Dr (Mrs) Asha DOOKUN-SAUMTALLY is currently Principal Research Manager at the Mauritius Sugarcane Industry Research Institute (MSIRI), Mauritius Cane Industry Authority. She holds a BSc Joint Hons. in Biochemistry and Microbiology and an MSc in Microbiology from Newcastle University, UK and a PhD in Biotechnology from the University of Reading, UK. She joined the MSIRI in 1986 and has over 36 years of experience in Research and Development as well as in Management. She has also served as Ag. Director and Director of MSIRI for the period April 2021-September 2022.

She is a Fellow of the Mauritius Academy of Science and Technology, Honorary member of the Royal Society of Arts and Sciences of Mauritius and Committee member of the Société de Technologie Agricole et Sucrière de l’Ile Maurice. In 2021, she was nominated as Director of the Board of Directors of the newly created Mauritius Institute of Biotechnology Ltd. At international level, she is Councillor for Mauritius at the International Society of Sugarcane Technologists, an apex organization for the sugarcane industry worldwide and she is the representative member of MSIRI on the International Consortium for Sugarcane Biotechnology.