Umar Ali Dar currently works as an assistant professor on contract basis at the Department of Chemistry, University of Ladakh, Kargil Campus, Ladakh UT, India. During his doctoral thesis, he worked on “Chemistry of Porphyrin and Quinone based Compounds and their Metal Complexes: Synthesis and Structural Studies under the supervision of Prof. S. A. Shah at the Department of Chemistry, National Institute of Technology (NIT), Jammu and Kashmir UT, India, and was awarded his Ph.D. in February 2022. During his M. Phil degree, he worked on “Synthesis, characterization of first row transition metal complexes of 2-bromo- 3-hydroxy-1,4-naphthoquinone under the supervision of Prof. Sunita A. Salunke. Dr. Dar specializes in organic and inorganic synthesis of porphyrin and quinone compounds for a disparate range of applications. He is also interested in secondary metabolites, pharmaceuticals, and drug discovery. Dr. Shahnawaz have more than 6 years of teaching and research experience after obtaining his doctoral degree. Recently, Dr. Mohd. Shahnawaz got selected as an Associate Professor at Biofuel Institute, School of the Environment and Safety Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang, China. In 2020, he got selected as a postdoc fellow at Yeungnam University, South Korea; however, due to the COVID-19 scenario, he was not able to join. He has several years of teaching and postdoctoral research experience. Dr. Shahnawaz worked on bioremediation of polythene at the Botany Department, SP Pune University, during his doctoral research with Prof. A. B. Ade. He is recipient of various fellowships awarded by the SPPU, UGC-BSR, UGC-MANF, and DST-SERB. His research interest is in Biofuels, Microbiology, Bioremediation, and Plant Biotechnology. Besides working on the bioconversion of lignocellulosic biomass into biofuels, he is also focused on the mitigation of microplastic using bioremediation technology. Dr. Hakeem is a Professor at King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and Head of the Plant Biotechnology Research Unit at the Princess Dr. Najlaa Bint Saud Al Saud Center for Distinguished Research in Biotechnology. His academic journey includes roles as Assistant Professor at the University of Kashmir and research appointments in Malaysia. He holds a Ph.D. in Botany from Jamia Hamdard, India, with expertise in plant eco-physiology, molecular biology, biotechnology, and medicinal plant research. He has authored numerous books, journal articles, and book chapters, and serves on editorial boards for leading publishers. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology and affiliated with international scientific societies. His work focuses on advancing plant science through global collaborations and research on eco-physiological and molecular processes.
