Dr. Faheem Aftab is currently a full Professor and Director at the Institute of Botany, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan. He completed his MSc in 1990 from Punjab University Lahore and was awarded with a PhD in 1997 with specialization in protoplast culture technology. He teaches various courses on Plant Biochemistry, Horticulture and Plant Biotechnology at MSc, MS/MPhil and PhD level. His primary research interests include Regenerative and Developmental Biology of higher plants of economic significance. He was an HEC senior research fellow at Southern Illinois University Carbondale USA during 2004-05 working on woody plant propagation using then-discovered novel approaches at the host institution. He is an Alexander von Humboldt Fellow as well having research experience in plant Proteomics while working as George Forster Research Fellow at Leibniz Universität Hannover, Institute of Floriculture and Woody Plant Science, Germany during 2010-12. At the same University, he worked again during 2019-20 on isolation and characterization of endophytic bacterial communities in several apple cultivars.
In addition to his own research, Prof. Aftab has supervised many students over the years for their research projects at MSc, MS, MPhil level. Eight PhDs have already been awarded to fellows working in his lab under his direct supervision. He has won several research projects including two from Higher Education Commission Pakistan and one from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation Germany. Prof. Aftab has presented his work in various conferences world over and has an impressive research profile including some 50 plus publications mostly in international peer-reviewed impact factor journals and book chapters. His personal research interests these days include various aspects of woody plant propagation including the role of endophytic bacterial communities and proteomics of somatic embryogenesis.