Global Network of Bangladeshi Biotechnologists (GNOBB) announced its 5th International Conference on Biotechnology in Health and Agriculture (ICBHA) as a joint conference with the Bangladesh Biosafety and Biosecurity Society (BBBS) and the Federation of Asian Biotech Associations (FABA).
The conference is to be held from September 1-3, 2023 at Nabab Nawab Ali Chowdhury Senate Bhaban, University of Dhaka, says a press release issued on Tuesday.
The conference is the largest platform of Bangladeshi Biotechnologists in the world to meet and exchange thoughts, ideas, and experimental findings in different areas of biotechnology, with the aim of contributing to the sustainable development of the nation.
Professor Zeba Islam Seraj, PhD will deliver the welcome speech as the president of GNOBB.
Dr Asadulghani, general secretary of GNOBB and president of FABA and Dr Chandan Kumar Roy, president of BBBS, will also address the inaugural ceremony on September 1.
Professor Dr M Imdadul Hoque, vice-chancellor, Jagannath University, Professor Dr Anwar Hossain, vice- chancellor, Jessore University of Science and Technology, Professor Dr Emdadul Haque Chowdhury, vice- chancellor, Bangladesh Agricultural University and Professor Dr Md Sharfuddin Ahmed, vice-chancellor, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Medical University, will be present as special guests.
University of Dhaka Vice Chancellor Professor Dr Md Akhtaruzzaman will chair the opening ceremony.
The vote of thanks will be delivered by the GNOBB Vice President Professor Dr Chowdhury Rafiqul Ahsan.
GNOBB will present a documentary on lifetime achievement of Dr Ahmad Shamsul Islam, the legendary biotechnologist and founder of GNOBB.
The first two days of the conference will be on the current status of Biotechnology in Health and Agriculture with an emphasis on Biosafety and Biosecurity in Biotechnology Applications.
The third day of the conference will be dedicated to discussions on the containment of Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR).
The goal of the conference is to build capacity and create awareness of the latest trends in biotechnology for improving health, agriculture, and the environment in Bangladesh.
At the same time, it is intended to create awareness regarding Biosafety and Biosecurity in different areas of Biotechnology.
The silent pandemic AMR has become a serious human health, animal health, and environmental concern.
Therefore, an urgent consideration of the role of Biosafety and Biosecurity in Biotechnology towards the containment of AMR will be elaborated during the third day of the program.
A number of pre-conference training workshops in the field of biotechnology, biosafety, biosecurity, and strengthening lab capacity will be organized in the month of August 2023 and to coincide with the beginning to end of the 5th ICBHA conference.
On August 31, a day-long workshop on “Rice Ratooning: a new strategy to ensure food security” and on the 3rd September and on the morning of the 4th, a hands-on training on CRISPR-Cas9 Genome Editing targeting rice, will be jointly organized by GNOBB and the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Dhaka University.
GNOBB is honoured to have the opportunity to hold this joint conference with BBBS and FABA and cordially invites the participation of scientists, researchers, educators, students, policymakers, businesspersons, product developers, or manufacturers working in the field of agriculture, biochemistry, molecular biology, bioinformatics, biotechnology, botany, environmental sciences, food sciences, genetics and genomics, medical sciences, microbiology, zoology, or any other branches of biological sciences.
In recognition of outstanding contribution in research, GNOBB will recognize and award scientists in two categories: working at home and abroad.
This year four scientists – Dr Md Tofazzal Islam, Dr Hasan Zaki, Dr Mirza Hasanuzzaman and Dr Mohammad Ariful Islam will be awarded and they will deliver their award lectures.
There will be 15 awards for poster presentation, six awards for flash oral presentation. For the first time, 12 emerging scientists have been selected and invited for oral presentation.
Foreign speakers from the US and India will attend the conference.