Dr. Karanth is the former Deputy Director and Head of the Food Protectants and Infestation Control Department at CFTRI (Central Food Technological Research Institute), Mysore, a premier National Food Technological Research Institute of India. He served the Institute for nearly 25 years and has guided more than 25 students leading to M. Sc., M. Phil., M. Tech. and Ph. D. degrees. He has won several awards and prizes for quality research at the Institute and has more than 250 research articles published to his credit. He has successfully executed many research projects funded by Indian and International Organizations. He holds 8 National and International and PCT patents.
He was a scientist at the National Institute of Oceanography, Goa, and the Institut fur Bodenbiologie, Braunschweig, Germany before joining CFTRI at Mysore. He has widely travelled in Europe, Middle East, Australia and Asia-Pacific regions.