Naser Safaie | Plant Pathology | Research Excellence Award

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Naser Safaie | Plant Pathology | Research Excellence Award

Tarbiat Modares University | Iran

Naser Safaie is a distinguished plant pathologist and mycologist whose academic journey began with a B.Sc. in Plant Protection from Isfahan University of Technology, followed by an M.Sc. in Plant Pathology from Chamran University, and culminating in a Ph.D. in Plant Pathology–Mycology from Tarbiat Modares University. Over more than three decades, he has developed deep expertise in the biological control of phytopathogenic fungi using microbial antagonists, molecular diagnostics, fungal taxonomy, bioformulation of biocontrol products, and plant–microbe interaction studies. As a seasoned professor and long-time department head at the Faculty of Agriculture, Tarbiat Modares University, he has led numerous high-impact research projects spanning fungal pathogen epidemiology, stress tolerance via endophytes, biofertilizers, and cold-plasma applications in agriculture. Recognized for his leadership roles (including editorial responsibilities and presidency of the Iranian Society of Plant Pathology), he has mentored generations of students and spearheaded the translation of lab innovations into practical biocontrol and biofertilizer products. His work bridges fundamental science and agricultural application, contributing to sustainable crop protection and biotechnology development.

Profiles: Scopus | Google Scholar | Orcid

Featured Publications

Najafi, M. R., Kordrostami, M., Aghajani, M. A., Safaie, N., & Rahmanpour, S. (2025, October 7). Multilayer perceptron neural network–genetic algorithm for modeling Nicotiana tabacum leaf quality. PLOS One.

Jahedi, A., Safaie, N., Goltapeh, E. M., & Ahmadifar, S. (2024). Auricularia (wood ear mushroom) genus: A contribution to classification and new species records for Iran and world. Plant and Fungal Systematics.

Rahimi-Soujeh, Z., Safaie, N., Moradi, S., Abbod, M., Sharifi, R., Mojerlou, S., & Mokhtassi-Bidgoli, A. (2024, October). New binary mixtures of fungicides against Macrophomina phaseolina: Machine learning-driven QSAR, read-across prediction, and molecular dynamics simulation. Chemosphere.

Abbod, M., Safaie, N., & Gholivand, K. (2024, August). Genetic algorithm multiple linear regression and machine learning-driven QSTR modeling for the acute toxicity of sterol biosynthesis inhibitor fungicides. Heliyon.

Hussein, S. N., Safaie, N., Shams-bakhsh, M., & Al-Juboory, H. H. (2024, August). Harnessing rhizobacteria: Isolation, identification, and antifungal potential against soil pathogens. Heliyon,

Debashree Borthakur | Plant Microbiology | Best Researcher Award

Ms. Debashree Borthakur | Plant Microbiology | Best Researcher Award

Assam Don Bosco University | India

Dr. Debashree Borthakur is a research scholar in Microbiology at Tripura University, with a strong foundation in microbial biotechnology and environmental microbiology. She holds a Master’s degree in Microbiology from Bangalore University and ranked 5th in her university. With a CSIR-NET qualification (AIR-31), her research work focuses on microbial applications in health, environment, and biotechnology, including screening of aroma-producing microbes, microbial remediation of plastic toxicity, and plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria. She has authored several research articles and has two national patents filed—on an OCR pen and a deep convolutional neural network model for colon cancer detection. With an h-index of 3, 5 Scopus-indexed documents, and over 12 citations, her contributions are growing steadily in the scientific community. She has served as a reviewer for peer-reviewed journals and technical program committee (TPC) member for reputed international conferences like CSNT, IEEE TALE, and CICN. Her work has been recognized with awards such as the National Biotech Youth Award and General Proficiency Award. Actively engaged in academic seminars, FDPs, and national/international conferences, she bridges interdisciplinary knowledge in life sciences and engineering. Her research integrates innovation, microbiology, and AI, aiming for impactful solutions in health, agriculture, and sustainability.

Profiles: Scopus | Google Scholar | Orcid

Featured Publications

Borthakur, D. (2024). Screening and Characterization of Aroma and Flavour Producing Bacteria and Yeast from Traditional Fermented Food and Beverages of Northeast India. Proceedings of the International Conference on Communications, Electronics and Digital Technologies (NICEDT).

Borthakur, D. (2023). Evaluation of Tea Rhizospheric Microbes in Promoting Seed Germination and Plant Growth – An Alternative Strategy Using Biofertilizer. Proceedings of the International Conference on Modern Trendz in Microbiology.

Borthakur, D. (2022). Bioprospectation of Plant-Associated Endophytes in Plastic Degradation. Proceedings of the International Conference at NIT Jalandhar.

Borthakur, D. (2022). Microbial Pathogenesis and Recent Advances in Diagnosis of Omicron. Proceedings of the International Conference by Palamuru University.

Borthakur, D. (2020). Microremediation: A Natural Technology Towards Remediation of Plastic Toxicity. Proceedings of BIOINVENTION’20 – Advances in Biosciences.