Shireen Assem
Professor. Dr. Shireen Assem is the Director of the Agricultural Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology Research Institute (AGERI), Agricultural Research Center (ARC), Egypt. She is specialized in plant molecular biology and biotechnology. She has been awarded a Fulbright Post-Doctoral fellowship in 2002-2003 at the University of Central Florida, USA. She had some achievements in developing methods of gene transfer and studying gene expression in monocot plants (i.e. maize, barley, sorghum and wheat). Dr. Assem has participated in several basic and applied scientific research projects as the Principal Investigator for the development of improved plant varieties for Egypt and other developing countries tolerant to different biotic and abiotic stresses and biofortification to cope with the climatic changes and satisfy human needs with population growth. She is interested in using plant as a biological bioreactor for the production of cheap and reliable biopharmaceuticals for human or livestock. In the last ten years, she had some achievements in the improvement of maize and sorghum crops for salinity and drought stress tolerance. Also, she has developed a plant-derived vaccine for human disease. Moreover, she is a reviewer for many national and international funding schemes and has several publications in peer reviewed journals.