Our Honorable Advisors & Mentors

Dr. Matthew Porteus is a Professor of Pediatrics, Department of Pediatrics, Divisions of Hematology/Oncology and Human Gene Therapy, at Stanford School of Medicine. His research focuses on developing homologous recombination-based therapies for genetic and other diseases. He has a clinical practice at the Lucille Packard Children’s Hospital, where he is an Attending Physician for the Pediatric Bone Marrow Transplant Service.

"It's been amazing to see these science trainees take ownership of their future careers and their training by creating a 'Community' of learning and professional development. Their initiative is outstanding. "

Dr. Joanne Kamens has served as the Executive Director of Addgene since 2011. Addgene is a mission-driven, nonprofit dedicated to accelerating research by helping scientists around the world share reagents. She received her PhD in Genetics from Harvard Medical School then spent 15 years at BASF/Abbott, ultimately serving as Group Leader in Molecular Biology.

Dr. Firdausi Qadri is a Bangladeshi scientist with specialization in immunology and infectious disease research. She has worked over 25 years on the development of vaccines for cholera and has expertise on other infectious diseases like ETEC, Typhoid, Helicobacter pylori, rotavirus, etc. Currently, she is working as a director for Centre for Vaccine Sciences of International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease and Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b). She also serves as chairperson of the Institute for Developing Science and Health initiatives.

Ruhul Abid, MD, PhD is an Associate Professor in the Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Rhode Island Hospital and Brown University Warren Alpert Medical School. Dr. Abid has combined careers in research on cardiovascular diseases and in global health. He is the recipient of the New Investigator Award in Thrombosis in 2006 and 6th Annual International Werner Risau Investigator Award in Vascular Biology in 2011 form the American Heart Association, and Stars in Global Health from the Grand Challenges Canada in 2018. Since 2013, Abid’s non-profit (501c3) organization HAEFA (www.haefa.org) has provided free healthcare and medicines to more than 30,000 ready-made-garment factory workers, and cervical cancer screening to 10,000 women in Bangladesh. His recent collaboration with CHRHS and Project HOPE has provided ‘COVID-19 Competency TOT’ to more than 1,200 healthcare professionals at 35 organizations in Bangladesh.

Dr. Haseena Khan, UGC Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Dhaka and Secretary, Bangladesh Academy of Sciences is well known for her research on jute molecular biology. Jute is a symbol of Bangladesh’s national identity. However, the potential and feasibility of this cash crop to make high-value bio-based products through biotechnological routes had long been ignored. Dr. Khan’s efforts brought the crop to the forefront of the country’s molecular research.

Dr. Nazneen Aziz is the Chief Scientific Officer of Avellino Labs. Avellino Labs is a global leader in precision medicine, focused on innovative genetic diagnostics, gene therapies, and genetic data for modern eyecare. Dr. Aziz is also the former Executive Director of the Kaiser Permanente Research Bank and Senior Vice President and Chief Research Officer at Phoenix Children's Hospital.

Dr. Abed has a distinguished career in biological sciences. He completed his PhD at the University of Oregon and has worked with a number of organizations including MIT, CSIRO, and Syngenta. Abed is renowned for his work in genetics, and his passion for the microbial world.

"Community of Biotechnology (COB) is premier, promising, and one-of-a-kind biotechnology platform to date in Bangladesh, demonstrating an exceptional dedication to networking among Bangladeshi and international biotechnologists. It provides a worldwide platform for the interchange of knowledge between exceptional young scholars and prominent senior researchers who serve as advisors and mentors. I am forward to witness COB's future milestones and accolades! "

A Fulbright Scholar and Professor at the Institute of Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering (IBGE), Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University (BSMRAU), Dr. Md. Tofazzal Islam is an internationally acclaimed microbial chemical ecologist who has made multitude of contributions to his field. His work on phytopathogenic oomycete zoospores and their molecular interaction with plants have been published in over 175 peer-reviewed journals.

Hemayet Ullah, is an Associate Professor of Biology at the Howard University, Washington, DC. His lab's main interest is elucidating the scaffold protein mediated cellular signal transduction pathways. His recent works spanned from model plant Arabidopsis response to environmental stress signaling pathways to developing small inhibitor molecules of scaffold protein to use as a broad anti-viral and in the cancer cell metastasis processes. The scaffold protein is implicated in diverse signaling pathways in plants and in human diseases including cancer. The research has resulted in 6 different patent applications spanning for application of these inhibitor 'drugs' for drought/salt stress resistance in crops, for use as a broad anti-viral drug and for use in the inhibition of cancer cell metastasis.

Dr. Kate Adamala is a biochemist working towards the engineering of synthetic cells. She is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Genetics, Cell Biology and Development at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities. Her research aims at understanding the chemical principles of biology, using artificial cells to create new tools for bioengineering, drug development, and basic research.

Dr. Can Zhang is currently an Assistant Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). His research interests include a wide range of fields including neurodegenerative diseases, particularly Alzheimer’s disease (AD), as well as immunological and infectious diseases. His long term research goal is aimed at elucidating the underlying mechanistic causes of AD and thus identifying novel therapeutics for AD.

Dr. Md. Atiar Rahman has been working as a professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Chittagong, Bangladesh. He is the principal investigator of the Laboratory of Alternative Medicine and Natural Product Research of the aforementioned department. He has been awarded numbers of national and international research grants. He is life member of many prestigious society such as American Society for Microbiology, Japan Wood Research Society etc. Dr. Rahman has published more than seventy scientific articles both in national and international peer-reviewed journals. He is also working as editorial board members of many reputed journals like BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine, MedOne, Indian Journal of Nutrition, Chittagong University Journal of Biological Sciences. He is working as executive committee members of BSBMB (JS), BBBS. He has presented numbers of his scientific works at Home and aboard. He is as well involved many extracurricular activities such debating club, carrier club, science club etc.

"Community of Biotechnology (COB) has become a leading, promising, and the sole organization/platform for Biotechnology and related-disciplines in Bangladesh. I would like to sincerely express my gratitude to COB for the amazing work they have already accomplished. Journey of COB is so far very impressive and shows exceptional dedication to establish networking between the Biotechnologists in Bangladesh and abroad. I am very much hopeful that COB will play a significant role, especially to achieve the rights of Biotechnologists in Bangladesh. I look forward to seeing future achievements and successes of COB! "

Dr. Mohammad Jakir Hosen is a geneticist and biotechnologist, with a Ph.D. in medical genetics from Ghent University, Belgium. Currently, he is working as a Professor of the Dept. of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, Bangladesh. At Ghent University, his work with Prof. Dr. Olivier Vanakker and Prof. Dr. Anne De Paepe led to a significant understanding of the pathomechanism of pseudoxanthoma elasticum, a genetic disease that causes ectopic mineralization of elastic fibers in some specific tissues.

"Community of Biotechnology (COB) is a platform for young scholars who are exceptionally talented, inquisitive, and passionate in Biotechnology and related areas. It's incredible to see COB provide an academically rigorous framework for research presentation and discussion, as well as social networking. COB has established a healthy setting for enthusiastic individuals to explore their curiosity for making a better tomorrow. "

Dr. Md Jamal Uddin has been working as Research Professor at Ewha Womans University, South Korea since 2015. He is working on molecular mechanisms involved with various diseases and therapeutic strategies. Dr. Uddin received the Korea Research Fellowship (KRF) at National Research Foundation of Korea. Recently, he also has received the most prestigious Brain Pool (BP) Fellowship at National Research Foundation of Korea.

Dr. Russell W. Hanson is the co-founder and chief scientific officer at Aptavid and an Assistant Professor at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine and the Institute for Genomics and Multiscale Biology. He is the former research fellow of Harvard University. His lab has been focusing on new methods to use bioinformatics and sequencing data for personalized medicine and stratified medicine. They have developed novel techniques using nanoparticles, imaging, and data-driven immunology. By applying the extensive and validated biomarkers from GWAS studies in a targeted, actuated, and specific fashion they are building new methods in mRNA therapeutics, synthetic biomarkers, synthetic biology, and MR and CT imaging.

""The Community of Biotechnology is an inspirational group of people who have come together to promote the advancement of scientific research and innovations in the diverse fields of biology and technology in Bangladesh. They achieve this goal through excellent networking, enabling research collaboration opportunities for young scientists, providing an access point for people of less privileged backgrounds, and by engaging with and teaching the public about important public health issues, such as the effectiveness of masking and distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic." "

Chintan Dave is currently an internal medicine resident at The Ottawa Hospital. He has been diligently working here for the past four years. He is an alumnus of the University of Ottawa from where he earned his Bachelors in Biochemistry. Upon finishing his undergraduate studies, he pursued to study for an MD at Queen’s University.

Rashedul Islam Rony is currently a PhD candidate of Bioinformatics at the University of British Columbia.

Atia Amin is passionate about interdisciplinary research that bridges the gap between machine learning and molecular genomics to address various problems in life science. Throughout her research experience so far, she diversified her skills that span across multiple disciplines including microbiology, molecular biology, plant science, and bioinformatics. Currently, she is doing her PhD in Bioinformatics at McGill University, Canada, where her research involves identifying genetic biomarkers of pathogens causing different vector-borne diseases using machine learning and bioinformatics approaches.

Salman Khan Promon is currently working as a Lecturer at the Independent University Bangladesh.

Saeed Anwar is a graduate student in the Department of Medical Genetics with the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Alberta. At the UAlberta, Saeed's research with Dr. Toshifumi Yokota aims to design, optimize, and translate novel genetic therapies for neuromuscular diseases, e.g., Duchenne muscular dystrophy, dysferlinopathy, facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy.

Jarin Taslem Mourosi is a PhD student in the Department of Biology at the Catholic University of America. Her research focuses on the development of T4 bacteriophage-based dengue vaccine. In her free time, Jarin likes to promote science to the general people.

Ehsan Suez is currently a PhD student of Bioinformatics at the University of Georgia where he works on transmission dynamics of zoonotic tuberculosis. Before that, he earned his Master's in Biology from Missouri State University and worked on membrane fusion dynamics. He has expertise in molecular cloning, protein purification, protein interaction assays, cell cultures as well as programming & data analysis. He has also been serving as a higher study mentor and taught 700+ classes and a handful number of seminars.