Amjad Ali, PhD
Principal Investigator
Principal Investigator’s Corner
07/24 – present Professor (Tenured) Department of Microbiology & Biotechnology, Atta Ur Rahman School of Applied Biosciences, National University of Sciences & Technology, Islamabad
10/22 – present Founder & CEO MGBIO (Private Limited): A spinoff Company at National Science & Technology Park (NSTP), Islamabad
09/23 – 06/24 Consultant (Professor) Health Services Academy (HSA), Ministry of Health Services Regulations and Coordination, Islamabad
08/19 – 07/24 Associate Professor (Tenured) Department of Microbiology & Biotechnology National University of Sciences & Technology, Islamabad
06/22 – 10/23 Head of Department Industrial Biotechnology, Atta-ur-Rahman School of Applied Biosciences, National University of Sciences & Technology
12/18 – 03/19 Head of Department (Research) (Acting Charge) Atta-ur-Rahman School of Applied Biosciences, National University of Sciences & Technology
08/13 – 08/19 Assistant Professor (TTS) National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST) Atta-ur- Rahman School of Applied Biosciences (ASAB), Islamabad
09/19 – 11/19 Visiting Scientist Big Data Centre (BIG), Beijing Institute of Genomics (BIG) Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing, China
06/10 – 03/13 TWAS-CNPq Ph.D. Research Fellow Department of General Biology, Federal University of Minas Gerais UFMS), Belo Horizonte, Brazil
08/11 – 12/11 Visiting Research Fellow Centre for Biological Sequence Analysis, Technical University of Denmark (DTU), Copenhagen, Denmark
06/07 – 08/09 Senior Research Associate National Institute for Biotechnology & Genetic Engineering (NIBGE), Faisalabad
09/06 – 08/08 Master of Philosophy (Biotechnology) Department of Biotechnology, Quaid-i-Azam University Islamabad
12/01 – 03/05 Bachelor of Science (Biotechnology), Department of Biotechnology, University of Malakand, Chakdara
2024: Best Innovator Award (for the year 2023) Institutional Award, National University of Sciences & Technology
2023: Best Researcher Award (for the years 2022) Institutional Award, National University of Sciences & Technology
2023: NUST Star Performer listed among the “Top Performers” of the National University of Sciences & Technology
2021: GOLD Medal and Prize in the Category of Emerging (Bio)Technologies by Pakistan Academy of Sciences (PAS)
2022: Best Innovator Award (for the year 2021) Institutional Award, National University of Sciences & Technology
2019: Rector’s Gold Medals BEST FINAL YEAR RESEARCH PROJECTS (BS in Applied Biosciences students Groups)
2018: Research Productivity Awards in “Biological Sciences “by Pakistan Council for Science & Technology (PCST)
2018: Productive Scientist of Pakistan in “Biological Sciences” by Pakistan Council for Science & Technology (PCST)
2018: Performance-Based Incentives in Tenure Track System Awarded for the years 2017-2018-2022, HR, NUST
2017: 48th Young Productive Scientist of Pakistan under 40 by Pakistan Council for Science & Technology (PCST)
2017: Best Researcher Award (for years 2016/17) Institutional Award, National University of Sciences & Technology
2016: Best Research Paper Award (for the years 2013/14) Awarded by Higher Education Commission (HEC) Pakistan
2011: European Molecular Biology Fellowship (EMBL) for collaborative research at Technical University, Denmark
2010: TWAS-CNPq Fellowship: Funded PhD Fellowship Award for doctoral studies in UFMG, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil
| PhD Thesis Supervised: | 05 |
| PhD Co-supervised: | 04 |
| MS students Supervised: | 28 |
| UG FYP Supervised: | 10 |
| Student Committees: | 10 |
| # | Student Name | Year of Graduation | |
|---|---|---|---|
| MS Students Supervised (Primary) | |||
| 1 | Aneeqa Arshad | 2015 | |
| 4 | Shifa Tariq Ashraf | 2017 | |
| 5 | Fatima Shahid | 2018 | |
| 6 | Hira Sikandar | 2018 | |
| 7 | Tanzeela Raza | 2018 | |
| 8 | M. Hamza Dar | 2019 | |
| 9 | Muhammad Shehroz | 2019 | |
| 10 | Tahreem Zaheer | 2019 | |
| 11 | Maaz Waseem | 2020 | |
| 12 | Zaara Ishaq | 2020 | |
| 13 | Hayqa Shahwar | 2021 | |
| 14 | Amina Basheer | 2022 | |
| 15 | Kainat Khalil | 2022 | |
| 16 | Samavi Nasir | 2022 | |
| 17 | Shaheera Amjad | 2022 | |
| 18 | Summaya Umair | 2023 | |
| 19 | Mahnoor Masood | 2023 | |
| 20 | Shah Fawad | 2023 | |
| 21 | Fizza Faiz | 2024 | |
| 22 | Uzair Haider | 2024 | |
| 23 | Anoosh Bano | 2024 | |
| 24 | Rida Fatima | 2024 | |
| 25 | Maryam Zahra | 2024 | |
| 26 | Hafiza Tooba Tahir | 2024 | |
| 27 | Saifullah Khan | 2025 | |
| 28 | Zulqarnain Haider | 2025 | |
| 31 | Kinza Manzoor | Ongoing | |
| 32 | Ayesha Abbas | Ongoing | |
| 33 | Aiman Siddique | Ongoing | |
| UG FYP Supervised | |||
| 06 (12x Students) - Undergraduate FYP supervised 2 GOLD Medals on best projects |
|||
| MS Students (Co-Supervised / Graduated) | |||
| 1 | Maryam Rashid (ASAB) | 2017 | |
| 2 | Absar Mazhar (ASAB) | 2017 | |
| 3 | M. Waqas (SMME) | 2017 | |
| 4 | Hafsa Manzoor (ASAB) | 2018 | |
| Journal Publications: | 132 |
| Conference Papers: | 07 |
| Book Chapters: | 22 |
| IPs (Copyrights/Patents): | 02 |
| H-Index: | 35 |
| Citations: | 4650 |
| Period | Project Title & Funding | Role | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 – 2025 | ARG-PRISM: Machine Learning-based framework for precise identification of antibiotic resistance genes from metagenomes - A NUST Flagship Project | Co-PI | - |
| 2023 – 2025 | NUST Biomedical Data Bank (NBDB); A Roadmap to Personalized Medicine – A NUST Flagship Project | Co-I | - |
| 2023 – 2025 | Study on Accurate Early Warning Methods for Dangerous Strains of Global Emerging Infectious Diseases. ANSO Collaborative Research Grant. (Pakistan / France / Brazil and China) | - | RMB 1.3M / PKR ~54M |
| 2022 – 2024 | An artificial intelligence framework for data-driven analysis of microbial pangenomes. HEC NRPU | PI | PKR 3.4M |
| 2022 – 2022 | TWIW: Two Weeks in the World: Capturing a snapshot of the world’s human clinical bacterial pathogens (Technical University of Denmark Initiative) | PI (Pakistan) | - |
| 2021 – 2024 | Prediction, Designing and Experimental Validation of Potential Vaccine Candidates for Respiratory Syncytial Virus. Punjab Government | Co-I | PKR 7M |
| 2019 – 2021 | Assessment of indigenous Lactobacillus spp. for cholesterol reduction; a step towards probiotic designer foods. HEC NRPU | Co-I | PKR 2.58M |
| 2019 – 2021 | TWIW: Two Weeks in the World (DTU Initiative) - Antimicrobial resistance study | PI (Pakistan) | - |
| 2018 – 2021 | Genome wide meta-analysis of cDNA datasets and molecular validation of genetic variants in type II diabetes mellitus. HEC-NRPU | Co-I | PKR 3.03M |
| 2017 – 2019 | Analysing the Tumor Educated Platelets as Potential Biomarker in Molecular Diagnosis of Liver Cancer: A Minimally Invasive Approach alternative to Tissue Biopsy. HEC | Co-I | PKR 1.863M |
| 2016 – 2019 | Pangenome analysis of multidrug-resistant Staphylococcus aureus strains to study pathogenicity mechanisms and identify therapeutic interventions. HEC-NRPU | PI | PKR 1.05M |
| 2015 – 2019 | Analysis of gene variants and investigation of novel prognostic host factor targets to predict treatment response to peg-IFN/RBV therapy in HCV infected Pakistani patients. HEC-NRPU | PI | PKR 2.486M |
| 2015 – 2019 | Formal Analysis of the Impact of Feeding on Hepatocyte Circadian Oscillators. HEC-NRPU | Co-I | PKR 0.929M |
2023: Travel Grant for participation in 8th Big data forum for life and health Sciences, BIG, Beijing China
2023: Travel grant for participation in “Vaccine to Combat Antimicrobial Resistance” Birmingham UK
2019: Travel Grant for visiting (Collaborative Research) Beijing Institute of Genomics, CAS, Beijing, China
2019: Travel Grant for Belt & Road Workshop on Mycobacterial Diseases, GIBG, Guangzhou, China
2016: Travel Grant for Sysbio2016: Advanced Lecture Course on Systems Biology, Innsbruck, Austria
2018: Travel Grant for Sysbio2018: Advanced Lecture Course on Systems Biology, Innsbruck, Austria
2015: Travel Grant for participation EACR-OECI Conference on Precision Medicine for Cancer, Luxembourg
2010: Fellowship Grant TWAS-CNPq for Ph.D. Study at Federal University of Minas Gerais, Brazil
2011: Fellowship Grant European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) for CBS / DTU, Denmark
2009: Fellowship Grant Moroccan Agency for International Cooperation (AMCI), Rabat, Morocco
2008: Fellowship Grant Higher Education Commission (HEC) Post Graduate Study Fellowship Award
2025: Amjad Ali, 3rd International Conference on Science, Technology & Innovation, Kinnaird College, Lahore
2024: Amjad Ali, Invited Talk Course on AI & Emerging Tech on Chem & Bio Treats and Response, DESTO, Isb
2024: Amjad Ali, Int. Conference Current Trends, Prospects Opportunities in Vaccine Research CEMB, Lahore
2023: Amjad Ali, 1st Int. Conference on Challenges and Innovations in Medical Lab Sciences, Uni of Haripur, KP
2023: Amjad Ali, Invited Talk 11th Int. Conference on biological and computational sciences (C-BICS), Islamabad
2023: Amjad Ali, Invited Talk at the 8th Big Data Forum for Life and Health Sciences, NGDC, BIG, Beijing China
2023: Amjad Ali, National Health Research Conference 2023, Org by NIH, PSF, PAS, Sarena Hotel Islamabad
2023: Amjad Ali, ICHR-23: Workshop on Bioinformatics Tools for Clinical Research, University of Haripur, KPK:
2023: Amjad Ali, The Future of Biology: Hands on Workshop on Machine Learning: DENSEFUSION/MGBIO, NUST
2023: Amjad Ali, Invited Talk at Department of Department of Bioinformatics, Islamia University of Bahawalpur.
2023: Amjad Ali, National Health Research Conference Organised by NIH, HEC, PSF at Serena Islamabad.
2023: Amjad Ali, Applied Bioinformatics and Public Health Microbiology, Wellcome Genome Campus, UK Virtual
2023: Amjad Ali (poster) “Vaccine to Combat Antimicrobial Resistance” Birmingham- Microbiology Society UK.
2022: Amjad Ali, Establishing Entrepreneurial Ecosystem, Resource Person/Talk GEU Faisalabad, Nov 18th
2022: Amjad Ali, National HW-CTB workshop 2022, Depart of Bioinformatics and Biotechnology, Uni of Lahore
2022: Amjad Ali, 1st Int. seminar on “Bioinformatics and Comp Biochemistry in the Post genomic era, -AAUR
2022: Amjad Ali, National Summer School on Biomolecular Sciences: Advances in Bioinformatics, Murree
2022: Amjad Ali ICEANS: 1st Int. Conf. on Engineering and applied Natural Sciences May 10-13, Konya/Turkey
2021: Amjad Ali, 1st int conf on Bioinformatics and Computational Methods in Post Genomic Era -VU– Lahore
2021: Amjad Ali, IC-WEES 2021: Int. Conf. on Water, Energy and Environment for sustainability Chief Organizer
2019: Amjad Ali, Belt and Road & Developing Countries Workshop & Conf on Mycobacterial disease, China
2019: Amjad Ali, International Symposium on Global Biodiversity and Health Big Data. NCB-BIG, Islamabad
2018: Amjad Ali, Invited Talk Advances in Microbial Genomics, at Allama Iqbal Open University, Islamabad
2018: Amjad Ali, (poster presentation) Sysbio2018: Adv. Lecture Course on Systems Biology, Innsbruck, Austria
2016: Amjad Ali, (poster presentation) Sysbio2018: Adv. Lecture Course on Systems Biology, Innsbruck, Austria
2015: Amjad Ali, (poster) EACR-OECI Conference on “Precision Medicine for Cancer” Luxembourg
2025: Hands-on Workshop on Taxonomic Biomarker Identification Metagenomic dataset, Kinnaird College Lahore.
2025: Hands-on Workshop Coding for Biologist (MGBIO/DenseFusion) @ SINES Feb 7, 2025
2024: Machine-Learning for Biologist: Hands-on Training Workshop (MGBIO/ASAB) Dec 5, 2024
2024: Swiss Pakistani Workshop on “Genomic Medicine and Recessive Disorders” PAS, Nov, 28, 2024
2024: ICiLS: 1st International Conference on Integrative Life Sciences, ASAB, NUST, Sept 25-27, 2024
2024: Strategic Framework for Preventing Inherited Diseases in Pakistan (PAS, HSA, CUST, NUST), August 29
2024: International Conference on Current Trends, Prospects Opportunities in “Vaccine Research” CEMB, Lahore
2023: The Future of Biology: Hands on Workshop on Machine Learning: DENSEFUSION/MGBIO, SINES, NUST
2023: ICHR-23: Workshop on Bioinformatics Tools for Clinical Research, University of Haripur, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
2021: IC-WEES 2021: Int. Conf. on Water, Energy and Environment for sustainability Chief Organizer
2023: Applied Bioinformatics and Public Health Microbiology (ABPHM), Wellcome Connecting Science
2023: Leadership in Public Sector, Pakistan Planning and Management Institute (PPMI), Ministry of Planning development and Special Initiatives, Pakistan
2021: Project Planning and Scheduling Pakistan Planning and Management Institute (PPMI), Ministry of Planning development and Special Initiatives, Pakistan
2020: Pakistan Research Day 2020, Web of science, Clarivate Analytic. NUST, Islamabad.
2019: Training and Collaborative Research at Big Data Centre, BIG, (BIGD), Beijing, China
2019: Biosafety Leadership Summit, Fogartry NIH US, Marriott, Islamabad-Pakistan Mar 18-20
2018: Next Generation Sequencing data analysis workshop, COMSATS, Islamabad
2018: Brainstorming Workshop for the Development of National Policy on Biotechnology, NUST
2018: Pak-China Genomics Workshop at NCB, Quaid-I-Azam University, Islamabad
2018: Sysbio2018: Adv. Lecture Course on Systems Biology, Innsbruck, Austria Feb 28-Mar 4
2016: Sysbio2016: Adv. Lecture Course on Systems Biology, Innsbruck, Austria Feb 28-Mar 4
2016: ICGBE Training Course on “Basic Biotechnology Techniques” NYAS - NUST Feb 23-25
2011: Bacterial Pathogenesis and its Impact on Clinical Outcome of Infections, UFMG, Brazil
2011: Comparative Microbial Genomic Course/ Training, Centre for Biological Sequences, DTU, Denmark
2011: Perl for Bioinformatics, Course, Brazilian Association for Bioinformatics Ouro Preto, Brazil
2010: Platform NGS-SOLiD" Sequencing, Assembly and Annotation of Bacterial Genomes (UFPA), Brazil
2009: Research Ethics Certificate Course-96hrs Aga Khan University /John Hopkins USA
2006: Nuclear & Advance Techniques in Agricultural & Biological Sciences, NIAB, FSD-Pakistan
2004: Molecular Detection and Genotyping of HCV/ HBV by PCR Methods and Quality Assurance Issues