Mohammad Omran Email & Phone Number

Stuttgart, Bw, De

Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany

I am contributing to QUIZ, an ambitious project that aims to develop the first quinoa cultivars in Germany. The project is working on outputting three cultivars with superior yields and better adaptation to the Central European cultivation conditions with a non-compromised grain quality.QUIZ is utilizing the latest in phenomics, (statistical) genomics, and (double) haploid technologies. The project is expected to deliver breakthroughs in quinoa breeding technology with implications on more diversified agriculture, food security and market competitiveness.

Utrecht, Netherlands

Decided to move to the Netherlands to look for a job in the plant breeding industry. To do so, I worked evening-shifts in a warehouse in the center of the country. Working at PicNic was also physically demanding, requiring muscle-strength, perseverance and discipline, I was writing my job-applications in the day-time.I enjoyed my work in an environment that showed me a never-seen-before aspects and steps of the modern food chain; I got new insights onto the nature of these jobs and the type of people making this possible. I learnt how to use some typical warehouse machinery and got a license to drive a Reach-Truck.

Helsinki, Uusimaa, Finland

My first work after graduation. Needing to be in a standing-up position most of the time; this job was physically demanding, however I enjoyed talking to people from all over the globe and learning one or two things about their trips and insights. I was part of a sales-team of four people, together we fluently covered a range of seven languages. Tasks were mainly ticket sales in Helsinki City Centre and in Helsinki Port.

Turku, Southwest Finland, Finland

Luke employs 1300 people and operates in 24 locations in Finland, the institute has a wide research scope promoting many businesses that utilise renewable natural resources. The project was part of a Nordic, collaborative project for genomics-informed breeding of strawberry, the most important berry crop in Finland in terms of production, consumption and popularity.I was involved in Luke's trial evaluations of both breeding and pre-breeding populations of strawberries. My thesis work was supervised by four experts from the Institute and the University of Helsinki, through which I contributed important insights into the genetics of fruit-colour variation in Luke's populations. Fruit colour is of special importance for the local consumers who, opposite to their Southern European counterparts, prefer darker tones of strawberries both skin and flesh.The work also identified and partially characterized candidate SNP markers for a significant increase in berry weight, and for leaf spot susceptibility.Tasks: 1- During the spring, summer and autumn 2021• Collected phenotypic data of 12 traits in breeding and pre-breeding field trials of garden strawberries. • Performed an independent literature review on five main strawberry leaf diseases and several fruit-quality traits.• Surveyed the breeding and pre-breeding fields for leaf diseases and identified them microscopically and molecularly (BLASTing the ITS).2- During the winter and spring 2022• Performed QA and QC for the 12 traits in Excel and R. • Analysed the field spatial variation for the traits using ANOVA in a Linear Mixed-Effects model. • Estimated traits heritability in Command-Line and R.• Ran single- and multi-locus GWA mapping using five models in GAPIT and StatgenGWAS in R. • Explored the Linkage Disequilibrium decay between SNP markers in R. • Characterized significant associations using BLAST, and visualized allelic effects of candidate SNPs using Excel and R.

Budapest, Hungary

Participated in two multidisciplinary projects between Plant Biochemistry and Plant Molecular Biology teams within the department of Plant Physiology and Biochemistry, under the supervision of Prof. István Papp and Dr Iman Mirmazloum, on two of their projects related to the genetics of abiotic-stress tolerance in hybrid cultivars of cucumber and on innovative solutions for food products. • Investigated the expression profiles of 18 stress-related genes in cucumber plants in response to silicon treatment; Extracted RNA, made cDNA libraries, tested the primers and performed the PCRs. Co-authored the paper “Downregulation of Polyamine and Diamine Oxidases in Silicon-Treated Cucumber”- Plants. • Prepared the buffers and samples and ran the biochemical experiments. Co-authored the the paper “Co-encapsulation of probiotic Lactobacillus acidophilus and Reishi medicinal mushroom (Ganoderma lingzhi) extract in moist calcium alginate beads”- International Journal of Biological Macromolecules.

Budapest, Hungary

SciCons was a family-owned biotech company with around 5-10 employees. SciCons's speciality was exclusively producing anti-dsRNA-antibodies. Their market extended across 40 countries, from Japan to Canada. The company was acquired by another biotech player in the Netherlands. SciCons antibodies were used heavily by biotech giants to control the quality of their (single-stranded) mRNA vaccines during the Covid-19 pandemic while the company was negotiating its acquisition. I worked in their Budapest Sales Office with a direct connection with the company's CEO. My main role at Scicons was keeping the company orders running and buffering the communication with their wide range of customers.This experience inspired and educated me on the huge potential of turning scientific innovations into international businesses that actually can save the world. • Contributed to a literature study on antibody lyophilization technologies. • Managed the office budgets and the company’s databases using Excel.• Maintained the company’s website.• Processed incoming orders and handled international customers' inquiries.

Gödöllő, Pest, Hungary

The main goal of my M.Sc. study at the NARIC institute was to compare the efficiency of biotest indexing with the molecular detection of Peach-Associated Luteovirus (PaLV), a newly emerged virus on peach trees at the time.As the expression of PaLV coat protein gene was not molecularly detected in any of the 12 tested woody indicators of the biotest, despite being present in three of the tested scions, the work concluded the insufficiency of grafting on woody indicators to diagnose viral infections in fruit tree nurseries, especially for emerging viruses such as PaLV. Routinely performed RT-PCRs on field- and greenhouse-collected samples of peach trees: • Extracted RNA, made cDNA libraries, designed & tested the primers and performed the PCRs.• Purified and cloned the amplified coat protein genes into plasmids for sanger-sequencing. • Analysed the sequences using different bioinformatics tools, such as Chromas, BLASTn and Clustal Omega.• Built a phylogenetic tree of the sequenced viral strains in OMEGA X to investigate their possible etiology.• Advised against using biotest indexing as a routinely used method for viral diseases diagnostics in propagation nurseries of peach. • Co-authored a conference paper on the lab’s finding “Comparison of biotest and small RNA NGS as a virus diagnostics method on fruit trees”.

Damascus, Damascus Governorate, Syria

The NCBT is a national research institute, it employs nearly 100 researchers, with the aim to bridge the technical gaps in plant biotechnology and accelerate its introduction and localization in Syria. Worked as a Research Assistant in the laboratory of Parasitism and Symbiosis under the supervision of Prof. Fawaz Al-azmeh on a project to locally produce environmentally friendly, protective seed coatings for barley and wheat. Tested the effects of both commercial and in-house-produced products of Chitosan on rust and smut diseases of wheat and barley in greenhouse conditions.• Contributed to a literature study on Chitosan extraction and applications.• Identified seed-borne diseases under a dissecting microscope and prepared their inoculums.• Sowed the treated seeds and the controls and screened the plants for the treatment effect.

Damascus, Syria

The main goal of my B.Sc. thesis work was to verify and test the effects of plant extracts derived from the perennial plant Agave americana on two insect species. The extracts were applied on an apricot tree infected with the aphid Pterochloroides persicae under field conditions and on a schefflera plant infected with the scale insect Coccus hesperidum in laboratory conditions.The study was concluded by verifying the potential of these plant-based extracts for biologically safe and environmentally-friendly management of insects and recommending the aqueous extract, over the alcohol-based one, which achieved a mortality rate of 80% after 24 hours of application in field conditions.• Harvested the plant material and prepared it for extraction.• Prepared aqueous and alcoholic extracts. • Applied the extracts to the targeted insects in field and lab conditions. • Determined the mortality rates of insects after 24 and 48 hours of application. • Analyzed the experiment data in Excel.

Doctor Of Philosophy - Phd, Plant Breeding

At the University of Hohenheim, I am working on pioneering a hybrid-breeding system for Quinoa. During my PhD, I am taking.

Joint Master'S Degree, Plant Breeding, 4.35/5.00

Thesis topic: "Genome-wide association mapping for disease resistance and fruit quality traits in Nordic association mapping panel.

Joint Master'S Degree, Plant Breeding

The Joint Master's degree programme in plant breeding (emPLANT) was designed by a consortium of five European Universities to remedy.

Master'S Degree, Agricultural Biotechnology, 4.82/5.00

Thesis topic: "Molecular detection of peach-associated luteovirus (PaLV) in peach". Thesis Grade (5/5), Supervisors: Dr. Eva Várallyay.

Bachelor'S Degree, Agricultural Engineering Specialized In Plant Health, 82.55/100.00

The Bachelor's Degree in Agricultural Engineering from the University of Damascus consists of 5 years of coursework and a thesis.