Prof. Dr. Muhammad Ashfaq
Summary
Prof. Dr. Muhammad Ashfaq is a distinguished Plant Virologist and Molecular Plant Pathologist with over two decades of academic, research, and administrative excellence. He earned his B.Sc. (Hons.) Agriculture and M.Sc. (Hons.) Plant Pathology from the University of Agriculture, Faisalabad (UAF), graduating with distinction and receiving a Silver Medal for academic excellence. He completed his Ph.D. in Plant Pathology (2007) from UAF and a Post-Doctoral Fellowship (2010) at the Scottish Crop Research Institute (now James Hutton Institute), Dundee, Scotland. Dr. Ashfaq began his academic career at UAF in 2004 and joined PMAS-Arid Agriculture University Rawalpindi (AAUR) in 2006, where he was promoted to Associate Professor. In 2018, he became Professor of Plant Pathology at MNS-University of Agriculture, Multan (MNSUAM). From March 2019 to November 2025, he served as Principal Officer Students Affairs, contributing significantly to student guidance, welfare, and campus development. He also served as Director, Institute of Plant Protection (Nov 2022–Nov 2025), completing his tenure with distinction.
With extensive expertise in Molecular Plant Pathology and Virology, Dr. Ashfaq has been a member of over a hundred academic, scientific, and policy-making committees at institutional, national, and international levels. He is the Founder Editor-in-Chief of Agricultural Sciences Journal (ASJ), the official journal of MNSUAM, and serves on editorial boards and as reviewer for several national and international journals and funding agencies. He holds membership in multiple scientific organizations and has established two state-of-the-art Molecular Plant Virology Laboratories at PMAS-AAUR and MNSUAM. Dr. Ashfaq has played a pivotal role in curriculum development, updating undergraduate and postgraduate syllabi, and organizing major international scientific events, including the 1st–4th International Smart Plant Protection Conferences at MNSUAM. His outstanding contributions have earned him research awards, letters of appreciation, and recognition from the Islamic Organization for Food Security (OIC-Kazakhstan) for his expertise in 2024. He has also developed strong research collaborations and academic linkages with leading institutions worldwide.
He has successfully completed seven research projects as Principal Investigator (PI), while two ongoing projects are funded by PARB and ACIAR. His impressive scholarly output includes 207 publications: 99 research papers, 61 abstracts, 16 book chapters, 6 popular articles, 1 abstract book, and 16 project reports. Notably, he reported three novel genes of RNA2 of TRV sym isolate and sequenced over 150 plant virus genomes, all publicly available on GenBank. Dr. Ashfaq has also made valuable institutional contributions, including preparing four University Annual Reports (2019–20 to 2023–24), the University Business Plan for Sustainable Growth (2023), four Undergraduate Prospectuses (as Convener), the Kissan Mela-2022 report, and the Mango Festival Report-2021. As a dedicated mentor, he has supervised 8 Ph.D. and 44 M.Sc. (Hons.) students and is currently guiding 5 Ph.D. and 7 M.Sc. (Hons.) scholars. His current research focuses on the development of virus-resistant transgenic plants, biological tools for monitoring microbial pollution, virus-encoded silencing suppressors, plant-microbe interactions, biochemistry and physiology of diseased plants, virus epidemiology, and integrated disease management including genotype screening against plant viruses.