Phytomicrobiome and Stress Regulation

Prof. Dr. Muhammad Azam Khan is currently leading National Agriculture Research Centre (NARC) Islamabad as Director General. He also served as Chairman Department of Horticulture and Director CPEC-Agriculture Cooperation Center, PMAS-Arid Agriculture University Rawalpindi, Pakistan. Dr. Khan Graduated from University of Agriculture Faisalabad and did his Doctoral from Northwest A&F University, Yangling, China with eminence and later on Post-Doctoral from Fujian A&F University Fuzhou, China. He supervised 15 Master and 5 PhD students in the field of Horticulture. His scholarly contributions include three books chapters, popular Articles and 70 research papers published in highly impacted international journals, well cited with good H-index. His Expertise involve Allelopathic crop interactions, Food Security and Urban Horticulture. He is main breeder of two Olive Varieties which has been approved by Provincial Government for commercialization. 2 (two) research patents has been granted to Dr Khan by Intellectually property right (IPO) of Government of Pakistan. He secured 5 research projects funded by national and international funding agencies on horticulture crops. University granted him Best Research Award for the year 2021 in the category of Professor. He is leading the front on climate change, its impact on agriculture and mitigation measures. Dr Khan presented his research work in many national and international conference as Keynote speaker. He is also worked as Director Quality Enhancement Cell of University to uplift quality parameter of the post graduate education. He is life time member of Asian Allelopathic Society and President of Pakistan Society Horticulture Sciences (PSHS). In the recognition of his services Maldives National University appointed him as adjunct Professor.

Dr. Ken Mix is working as Associate Professor of Soil & Crop Science at Department of Agricultural Sciences, Texas State University, USA. He currently teaches and has active research in soil health, crop production and agriculturally related climate and water resources. He oversees several projects with graduate students; including multispecies intercropping, variety trials, soil health, climate change and Central Texas fruit crops, novel crops, and more. He also oversees the Texas State University Students’ Sustainable Farm. He is the Program director of multiple USDA programs; including Integrating The Small Producer’s Initiative with Research and Extension (InSPIRE), Texas State Supporting Small Producers (TSSSP), Boots to Roots and co-Project Director of Reaching Underserved Rural Agricultural Latinos and Veterans (RURAL-V), among a few.

Dr. Noshin Ilyas is working as Chairperson/Associate Professor in the Department of Botany, PMAS Arid Agriculture University Rawalpindi, Pakistan. She has always been distinct in the academic carrier with a first-class first position in Masters and did Ph.D. under a fellowship from Higher Education Commission, Pakistan. She was ranked in Top 2% Researcher (2024) as per Elsevier and Stanford University and was also recognized as National Expert on Women empowerment in Agriculture Sector- 2024 by Asian Productivity Organization (APO). She has supervised dissertational research work of 11 Ph.Ds and 43 M.Phil. students to date and is presently mentoring 04 Ph.D. and 07 M.Phil. students. She has a good publication record in prestigious journals with an impact factor of above 400 and 4500 citations, H-index of 38. Dr. Noshin is on the editorial board of various journals like Plant Physiology and Biochemistry, Vegetos, Frontiers, PLoS one and Sustainability. She has earned research grants from HEC and PSF and submitted three products for patent award. She serves as President of Pakistan Asian PGPR society, and a member of various Scientific and professional societies. She is recipient of Research Award in the female category of Assistant Professor /Lecturer from PMAS-Arid and 1st Prof. Dr. Abdul Hameed Gold Medal in Applied and Environmental Microbiology from Applied Zoological Society of Pakistan. She has presented her work at various national and international conferences and is working in collaboration with universities at USA, Malaysia, Indonesia, Turkey, Thailand, UAE, Philippine, Nepal, and Maldives. Dr. Noshin is currently working for elucidating plant and microbial stress responses.

Prof. Riyaz Z Sayyed is a Professor at University of Nizwa, Oman. He has over 20 years of teaching and research experience in Microbiology and Biotechnology and 17 years of administrative experience as Head of the Dept. He is Associate Editor of of various journals. He has authored over 350 research papers in high IF international journals and edited 34 books with Springer, Elsevier, Wiley, and CRC Press. Clarivate has listed him as a Top 1% of Highly Cited Researcher (2024) among 6,886 researchers worldwide.

He has trained several graduates, postgraduates (over 100), and research students under his guidance. Prof. Sayyed has successfully organized 07 International conferences in the country and abroad and has been an invited speaker at many international conferences in India and many Southeast Asian and European countries. Prof. Sayyed has been the recipient of many prestigious national and international awards.