Shazia IftikharDr. Shazia Iftikhar obtained her M.Sc. in Plant Sciences from the Bahauddin Zakaryia University, Multan, Pakistan (thesis title "Effect of salinity on growth and germination of some cultivars of sesame (Sesamum indicum L.). She obtained her M. Phil dgree from the Biological Sciences Department, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan (thesis title "Screening of rice (Oryza sativa L.) germplasm for salt tolerance"). During her PhD studies, Dr. Iftikhar gained a DAAD fellowship from Germany, a sandwich programme between Quaid-i-Azam University and Kaiserslautern University, Germany. The title of her Ph.D. thesis was "Pathobiology and host-parasite genetics of root rot and foliar blight in rice-wheat cropping systems". She was awarded an Alexander von Humboldt fellowship for postdocs at the University of Karlsruhe and the University of Kaiserslautern, Germany.

After her Ph.D., she was appointed to Punjab University, Lahore, as Assistant Professor, Department of Pathology and Mycology. After a few years at Punjab University, she moved to Fatima Jinnah Women's University as Assistant Professor in the Department of Environmental Sciences where she established the laboratory of Environmental Mycology and Eco-toxicology. Dr Iftikhar has broad experience in the development and leadership of scientific projects at national and international levels. She was awarded the Best Teacher award of 2008 from the Higher Education Commission, Pakistan based on teaching evaluations, theses and publications in national and international journals. Read More Read Less