Dr Mahendran Sekar received his bachelor’s degree in Pharmacy in 2004, followed by a Master’s Degree in Pharmaceutical Chemistry in 2007 and he was granted a Junior Research Fellowship from University Grants Commission (UGC) of India to pursue his PhD degree in Pharmaceutical Sciences (2008-2011) at JSS College of Pharmacy, Ooty, Tamilnadu, India. He is currently working as an Associate Professor in School of Pharmacy at Monash University Malaysia since February 2023. He has received several prestigious awards at the National and International levels for his excellent contributions in academic and research activities. He received “Anugerah Pendidik Cemerlang MARA 2018” during Hari Pendidik MARA 2018. He has also received the “Outstanding Researcher in Pharmaceutical Chemistry Award” during the “1^st Annual Healthcare Meet 2018” organized by “Venus International Foundation”, Chennai, India.

Dr Mahendran Sekar has also received the “International Achievement Award 2018” from Education Expo TV - Companies Rating System (EET-CRS), India. His innovative products won the gold medal in three consecutive years at the International Invention Innovation & Technology Exhibition (ITEX 2017, 2018 & 2019) and Special Awards in National and International level Innovation Competitions & Exhibitions. His innovative products secured “Best Innovative Product Award” in Defence, Security and Sustainability Exhibition 2017 (DSS 2017) organized by UPNM, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia & Most Promising Invention Award in PERiNTIS 2018 (Invention and Innovation Competition of Private Higher Education Institution) Organized by Management & Science University (MSU), Shah Alam, Malaysia.

His research is mainly in the field of drug discovery and development of natural products. He is also interested in the development of innovative natural products using green technology. He has supervised more than 25 undergraduate Final Year Projects and 10 postgraduate students. He has more than 130 publications including ISI & SCOPUS indexed journals, proceedings, guidelines and book chapters. He is also a reviewer with a number of scientific journals of International standing.

Dr Mahendran Sekar is mainly in the field of drug discovery and development of natural products. He is expert in extraction, isolation and characterization of active constituents from medicinal plants. In addition, he is also expert in formulation of natural products into different dosage forms and evaluated them for their biological properties. Dr Mahendran Sekar also interested in the development of innovative products. Currently, his research team also working about Pharmacological investigations on isolated compounds from medicinal plants. He was successfully completed a few research grants and actively involved in applying for research grants for various funding agencies in National and International levels including the Ministry of Health (MOH), Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) and Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI), Malaysia.

Accepting PhD candidates for research projects in natural products drug discovery and developments which includes isolation, characterization, in-silico, in-vitro, and in-vivo studies.