The Speakers

Prof. Dr. Atta-ur-Rahman is a world-renowned organic chemist, educationist, and science policy leader, widely regarded as one of the most influential and decorated scientists from the developing world. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society (London), an Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and currently serves as the President of the Pakistan Academy of Sciences (PAS).

Dr. Atta-ur-Rahman obtained his Ph.D. and Doctor of Science (Sc.D.) degrees from King’s College, University of Cambridge. Over a monumental career, he has authored and edited over 1,600 international publications and books, establishing himself as a premier global authority on natural product chemistry, bioactive secondary metabolites, and modern NMR spectroscopy. His global scientific legacy is honored through numerous international initiatives, including the prestigious TWAS-Atta-ur-Rahman Award in Chemistry for early-career researchers.

Beyond his laboratory breakthroughs, Dr. Atta-ur-Rahman has left an indelible mark on national governance and international diplomacy. He is the founding Chairman of Pakistan's Higher Education Commission (HEC) and former Federal Minister for Science & Technology, where he fundamentally revolutionized the region's higher education infrastructure and academic research ecosystem. A winner of the UNESCO Science Prize and the China International Science and Technology Cooperation Award, he was recently honored with the 4th IETI China Lifetime Achievement Award for his structural contributions to global science.

Dr. Shamsul Islam is a Meritorious Professor and the Head of the Department of Mathematics at COMSATS University Islamabad (CUI), Pakistan, with academic and administrative leadership experience. He earned his Ph.D. from the prestigious Harbin Institute of Technology, China, and currently directs the Shams Ul Islam Lab, where his research advances Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), the Lattice Boltzmann Method (LBM), and fluid-structure interactions. An accomplished scholar with over 80 scientific publications, his current work innovatively bridges numerical fluid simulations with modern machine learning applications, making him a distinguished voice in the global mathematics and engineering research community.

Prof. Dr. Shahid Hussain is a highly distinguished materials scientist and educator, consistently ranked among the Top 2% of Global Scientists by Stanford University. He completed his Ph.D. at Chongqing University in 2015 and quickly advanced to Full Professor at Jiangsu University in 2019. He also bridges international research ties as an Adjunct Professor at the NED University of Engineering and Technology. An expert in nanomaterials, Dr. Hussain's pioneering work covers metal oxide semiconductors (MOS), metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), and their cutting-edge applications in high-precision gas sensors, lithium-sulfur batteries, and supercapacitors. He is a widely recognized editor and reviewer, recently receiving the Springer Nature Editor of Distinction Award. With over 340 international publications, his research advances environmental engineering and sustainable energy storage systems. 

Prof. Dr. Tajamal Hussain is a Professor of Chemistry at the School of Chemistry, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan. He received his PhD in Chemistry from Graz University of Technology, Austria, in 2009. With approximately 20 years of teaching and research experience, his research interests encompass physical and materials chemistry, functional polymer composites, advanced materials for energy storage, electrochemical sensing, and environmental remediation.

Prof. Hussain has authored more than 100 research publications and over 10 book chapters. His academic achievements include the prestigious Early Career Chemist Award from the International Chemical Congress of Pacific Basin Societies (PACIFICHEM) held in Honolulu, USA and two OeAD Ernst Mach Follow-up Grants from Austria. His research focuses on the development of sustainable and functional materials for energy storage, environmental monitoring, and the detection and removal of emerging environmental pollutants. He has extensive experience in supervising undergraduate, postgraduate and PhD research and fostering international research collaborations.

Dr. Mehmet Öztürk is a Professor of Analytical Chemistry at Muğla Sıtkı Koçman University, Türkiye, where he also serves as the Director of the Food Analysis Laboratory at the Food Analysis Applications and Research Center. He received his bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Mediterranean University in 1998 and earned his PhD in Analytical Chemistry from the Faculty of Pharmacy at Istanbul University in 2008.

Dr. Öztürk's research focuses on isolating bioactive compounds from natural products with cytotoxic, anti-inflammatory, and antidiabetic properties; elucidating their structures; and evaluating their biological activities in vitro and in vivo. Recently, he has devoted particular attention to mushroom-derived compounds with cytotoxic, immunomodulatory, and antimetastatic effects. Furthermore, he and his research team employ molecular modeling techniques to guide the design and synthesis or semi-synthesis of potential therapeutic compounds for Alzheimer's disease. His research interests also encompass food chemistry, with a particular emphasis on developing practical, cost-effective, and reliable analytical methods to detect food adulteration and assess authenticity. In recognition of his expertise in this field, he was invited to contribute to the revision of the Turkish Food Codex Honey Communiqué (2020/7), published in 2020, and conducted scientific studies to provide evidence supporting the proposed regulatory updates.

Since 2013, he has been a member of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) as an Associate alumnus. Throughout his academic career, he has served as a visiting professor at several international institutions, delivering lectures and conducting collaborative research at Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, Sarsen Amanzholov East Kazakhstan University, Asfendiyarov Kazakh National Medical University, and the University of Surrey. Since 2024, he has also served as an Honorary Young Scientist and Science Representative for Türkiye at the COMSTECH Secretariat, Islamabad, Pakistan.

Prof. Öztürk has supervised 13 doctoral students, both domestic and international, and is currently supervising 10 PhD students, including five domestic and five international candidates. His scholarly contributions include more than 210 research articles published in SCI-indexed journals and six book chapters covering food chemistry, analytical pharmacognosy, pharmaceutical chemistry, and natural products chemistry. As of 2026, his h-index is 38 according to Web of Science, 41 according to Scopus, and 53 according to Google Scholar.

Prof. Dr. Abdul Razaq is currently serving as Acting Vice Chancellor of Karakoram International University (KIU), Gilgit Baltistan, a role he has also held before. He is a Professor of Biological Sciences and brings more than twenty years of experience in research, teaching and university administration. He has long been central to the university’s governance and quality agenda.

As Director of the Quality Enhancement Cell, he led KIU’s quality assurance and accreditation work and helped shape the university’s academic direction. As Director General of the KIU sub campuses, he helped extend higher education to the remote valleys of the region. He also serves on the university’s key statutory bodies.

He holds a PhD in Mycology from the University of Karachi and is a leading authority on the macro fungi of Pakistan’s northern mountains. He has published more than 45 research papers, led projects funded by WWF and the Pakistan Science Foundation, and convened several international conferences on mountains, climate change and biodiversity.

Dr. Mehfooz Ullah is an academic, researcher and entrepreneurship practitioner at Karakoram International University (KIU), Gilgit. Over the years, he has helped establish platforms at KIU for entrepreneurship, the gig economy and continuing education, which have opened opportunities for thousands of young people across the region. He currently directs KIU’s Business Incubation Centre, which runs programmes in tech, green and micro enterprise, and is a member of the Provincial Government’s IT Board.

His research focuses on sustainable project management, entrepreneurial ecosystems and the gig economy, and he is exploring how AI is reshaping business and higher education. He has published widely in peer reviewed journals and has led research and consultancy projects on tech startups, climate change, the gig economy and youth leadership. At KIU, he teaches Management, Entrepreneurship and Research Methods.

He holds a PhD from Universiti Malaysia Pahang, an MSc from the University of Salford (UK) and a BEng from UET Lahore. Through international fellowships, speaking engagements and consultancy work across different countries,  he brings global practice in entrepreneurship to local institutions and young people