AFOB Newsletter

The inclusion of Pakistan as a 15th member state of the Asian Federation of Biotechnology has been the word of happiness and professional excitement all over Pakistan. Soon after the decision was made by the AFOB Board in its 17th meeting held on 23rd June 2022, the AFOB Pakistan Board was proposed in consultation with the AFOB, which is comprised of five energetic and progressive Pakistani biotechnologists namely Prof. Dr. M. Aamer Mehmood, Prof. Dr. Syed Ghulam Musharraf (T.I.), Prof. Dr. Muhammad Javaid Asad, Prof. Dr. Rehan Sadiq Sheikh, and Prof. Dr. Iqbal Munir. These members are the key people behind the acceptance of AFOB

Pakistan chapter. Later, the AFOB Pakistan board, led by the Prof. Dr. Shahid Mansoor S.I., a leading Pakistani academician, in its first meeting held on September 13, 2022, approved the organization of the Regional Branch Office of AFOB in Pakistan.The RBO Pakistan will be led by Prof. Dr. Mansoor (Vice-President of AFOB) as a President along with four Vice-Presidents namely Prof. Dr. Zahid Mukhtar, Prof. Dr. Iqbal Munir, Prof. Dr. Samina Mehnaz, and Prof. Dr. Muhammad Rafiq. In addition to that a team of leading and highly experienced Pakistani biotechnologists including Prof. Dr. Kauser Abdulla Malik (H.I., S.I., T.I.), Prof. Dr. Yusuf Zafar (T.I.), Prof. Dr. Shahid Mahmood Baig (S.I.), Prof. Dr. Zahoor Ahmad Swati (T.I.), Prof. Dr. Farhat Jabeen, and Prof. Dr. Muhammad Baber, along with the leading industrialists including and Dr. Khalid Hameed, Mr. Hamza Nadeem Qureshi, and Mr. Sohail Afzal Malik will be supervising the activities of AFOB Pakistan as an Advisory Board.

The RBO Pakistan will comprise of 12 scientific divisions which are named in line with the pre-defined scientific divisions of AFOB including Agricultural and Food Biotechnology (led by Prof. Dr. Raham Sher), Applied Microbiology (led by Prof. Dr. Muhammad Hidayat Rasool), Biopharmaceutical and Medical Biotechnology (led by Prof. Dr. Rehan Sadiq Sheikh), Biocatalysis

and Protein Engineering (led by Prof. Dr. Amer Jamil), Bioprocess and Bioseparation Engineering (led by Prof. Dr. Munir Ahmad Anwar), Bioenergy and Biorefinery (led by Prof. Dr. M. Nauman Aftab), Environmental Biotechnology (led by Prof. Dr. Fazal Hadi), Marine

Biotechnology (led by Prof. Dr. Muhammad Aslam), Nanobiotechnology, Biosensors, and Biochips (led by Prof. Dr. M. Najam-ul-Haq), Systems and Synthetic Biotechnology (led by Prof. Dr. Syed Sikander Azam), Tissue Engineering and Biomaterials (led by Prof. Dr. Aqif Anwar), and Bioindustry Promotion and Bioeducation (led by Prof. Dr. Muhammad Javaid Asad). The board nominated Dr. Muhammad Rizwan Javed as Finance Secretary and Prof. Dr. Muhammad Aamer Mehmood as the Secretary General of the RBO. Additionally, a Young Scientist Division (led by Dr. Muhammad Shafiq) will also be included to ensure the participation and training of young biotechnologists who could become part of and lead various scientific divisions in the future. It was decided that none of the position in the RBO Pakistan is on permanent basis, and roles of the members maybe changed in the future keeping in view their active participation. In addition, several leading industries including Tara Group, Four Brothers Group, SA Group of Companies, Pakistan Chemical Manufacturer’s Association, and Ittehad Chemicals have also shown their keen interest to support the AFOB’s activities in Pakistan to establish a bioeconomy in the country.

The RBO Pakistan will be launched during the 5th National Symposium on “Advances in Biotechnology” to be held at Government College University Faisalabad in February 2023. While the Executive Board advised the Secretary General to prepare for organizing an AFOB Regional Symposium (ARS-2024), which has been conveyed to the AFOB Secretariate. It is anticipated that Pakistan RBO would be an active part of the federation to promote its vision and mission in the region.