions in the areas of human skin and oral cancers, as well as other diseases that affect these organs are built on fruitful collaborations with investigators and clinicians at Tufts and across the US. She has both experience and expertise in the fields of cell and molecular biology, biochemistry, metabolomics, cytogenetics and bioengineering of three-dimensional tissue models for studying human cancer biology. She is a co-inventor of several international patents, and has either authored or co-authored over 30 publications in peer-reviewed scientific journals, including the SIVB’s In Vitro Cellular & Developmental Biology – Animal, and more than 160 contributions and abstracts in conference proceedings. Her research has received national and international recognition, press releases, and media coverage. Since joining the SIVB in 2010, Addy co-convened more than 40 IVACS-specific sessions and oral presentation competitions, plenary sessions and joint workshops, and helped secure sponsorship for different sessions. Addy, her colleagues, and her students delivered oral and poster presentations during many SIVB annual meetings. She participated in multiple SIVB committees and served in leadership roles as IVACS Program Chair (2013-2014), IVACS Chair (2015-2016), as well as a Board member and Program Chair of the 2017 SIVB Conference in NC. Addy joined the SIVB’s Board of Directors and the Executive Committee when she was elected to serve as the President Elect of the SIVB and the Chair of the Long Range Planning Committee in the 2020-2022 term. As the SIVB President in the 2022-2024 term, Addy directed the activity of the organization and diligently worked with the Board of Directors to ensure the health, sustainability, and growth of our Society. Currently, Addy is serving as the SIVB Past President in the 2024-2026 term and is chairing the Nominating Committee for the 2026-2028 election cycle. She is also serving as the Publications Committee Chair in this term. In recognition of her service and accomplishments, Addy won multiple SIVB awards. She views the 2013 SIVB’s Young Scientist Award and the 2021 SIVB Fellow Award as two of the most meaningful professional recognitions she received in her career. Addy’s multiple activities and leadership roles within the SIVB tremendously contributed to her personal growth and the development of her professional academic career.
The Society for In Vitro Biology is honored to welcome Drs. Sardesai and Alt-Holland as Co-Editors-in-Chief for the In Vitro Report. Their combined professional and scientific experiences and long-standing commitment to the SIVB will ensure the continued success of the In Vitro Report.
Michael J. Fay
President-Elect and Outgoing In Vitro Report Editor-in-Chief, Society for In Vitro Biology
