Dr. Niraj Rai is one of the world's foremost archaeogeneticists and molecular biologists. He is the group Head of the Ancient DNA Lab at Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences, Lucknow. He did his PhD from Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad.Dr Niraj was one of authors of consequential paper published in 2019 in one of the world’s most prestigious publication (CELL). It was based on the DNA successfully extracted by Niraj and his team from a 2500 year old woman’s skeletal found in Rakhigarhi, Haryana which was the largest site of Indus-Sarasvati Valley or Harappa Civilisation.