Profile
Entomologist, Cotton Protection Researcher and Educator
Dr. Farah Naz completed her MSc and MPhil in Biochemistry from the University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, and her PhD in Molecular Biology from CEMB, University of the Punjab. She joined CEMB in 2008, having previously worked at NIAB, Faisalabad, on an IAEA project characterising water-deficiency tolerance in rice germplasm.
At CEMB she worked on a USAID-funded project characterising novel triple-acting chimeric domain antimicrobials against Pakistani mastitis pathogens, building a depository of over 100 drug-resistant Staphylococcus aureus isolates and identifying phages capable of killing them. She also served as visiting faculty at Government College University Lahore and as lab in-charge for the Genetic Diseases group, sequencing deafness genes for several families, and worked with the Virology research group on community-acquired bacterial infections with Lahore General Hospital.
She joined the Seed Biotechnology lab in 2017, focusing on managing thrips and whitefly — among the most devastating cotton pests — to increase cotton yield in Pakistan through cry/Bt protein-based resistant varieties rather than conventional breeding.
Selected contributions
Science translated into capability
Antimicrobial resistance research
Built a depository of 100+ drug-resistant Staphylococcus aureus isolates from Pakistani dairy populations and identified phages active against them.
Cotton pest resistance
Works on cry/Bt protein-based resistance to thrips and whitefly in cotton since joining Seed Biotechnology in 2017.
Cross-disciplinary CEMB experience
Worked across the Genetic Diseases and Virology groups before joining Seed Biotechnology, sequencing deafness genes and bacterial resistance genes.