Dr. Aerattukkara Vinod Kumar, joined Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), Mumbai, India, in 1992. Currently, he is Head, Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Division, BARC and Professor of Engineering Sciences, Homi Bhabha National Institute (HBNI), Mumbai, India. He has done his graduation in Civil Engineering; Masters in Environmental Engineering; PhD in the field of Environmental Engineering from IIT-Bombay and Post Doctorate in Computational Fluid Dynamics from NTSEL, Tokyo, Japan.
He is responsible for environmental surveillance and radiological impact assessment of the operating nuclear power plants (NPPs) of DAE. He is managing the Indian Environmental Radiation Monitoring Network (IERMON), with large number of radiation monitors installed throughout the country; Developed Indian Realtime Online Decision SuppOrt System (IRODOS) to handle offsite nuclear emergency at NPPs; Developed TECDOC on Precautionary and Urgent Protective Actions in Response to Nuclear Emergency etc.
He has served as member in IAEA technical meetings mainly in the field of radiation monitoring network and emergency preparedness. He has been the national representative of UNSCEAR, from India, since the sixty-sixth session (2019).
Dr. Birajalaxmi Das has been the Head of Low Level Radiation Research Section, Radiation Biology and Health Sciences Division, Bio Sciences Group, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Trombay, Mumbai, India, since 2013. She is professor of Bio-Science discipline of Homi Bhabha National institute (HBNI), Mumbai.
Dr. Das holds a MSc degree on Cytogenetics specialization and a MPhil with specialization on Genetic Toxicology & Cytogenetics. She obtained a Ph.D. in Life Sciences on Human Molecular Genetics from Mumbai University, India in 2003. Dr. Das was a post-doctoral visiting Scientist in the Biology Department, Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, New York, USA, from Sept 2004 to Sept 2006, where she was involved in studying clustered DNA damage and repair in human cells exposed to photons and heavy ions at NASA Research Laboratory (NSRL), BNL using facilities from RHIC, BNL.
Dr. Das joined BARC, Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), India in 1989 and since then she has been actively involved in investigating the biological and health effects of low dose and low dose rate ionizing radiation on human population residing in high level natural radiation areas of Kerala coast. Additionally, she has been pursuing studies to understand biological mechanisms in human cells and population in response to low dose and low dose rate ionizing radiation. Her current research area also includes cellular and molecular effect of low and high doses of ionizing radiation exposure in human from natural background as well as medical exposures.
Dr. Das was one of the expert members of the Expert Group on Radiological Protection Science (EGRPS) of OECD-NEA, Paris, France, on Radiation Protection and Public Health during 2013-14. She was also one of the expert members of the committee for the document on National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) guidelines on medical management of nuclear radiological emergencies, India.
Dr. Das is the Secretary of Environmental Mutagen Society of India (EMSI) and a councillor to International Association of Environmental Mutagenesis and Genomic Societies (IAEMGS) since 2015. She is also a member of Indian Society of Human Genetics (ISHG).
Dr. Das has been a member of Indian delegation between 2013 and 2015 and alternate representative of India since the sixty-sixth session in 2019.
