Adel A. Abul-Soad, Obtained his PhD from the Fruit Research Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Cairo University in 2003 in date palm. Currently he is working as Deputy Director of the Horticulture Research Institute, Egypt, for Research Affairs. He served as a foreign professor in the Botany Department, Shah Abdul Latif University, Pakistan, for 7 years on and off starting in 2006. Scientific achievements include more than 60 published research papers in local and international impact factor journals; 12 published books and chapters as leading author and coauthor written in 3 languages (English, Arabic and Urdu); supervised 16 MSc and PhD students; Principal Investigator and foreign counterpart for several research projects in Egypt, Pakistan and Nigeria; Associate Editor of the Journal of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology published by Elsevier; and reviewer of a number of international ISI journals including Acta Physiologiae Plantarum, Plant Cell, Tissue and Organ Culture, Tropical Plant Pathology, Journal of Animal and Plant Sciences, Applied Biological Research and Pakistan Journal of Agricultural Sciences. He was also a consultant to agriculture companies in Egypt, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan for various plant species including date palm, banana and other tropical species; conducting a series of international short training courses annually from 2013-2015; awarded a medal from ISHS, Belgium as a convener for the 9th International Symposium of In Vitro Culture and Horticultural Breeding (Giza, March, 2016); Award of Excellence from Nigerian Institute of Oil Palm in 2014; shield of meritorious services as a consultant to Date Palm Research Institute in 2013, Pakistan; and participated in the organizing and scientific committees of international conferences and contributed over forty scientific presentations.Jameel M. Al-Khayri, Professor of plant biotechnology at the Department of Agricultural Biotechnology, College of Agriculture and Food Sciences, King Faisal University, Saudi Arabia. Obtained B.S. in Biology in 1984 from the University of Toledo, M.S. in Agronomy in 1988 and Ph.D. in Plant Science in 1991 from the University of Arkansas, U.S.A. Dedicated research efforts to date palm biotechnology for the last three decades; published 80 research articles and reviews in international journals in addition to 60 book chapters; Editor of several special journal issues on date palm, biotechnology, and sustainable agriculture under abiotic and biotic stress; Editor of several reference books including: Date Palm Biotechnology, Date Palm Genetic Resources and Utilization (2 volumes), Advances in Plant Breeding Strategies (12 volumes), Nanotechnology Date Palm Biotechnology Protocols (2 volumes) and Plant Genetic Engineering (2 volumes).Appointed as a member of the Editorial Board in several international journals; participated in the organizing and scientific committees of international scientific conferences and contributed over fifty research presentations. In addition to teaching, graduate students advising and conducting funded research projects, held administrative posts as the Assistant Director of Date Palm Research Center, Head of Department of Plant Biotechnology, and Vice Dean for Development and Quality Assurance. An active member of the International Society for Horticultural Science and Society for In Vitro Biology and serving as the National Correspondent of the International Association of Plant Tissue Culture and Biotechnology and served as a Member of Majlis Ash Shura (Saudi Arabia Legislative Council) Fifth Session.
