Dr. Riyaz Ahmad Shah hails from a small village Haji Bagh situated on the banks of Hokersar Lake in District Budgam, Jammu and Kashmir. He did his Ph.D. from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore with Prof Umesh Varshney and was awarded the best Ph.D. thesis award for his studies on the mechanism of protein synthesis in bacteria. After finishing his Ph.D., Riyaz moved on to do a brief Postdoc at Scripps Research Institute in Florida, USA before moving to the University of Copenhagen, Denmark where he is currently working as a Postdoc with Prof Jepser Svejstrup. His current research focuses on understanding the molecular mechanisms of transcription in humans, and how this essential cellular process interfaces with other DNA-related processes, such a DNA replication, and repair. Riyaz has been an active member of JK Scientist since 2013 and believes in knowledge sharing. Riyaz loves playing and watching cricket besides science.

Dr. Riyaz can be reached at riyazshah@jkscientists.org