November 3, 2014, Thessaloniki, Greece -- The International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC) formally presented Dr. Mehboob-ur-Rahman of Pakistan with the 2014 ICAC Cotton Researcher of the Year award here on the opening day of its 73rd Plenary Meeting.
Dr. Mehboob-ur-Rahman, with Pakistan's National Institute for Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering (NIBGE), specializes in molecular breeding and has been involved in basic as well as applied research on cotton throughout his career. "Being named Researcher of the Year has been a goal of mine since the program was created in 2009," Dr. Rahman said. "Two of my colleagues – Dr. Yusuf Zafar from Pakistan and Dr. Andrew Paterson from the United States -- won this prestigious award in 2012, and that has served as an inspiration to me. I am honored to have had my work recognized by ICAC."

As this year's recipient, Dr. Rahman will receive a certificate of recognition, a shield and an honorarium of US$1,000. He and his team have been active partners in many international megaprojects, including the physical mapping of D-genome and the D-genome sequencing project.
Dr. Rahman’s many accomplishments include:

*  Being presented with a gold medal by the government of Pakistan for developing a number of cotton varieties that directly benefit the country's farmers.
*  Being recognized by The Third World Academy of Sciences in 2011 with an Award in Applied Science-Technology in Agriculture (Under-40 in Agriculture category).
*  Receiving the Presidential Award for Pride of Performance from the government of Pakistan in 2012.
*  Authoring 14 book chapters (eight international and six national, mostly as a principal author) as well as 57 peer-reviewed articles, two of which appeared in Nature.


 

The mission of the International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC) is to assist governments in fostering a healthy world cotton economy. The role of the ICAC is to raise awareness, to provide information, and to serve as a catalyst for cooperative action on issues of international significance. For more information, please visit www.icac.org