Dhaka Febryary 7, 2016. The Second International South Asian Biotechnology Conference 2016 ended successfully after its two-day deliberations on 6th February, 2016 in the Senate Bhaban, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh. The theme of this 2 day Conference was “Biotechnology for sustainable development”. The conference was organized by the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Dhaka in collaboration with South Asian University, New Delhi, India. The coonvener of the Organizing committee was Professor Dr. M. Sayedul Islam, the Chairman Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Dhaka and the committee was chaired by Dr. Haseena Khan, Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Dhaka. Among the major issues taken up by the conference were: health genomics, microbiology, crop genomics, cancer genomics etc. It consisted of four plenary lectures on recent advanced technologies and findings including oral and poster sessions. The poster session participants were awarded prizes for their excellent presentations. Fahmida Sultana, DU got the first prize for her commendable work on salinity tolerant bacteria, the second prize was awarded to Mahbuba Ferdous of DU for her work on bioactivity and bioremediation properties of bacterial endophytes from Jute cultivars. The third prize was shared by Shamima Akhter of South Asian University and Meherunnesa of Chittagong University. Two poster awards were given by the American Society of Microbiology and the Institute for Developing Science and Health Initiatives (ideSHi). As expected this convention achieved the goal of creating a platform for the scientists and students of the South Asian countries to benefit from their research and other academic activities. The organizing committee led by Dr. Nahid Nurunnabi, BMB, DU deserves a heartfelt appreciation for successfully organizing the conference. The conference achieved its goal in a large measure with a potential long-term impact hoping greater participation by all SAARC countries in the future.
[Prepared by Ms. Sabrina Elias, Ph.D. student at Professor Zeba Seraj’s Lab.]