Dr. Md. Sarfaraz Alam is an internationally trained molecular biologist, protein scientist, biochemist, and biotechnologist with over 16 years of distinguished experience in research, teaching, and industrial biotechnology across India, Germany, Austria, Poland, and the United Kingdom. His expertise encompasses Plant Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Protein Engineering, Structural Biology, Biochemistry, Enzymology, Precision Fermentation, Synthetic Biology, Functional Genomics, Drug Discovery, Antimicrobial Peptides, and Bioinformatics. Dr. Alam earned his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of Göttingen, Germany, following his M.Sc. in Marine Biotechnology from Goa University. He was selected for the Ph.D. programme at the Molecular Biophysics Unit (MBU), Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, one of India's most prestigious research institutions, and also served as a Junior Research Fellow at IISc, where he worked on structure-based drug discovery targeting infectious diseases. His academic excellence is further reflected by qualifying both the CSIR-UGC National Eligibility Test (NET)and the Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE) in Life Sciences, securing prestigious national fellowships from the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Government of India. Before joining Mirza Ghalib College, Dr. Alam held research positions at the University of Göttingen and Bielefeld University, Germany, where he conducted internationally recognized research on protein engineering, enzyme mechanisms, rare genetic disorders, recombinant protein production, antibody-drug conjugates, and translational biotechnology. His research involved collaborations with leading global pharmaceutical companies, including F. Hoffmann-La Roche (Switzerland), Shire Human Genetic Therapies (USA), and Catalent (USA), contributing to therapeutic protein development and innovative bioconjugation technologies. He later joined the Silesian University of Technology, Poland, as a Senior Researcher (Adjunct Professor), where he combined teaching, student supervision, and high-impact interdisciplinary research in protein engineering, enzymology, structural biology, and computational biotechnology. During this period, he collaborated extensively with Technical University Graz (Austria), and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, leading several internationally funded research projects. Most recently, Dr. Alam served as a Protein Scientist at MilaK Ltd., Discovery Park, United Kingdom, where he contributed to the development of next-generation animal-free dairy proteins through precision fermentation, integrating recombinant protein engineering with industrial biotechnology and sustainable food innovation. To strengthen his expertise in industrial biotechnology, he also completed an advanced professional training programme in recombinant protein expression and purification using Pichia pastoris at Graz, Austria. Dr. Alam has participated in several prestigious international research programmes funded by Horizon Europe, NCN (Poland), and POL-TUR, collaborating with scientists from Europe and Asia on protein engineering, enzyme evolution, antimicrobial peptide discovery, and sustainable biotechnology. His research has resulted in 14+ peer-reviewed publications, international patents, and presentations at globally renowned scientific meetings, including The Protein Society (USA), the European Summit of Industrial Biotechnology (ESIB), Max Planck scientific meetings, and other leading international conferences. His publications appear in high-impact journals such as Angewandte Chemie International Edition, FEBS Journal, Scientific Reports, Bioconjugate Chemistry, ChemCatChem, International Journal of Molecular Sciences, and the Journal of Biomolecular Structure and Dynamics. He currently holds an H-index of 8, reflecting the impact and quality of his scientific contributions. Since joining Mirza Ghalib College, Dr. Alam has provided dynamic academic leadership as Head of the Department of Botany, strengthening teaching, research, student mentoring, curriculum development, quality assurance, and institutional accreditation. He has actively promoted interdisciplinary research, organized academic events, and fostered collaborations that connect modern molecular biology and biotechnology with classical botanical sciences. His vision is to develop the Department of Botany into a centre of excellence that integrates quality education, innovative research, and global scientific collaboration while preparing students to address emerging challenges in plant science, biotechnology, and sustainable development.
