APSA is pleased to welcome as the newest member of the Secretariat, Muhammad Moazzam, who commenced as APSA’s Technical Program Manager on August 17.
A native of Pakistan, 24-year-old Moazam is a promising and enthusiastic scholar in the field of plant breeding innovation and brings to APSA a wealth of knowledge on breeding breakthroughs and trends.
In his role, Moazzam will work closely with APSA’s Technical Coordination Manager, Ms Kunaporn Phuntunil and Executive Director Dr. Kanokwan Chodchoey, as well as chairpersons of APSA’s technical committees.
He will both lead and support coordination, planning and review efforts for technical affairs, especially APSA’s new Disease Resistance Terminology (DRT) project in coordination with the chair of APSA’s DRT Working Group, ensuring the project runs according to its approved timeline. Aside from maintaining productive, efficient and regular communication and cooperation between members of the working group, he will also represent APSA at meetings of the International Seed Federation’s DRT Working Group, tracking progress, and providing updates for APSA.
Further to this, he will monitor and manage research projects, and collaboration and cooperation with other research institutes that APSA works with in the Asia Pacific region, including the World Vegetable Center, BIOTEC, ICAR, and others.
Studying under Erasmus Mundus Master in Plant Breeding (emPLANT) program, Moazzam is currently based in Belgium, where he has completed his master thesis at Ghent University, which is concerned with the optimization of the CRISPR/Cas9 System in ornamental plants.
Moazzam also holds a B.Sc. (Honours.) in Agriculture Sciences (Horticulture) from the Institute of Agricultural Sciences, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan.
Enthused to join the APSA family, Moazzam said he hopes to use this opportunity to not only enhance his expertise, but to play his role to improve the seed sector, including by bridging the needs of plant breeding organizations and farmers.
Aside from plant breeding innovation, Moazzam is involved in a volunteer student organization working for the career counseling and well-being of students in Pakistan. He considers himself a “tech enthusiast” and is passionate about smartphone tech, gadgets and technical tools. He also likes to travel and explore new places.