Dr. Mehzabin Rehman | Botany | Young Scientist Award

🎓 Education 

💼 Experience 

Dr. Mehzabin Rehman is currently serving as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Botany at USTM, where she has been teaching and supervising research since February 2023. Previously, she worked as a Guest Faculty at Royal Global University, Guwahati, during May–July 2022. She gained extensive research experience as a Senior Research Fellow and Junior Research Fellow under DBT-sponsored projects on whitefly diversity and virus transmission at Gauhati University from 2018 to 2021. Between 2017 and 2022, she focused on plant stress physiology and molecular biology, acquiring proficiency in laboratory techniques and analytical methodologies. She has presented papers at international conferences in India and abroad and contributed to academic events as a rapporteur and organizing secretary. Her career reflects a strong blend of teaching, hands-on research, academic mentoring, and scientific communication. She continues to make meaningful contributions to the fields of plant biotechnology and stress adaptation.

🏆 Awards and Honors 

Dr. Mehzabin Rehman has received prestigious Junior and Senior Research Fellowships funded by the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Government of India, for her work on whitefly genomics and virus resistance. She has been recognized for presenting scientific papers at international conferences in Turkey, Bulgaria, and India, showcasing her research on rice stress responses and plant physiology. She served as Joint Organizing Secretary for the International Conference on Emerging Frontiers in Biological Sciences (ICEFBS-2024) and as Rapporteur at the Assam Botany Congress. She was selected for the DST-STUTI Advanced Plant Stress Biology Workshop and has participated in numerous faculty development programs and symposia. Her work in comparative genomics and transcriptomics has earned scholarly attention through well-cited publications. Her contributions to molecular plant science and environmental stress resilience have positioned her as a recognized figure in the plant biology research community. She continues to be active in scientific outreach and collaboration.

🔬 Research Focus 

Dr. Rehman’s research centers on understanding plant responses to abiotic stresses such as cold, heat, cadmium, arsenic, and aluminum toxicity. Her work explores oxidative stress and antioxidant defense mechanisms in rice, chickpea, mung bean, kidney bean, and chili varieties. She employs advanced molecular biology techniques including qPCR, gel electrophoresis, hydroponics, and bioinformatics tools to analyze gene expression and physiological changes. She has published extensively on stress signaling, morpho-physiological adaptation, and biochemical pathway regulation. Her studies also include comparative genomic analyses of plant-associated Pseudomonas strains for biocontrol and bioremediation activities. Dr. Rehman emphasizes sustainable agriculture and genetic improvement of indigenous cultivars, particularly focusing on Northeast India’s rice varieties. She integrates classical botany with modern molecular approaches to address climate resilience and crop improvement. Her research contributes to the broader understanding of plant adaptation mechanisms and supports policy-relevant solutions for food security and agro-environmental sustainability.