Mahesh Premarathna

Dr. Mahesh Premarathna is a Research Fellow at the Microbial Biotechnology Research Program of the National Institute of Fundamental Studies (NIFS), Sri Lanka, where he has established a strong academic and research career marked by excellence, innovation, and multidisciplinary contributions. He obtained his B.Sc. (Hons.) specializing in Biotechnology from Wayamba University of Sri Lanka in 2019 and completed his Ph.D. in Microbial Biotechnology at the University of Peradeniya in 2023, with his doctoral thesis titled “Microbial Biofilms and their Network Interactions”. Following his doctoral studies, he served as a Postdoctoral Fellow at the School of Food Science and Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, China. He currently holds appointments as Adjunct Associate Professor at the National Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Resources and Environment, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China, and Adjunct Senior Researcher at the China-Singapore International Joint Research Institute (CSIJRI), South China University of Technology (SCUT), Guangzhou, China. His research excellence has been recognized through awards such as the Best Scientist in the Country (in Philosophy) by the AD Scientific Index 2025, Research Excellence Award NIFS 2024, and his expertise has led to invitations to speak at high-profile international conferences, including Asia-Pacific Biofilms 2022, the International Academic Symposium on Microbial Stress Tolerance and Response 2023, and Asia-Pacific Biofilms 2024 held in Guangzhou, China. His prolific contributions include more than 150 publications, over 50 undergraduate and postgraduate supervisions, and service as a reviewer for respected scientific journals, including Frontiers in Microbiology, Soil Biology and Biochemistry, etc. Dr. Premarathna serves as the Editor-in-Chief of SciSpark and Editor of Current Trends in Biological Sciences. He is an active member of the Sri Lankan Society for Microbiology, the Soil Science Society of Sri Lanka, and the Institute of Biology, Sri Lanka. At NIFS, Dr. Premarathna conducts pioneering research on microbiology, with a particular emphasis on microbial biofilms and polymicrobial interactions. His work advances both fundamental understanding and innovative cross-disciplinary applications across Food Science, Agriculture, Ecosystems and the Environment, Plant Science, Space Biology, Medicine, and Philosophy, reflecting a truly integrative and multidisciplinary approach to scientific inquiry.