Nagaraju, J. obtained  his  Ph.D.  from  University  of  Mysore  and  held  Research  Associateship  in  Pierre Couble's Laboratory (Molecular Genetics),  University  of  Lyon,  France and  Visiting Scientistship in Daniel Hartl's Laboratory, Harvard University, USA. He  set  up  the Seribiotech  Laboratory (Central  Silk  Board,  Ministry   of  Textiles, Govt. of India)  in  1992  and  he  was  its Deputy Director and Head till he moved to CDFD in 1998.

Dr.Nagaraju is an elected Fellow of the Indian National Science Academy, Indian Academy of Sciences and National Academy of Sciences. He has been the recipient of the National Award for Biotech Product & Process Development or Commercialization (2003), Best Scientist award of the Federation of Andhra Pradesh Chamber of Commerce and Industries (2003) and Tata Innovation Fellowship (2007).