I am very happy to be able to announce that Dr Zaigham Shahzad has kindly agreed to become the new Chair of the Department of Life Sciences, for four years until 2028, following Dr Safee Ullah Chaudhary.

Dr Zaigham joined what was then the Department of Biology at SSE in 2022 as an Associate Professor.  He earned his PhD in France, and has a very distinguished research record, having published many highly cited papers on topics of plant genetics and epigenetics.  He now leads a dynamic research group in this field at LUMS.  I firmly believe that, together, he and his departmental colleagues can take Life Sciences at LUMS to a highly successful future, and I very much look forward to working with him and all the outstanding Life Sciences Faculty and Staff.

I want to thank the departing Chair Dr Safee Ullah most sincerely for all that he has done for the Department of Life Sciences.  He has been a very effective advocate for his department, and it has been a real pleasure working with him.  I also wish to thank Dr Muhammad Tariq, Dr Faiz Ul Hassan Nasim and Dr Imran Cheema who formed the search committee.  They carried out their task with great care and dedication.

Best regards,
Walther Schwarzacher