Area of Research	Seafood and Aquaculture safety; Antimicrobial resistance; Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus; Pathogenic E. coli; Molecular fingerprinting of foodborne pathogens; Biocontrol using coliphages, MRSA phages, Shewanella phages etc
Education	PhD, Biotechnology (Faculty of Science) CUSAT, Cochin, Kerala. Masters of Veterinary Science, Veterinary Microbiology, TANUVAS, Tamil Nadu, India Bachelor of Veterinary Science, TANUVAS, Tamil Nadu, India
Current projects	Institute funded Diagnostic development of important pathogens, emerging AMR and other pathogens in aquatic environment and seafood (April 2024 to March 2027; Co-PI) Harnessing Aquatic Microbial Wealth for Sustainable Post Harvest Fisheries Through Biotechnological Approach (April 2025 to March 2028; Co-PI) External funded Matrix specific phage formulations for the bio-control of enterotoxigenic Methicillin sensitive and resistant Staphylococcus aureus of safety concern – BRNS, Govt. of India funded (November 2022 to November 2025; PI) All India Network Project on AMR for fisheries and livestock (April 2023 to March 2026; PI) National surveillance Programme for Aquatic Animal Diseases – Phase II (April 2022 to 2026; Co-PI) Unravelling the true microbiome of finfish and shellfish during spoilage: Towards the development of rapid detection kit for fish spoilage DBT funded (August 2024 to August 2027; PI)
Awards and recognitions	Certified NABL assessor for biological and molecular biological scopes of fish and fishery products; Underwent training on Training on Detection of Mycotoxins 8th to 10th January, 2019 at Singapore;  TANUVAS merit scholarship for Post-graduation; Qualified in the National Eligibility Test (Master’s Level) in the subject “Veterinary Microbiology” held by Indian Council for Agricultural Research in 2008; Under Indo-US AKI fellowship underwent Training program on capacity building in animal health and biotechnology organized by VMRCVM, Blacksbury, USA. 29 Jan to 20 Feb 2008; Certified trainer by Agriculture Skill Council of India for the qualification pack “Aquatic Animal Health Laboratory Assistant”; Ad hoc reviewer for 8 international and national peer reviewed journals. INSA Visiting scientist fellow during 2025
Publications (Best 5 publications)	Vaiyapuri, M., Raveendran, K., George, I., Gundubilli, D., Sivam, V., Krishnan, S. G., ... & Badireddy, M. R. (2021). Comparison of single and multi-host enrichment approach for harnessing lytic phages against antimicrobial-resistant E. coli: Repurposing the enrichment step. Biologia, 76(3), 1041-1052. Vaiyapuri, M., Sebastian, A. S., George, I., Variem, S. S., Vasudevan, R. N., George, J. C., ... & Mothadaka, M. P. (2021). Predominance of genetically diverse ESBL Escherichia coli identified in resistance mapping of Vembanad Lake, the largest fresh-cum-brackishwater lake of India. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 1-17. Devadas, A. L., Vaiyapuri, M., Sivam, V., Sasikala, R., George, J. C., Narayanan, S. V., ... & Joseph, T. C. (2025). Aeromonas molluscorum and Shewanella baltica: The highest trimethylamine producing spoilage bacteria identified in Rastrelliger kanagurta displaying varied antimicrobial resistance and growth: D Ammu Lakshmi et al. Journal of Earth System Science, 134(4), 199. Murugadas V, TC Joseph, KV Lalitha. 2017. Tracing contamination of Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) into seafood marketing chain by staphylococcal protein A typing. Food Control 78, 43-47. Murugadas V, Toms CJ, Reethu SA, Lalitha KV 2017. Multilocus Sequence Typing and Staphylococcal Protein A Typing Revealed Novel and Diverse Clones of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus in Seafood and the Aquatic Environment. J Food Prot. 2017 Mar;80(3):476-481 Raveendran, K., Sharaf, S., K, R., Joseph, T. C., Thangaraj, R. S., Sivam, V., ... & Vaiyapuri, M. (2025). Novel Silviavirus phages with broad-host-range activity against methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus from seafood: comprehending the phenotypic and genotypic variability. Folia Microbiologica, 1-18. Vaiyapuri, M., Raveendran, K., Sivam, V., Joseph, T. C., Sashidhar, R., & Nagar, V. (2025). Evaluation of User-friendly-Ready-to-use Gelatin-impregnated Filter Paper Strips for Preservation of Methicillin-Resistant and Methicillin-Susceptible Staphylococcus aureus: Gelatin-Impregnated Filter Paper Strips for Preservation of Staphylococcus aureus. Fishery Technology; Vol. 62 No. 1: 148 - 152