Senthilkumar Palanisamy is currently a visiting faculty member. He holds the position of Associate Professor in the Department of Genetic Engineering at SRM Institute of Science and Technology (formerly SRM University), Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. He obtained his Ph.D. in Biotechnology from the UPASI Tea Research Institute, affiliated with Bharathiar University, Coimbatore, in 2012. During his Ph.D., he worked on various biotic and abiotic stresses in tea, including Blister blight disease, Grey blight disease, Tea Mosquito Bug infestation, and Banjhi bud formation. Later, he joined CSIR-CCMB as a Research Associate and TNAU-CPMB&B, where he worked on gene pyramiding in rice for improved quality traits.

His current research at TTU focuses on various projects, such as investigating the association of Vesicular Arbuscular Mycorrhiza fungi with sorghum roots, understanding the molecular mechanisms causing flower abortion in soybeans, gene editing for dhurrin-free sorghum, and studies on genetic diversity analysis and phenotypic association in pecan. His work on these crops will support sustainable agriculture which will empower the farmers and the society as well.