Dr. Asim Masood currently serves as an Assistant Professor of Botany at Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh (India). He has made significant contributions toto the fields of plant physiology and environmental sciences. Dr. Masood's current research focuses on the physiological effects of stress in plants and how internal variables like phytohormones, neurotransmitters, and minerals regulate stress responses. His main area of study is the way plants respond to abiotic stressors such as salinity, heavy metals, extreme temperatures, and the availability of mineral nutrients in the soil. His research examines how phytohormones and other signaling molecules regulate the nutritional status of plants and how they collaborate to mitigate these stresses. Prof. Nafees A. Khan is a distinguished Professor of Plant Physiology in the Department of Botany at Aligarh Muslim University (AMU). Holding both a PhD and a DSc from AMU, he is internationally renowned for his pioneering research on abiotic stress tolerance in plants, phytohormone signaling, and sustainable agricultural practices. A Highly Cited Researcher (Clarivate Analytics, 2019–23), he has received prestigious awards, including the UGC-Research and Mid-Career Awards, the Teaching Excellence Award, and the Research Excellence Citation Award 2023 (Clarivate Analytics). He is also a fellow of several esteemed academies, including the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences, the Linnean Society of London, the Indian Botanical Society, and the Indian Society for Plant Physiology. His groundbreaking research integrates nutrient-use efficiency with stress resistance mechanisms, making substantial contributions to the advancement of global agricultural sustainability. Dr. Naser A. Anjum is an Assistant Professor of Botany at Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh (India). He has made significant contributions to the field of plant/crop-environment adaptation. His work has advanced the understanding of plant/crop physiology and biochemistry, particularly in their adaptation and tolerance to various abiotic stress factors and pollutants. Dr. Anjum is a pioneering researcher in areas such as nano-graphene-mediated oxidative stress, antioxidant metabolism, and the glutathione-redox system, as well as the significance of the glutathione-independent defense system in food crop models. He has also contributed to the field of phytoremediation, assessing the chemical pollutant remediation potential of plant and salt marsh macrophytes and exploring the underlying physiological and biochemical mechanisms. Dr. Anjum has received prestigious research awards from the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (Portugal), Academia Sinica (Taiwan), and the CSIR and DBT, Govt. of India. He is on the editorial boards of several journals. He serves as the Managing Editor for Plant Growth Regulation (published by Springer) and as an Associate Editor for the International Journal of Plant Biology (published by MDPI) and Frontiers in Agronomy (published by Frontiers). Dr. Vasileios Fotopoulos is a Professor of Structural and Functional Plant Biology and Head of the CUT Plant Stress Physiology Group at the Cyprus University of Technology. His main research focuses on the study of nitro-oxidative signaling cascades involved in plants' responses to stress factors, with special emphasis on the development of chemical, biological and nanotechnological priming technologies to mitigate abiotic stress factors and promote plant growth. In addition, he investigates plant secondary metabolism and antioxidant responses in fruit crops during ripening. He has been assigned to evaluate research proposals from different countries (France, Belgium, Poland, Chile, Latvia, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Israel, Qatar, Austria, Cyprus, and Denmark), as well as EU proposals (EUROSTARS). He is an active Review Panel Member for COST Actions (EU) in the field of natural sciences. He has also delivered several presentations at international conferences and has served as an examiner for MSc theses/PhD dissertations from institutions in Italy, South Africa, Greece, and the Netherlands.
