Professor Dr. Mohamad holds a Diploma of Agriculture from College of Agriculture, Serdang, B.S. in Agricultural Genetics and M.S. (High Honors) in Genetics from the University of California, Davis, and a Ph.D. in Plant Breeding and Genetics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He graduated Phi Kappa Phi from University of California, Davis, and was awarded the Knowles A. Ryerson Award in Agriculture for Outstanding Foreign Students by University of California, Berkeley.
His career spans over 40 years in various capacities in Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (MARDI), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM), Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) and Malaysian Industry-Government Group for High Technology (MIGHT).
He served in agricultural research for 18 years with MARDI, and had held various positions in the Institute; as Head of MARDI Research Station in Alor Setar (1979-81), Deputy Director of Rice Research Division (1988-89), Director of Fruits Research Division (1990-94), and also as Deputy Director of Basic Research Division (1995).
In 1995, he joined UKM in the Department of Genetics, and later served as a Professor in the School of Environmental and Natural Resource Sciences in the field of breeding and crop improvement.
In 2010, he joined Kulliyyah of Science in IIUM, Kuantan Campus to establish the Plant Sciences programmes. In 2012, he joined the Faculty of Plantation and Agrotechnology, UiTM, Shah Alam and led the faculty as the Deputy Dean for Research, Industry linkage, Community and Alumni (PJIMA). From 2015, he taught at the Department of Crop Science in UPM. In 2018, he served as a Senior Associate with MIGHT.
He made significant contributions towards capacity building and formulating successful programs and courses for UKM, IIUM, UiTM and UPM. Over 22 years with these universities, he provided academic and research guidance, and supervised postdoc research fellows (Sierra Leone, Bangladesh, Pakistan, India & Iran), 13 Doctorate, 31 Master and over 82 undergraduate students. Together with researchers from MINT (now Malaysian Nuclear Agency) he published a book highlighting the use of induced mutations for plant improvement (1988). He also published a book on durian by MARDI in 1994; and a book on mangosteen by University of Southampton in 2006.
He served in many key national committees: Task Force on National Policy on Biological Diversity; Task Force on Access to Genetic Resources; Task Force on Biosafety; Drafting Committee on National Policy on Biotechnology; National Committee for Intensified Research in Priority Areas (IRPA); Chair of Panel on Plant Production and Primary Products; and Chair of the Genetic Modification Advisory Committee (GMAC). Since 2001, he contributed significantly towards the Matriculation Programme of the Ministry of Education for over ten years.
On the international scene, he represented Malaysia in many United Nations (UN) international meetings and conferences, namely in Leipzig (1996), Montreal (2000, 2001 & 2003), Bonn (2001 & 2008), Cusco (2002), Kuala Lumpur (2004), Bangkok (2005), Cuernavaca (2005), Cape Town (2005), Singapore (2005), Granada (2006), and Curitiba (2006). In 2001, he co-chaired the UN Ad Hoc Open-Ended Working Group on Access and Benefit-Sharing (ABS) in Bonn. In 2008, he served as an advisor to the Malaysian delegation to the MOP4-COP9 Meetings. For his role in biosafety, he served as a resource person the biosafety training course in Norway in 2006 and 2009.
Through his research work on rice, roselle and stevia, he led his research teams to win recognition and awards at both national and international levels (ITEX, PECIPTA, British Invention Show, MTE, BioMalaysia, and MAgiC). In 2008, he was invited to witness the World Food Prize Laureate Ceremony in US, and also served as a member of the technical due diligence team for biotechnology acquisition project by Malaysian Biotechnology Corporation (Biotech Corp) from DNA Landmarks Incorporation in Montreal, Canada.
He was founder member of the Genetics Society of Malaysia (PGM), and Malaysian Society for Horticultural Science (MSHS). In 2003-05, he became the Regional Secretary for Malaysia for Society for the Advancement of Breeding Researches in Asia and Oceania (SABRAO). He was the President, Genetics Society of Malaysia for eight years (2010-2017).
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