Dr. Ben Raj is an Assistant Professor at Jain University, Bengaluru, with over a decade of combined experience spanning academia, industry R&D, and quality management in the biotechnology and phytomedicine sectors. He holds a PhD in Biotechnology from Bharathiar University, Coimbatore, and an MBA in Project Management, and brings a distinctive blend of research depth and industry insight to his work. Dr. Raj's research is centered on phytomedicine, polyherbal formulations, and their anticancer, nutraceutical, and rejuvenating potential, with particular expertise in Ayurvedic formulations such as Ashwagandhadi Lehyam and Sathavari Palkkashayam evaluated against various cancer cell lines. His broader research interests extend to microbial bioprospecting, marine biotechnology, actinobacteria-derived bioactives, and green nanotechnology approaches in cancer therapy, alongside contributions to genomics, cell and molecular biology, and bioinformatics. He has authored over a dozen peer-reviewed journal publications in Scopus- and Web of Science indexed journals, including Hydrobiologia, the African Journal of Biological Sciences, and the Indian Journal of Applied & Pure Biology, as well as a book chapter in Marine Biotechnology for Healthcare (Academic Press). He is also the author of four books, including Curcumin: Facts & Prospects, and has edited conference proceedings on sustainable biotechnology. Dr. Raj serves on the editorial boards of the European Journal of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences and the World Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, and reviews for the Royal Society of Chemistry and other international journals. He is a Life Member of the National Academy of Biological Sciences. Prior to academia, Dr. Raj held senior R&D and quality leadership roles, including Head of R&D at ACM Natural Products Pvt. Ltd. and Bio Elixir Naturals, where he led the development of herbal based nutraceuticals and conducted in vitro and in vivo efficacy evaluations. He has also held quality control and business development leadership positions in the nutraceutical and food safety industries in India and Qatar, giving him a translational perspective that bridges laboratory research with product development and industry application. A sought-after speaker, Dr. Raj has delivered invited talks on bio-entrepreneurship, disease modelling, and career pathways in biotechnology at institutions across South India, and has presented his research at international conferences in India and Thailand.

                        Anticancer and Rejuvenating Potential Evaluation of Traditional Ayurvedic Polyherbal Formulations Abstract :Cancer continues to pose one of the most formidable challenges in modern medicine, driving an urgent global search for therapeutic agents that are both effective and gentle on the body's own defenses. Traditional Ayurvedic medicine, with its centuries-old emphasis on Rasayana therapy, offers a compelling and largely underexplored resource in this pursuit. Rasayana formulations were classically designed not merely to treat disease but to rejuvenate tissue, strengthen immunity, and delay the processes of aging and degeneration — objectives that align closely with the modern goals of adjunct cancer therapy: cytotoxicity toward malignant cells coupled with protection and restoration of healthy physiology. This work presents a comparative pharmacological investigation of two classical Ayurvedic polyherbal formulations, Brahma RasayanaandAshwagandhadi Lehya, examining their anticancer and rejuvenating properties through an integrated phytochemical and biological evaluation. Both formulations were subjected to systematic extraction and phytochemical profiling, which revealed a rich and diverse spectrum of bioactive constituents, including alkaloids, flavonoids, withanolides, tannins, and saponins, many of which are independently recognized in the literature for antiproliferative and antioxidant activity. Cytotoxicity screening against human cancer cell lines demonstrated clear, dose-dependent suppression of malignant cell viability by both formulations, with induction of characteristic apoptotic morphology, including nuclear condensation and membrane blebbing, observed under fluorescence microscopy, while parallel testing against normal cell lines confirmed a favorable margin of selectivity that distinguishes these formulations from many conventional cytotoxic agents. Alongside their antiproliferative action, both Brahma Rasayana and Ashwagandhadi Lehya exhibited strong free radical scavenging capacity in DPPH and ABTS assays, and meaningfully enhanced the activity of endogenous antioxidant enzymes such as superoxide dismutase and catalase while reducing lipid peroxidation markers, providing biochemical support for their traditional reputation as rejuvenators. These findings suggest a dual mechanism of action in which cytotoxic and pro-oxidant effects are selectively directed at malignant cells, while systemic antioxidant and adaptogenic effects support tissue protection and physiological resilience in the wider organism, a combination of properties rarely achieved by single-molecule chemotherapeutics. Taken together, these results offer meaningful scientific validation of the traditional anticancer and rejuvenating claims long associated with Brahma Rasayana and Ashwagandhadi Lehya, and position both formulations as promising candidates for further mechanistic elucidation, in vivo tumor model studies, and eventual translational development as complementary agents in integrative oncology. This presentation will discuss these findings in detail, situate them within the broader context of Ayurvedic Rasayana pharmacology, and outline a roadmap for advancing traditional polyherbal formulations toward evidence-based clinical application in cancer care.