Dr. Bashir Ahmad, Associate Professor of Biotechnology at International Islamic University, Islamabad (IIUI), along with Co-Principal Investigators Dr. Syed Zaigham Abbas Kazmi and Dr. Bushra Hafeez Kiyani, has been awarded a Technology Development Fund (TDF) grant by the Higher Education Commission (HEC). The project, titled “Development and Commercialization of RAPID Immunostrip and ELISA-based diagnostic kits specific for homologous Citrus tristeza Virus (CTV),” was approved on December 20 and has secured 11.2 million PKR under HEC’s Technology Development Fund.
This marks Dr. Bashir’s second research grant this year. In March, he collaborated with Co-Principal Investigator Dr. Ahmad Farooq to secure a 4.89 million PKR grant from the Health Research Institute (HRI) at the National Institute of Health (NIH), Islamabad. The project focused on the “Development, Characterization, and Commercialization of Biogenic Mosquito Repellent Oil (MRO) and Mosquito Repellent Balm (MRB).”
Both grants aim to address challenges of end user product through the development and commercialization of innovative biotechnology solutions.