Dr. Maged Saad is a Senior Research Scientist in the Center for Desert Agriculture at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) and coordinator of the DARWIN21 initiative, which aims to improve sustainable agriculture in arid land. Dr. Saad completed his undergraduate in Biochemistry at the Faculty of Science, Ain Shams University, Egypt.  He obtained his MSc in plant virology from BBA, Germany, and a Ph.D. in microbial genetics from the University Of Geneva (UNIGE), Switzerland. After, he moved to the French National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRA) as a Post-doctoral fellow. In 2008, he joined the Microbiology Unit at the Faculty of Science, the University of Geneva, as a Research Scientist. In mid-2014, he relocated to the Middle East and joined KAUST.

The research of Dr. Saad focuses on two main topics, developing different biological solutions based on desert microbes to mitigate constraints on agriculture productivity (soil health, low yield, biotic, abiotic stresses, and nutrient assimilation) and the precision application of biological solutions on a site-specific basis (soil type, plant type, and climate conditions) for optimizing efficiency and return to farmers. This could lead to an eco-friendly strategy for re-planting desert areas and land restoration into sustainable agricultural systems.

Keywords: Soil health, One Health, root biology, abiotic stresses, potato, plant physiology, salinity tolerance, drought tolerance, root architecture, nitrogen use efficiency

Maged.saad@kaust.du.sa | https://www.darwin21.org/

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5655-8674

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