Dr Tan Boon Chin is an Associate Professor and Director of the Centre for Research in Biotechnology for Agriculture (CEBAR) at the University of Malaya (UM). He obtained his BSc in Biotechnology from Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) and his PhD in Plant Biotechnology from the University of Nottingham. He joined UM as a postdoctoral research fellow before progressing to the position of Senior Lecturer.

Dr Tan’s research spans plant molecular biology and biochemistry, focusing on understanding how transcription factors regulate responses to environmental stress in crops to improve tolerance under future climates. Key research goals include: (1) developing biostimulants to mitigate climate stress, (2) designing educational programmes for sustainable agriculture, and (3) providing evidence-based recommendations to policymakers. He also works on genetically manipulating plant biosynthetic pathways to produce beneficial bioactive compounds and exploring plants as alternative platforms for high-value recombinant proteins.

Dr Tan served as the Lead Consultant for the National Biosafety Policy and Action Plan project. He is an Associate Editor of the Journal of Plant Growth Regulation (JPGR) and Annals of Botany (AoB), and serves on the Editorial Boards of BMC Plant Biology, Heliyon, Molecular Biotechnology (MOBI), Asia Pacific Journal of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology (APJMBB), Discover Food, Discover Plants, and the Journal of Agribusiness Marketing (JAMA).

Dr Tan is also the President of the Malaysian Society for Molecular Biology and Biotechnology (MSMBB), an Honorary Secretary General of the Asia Oceania Agricultural Proteomics Organization (AOAPO), a council member of the Malaysian Proteomics Society (MAPS), Malaysian Society of Plant Physiology (MSPP), and Malaysian Society of Systems and Synthetic Biology (MyBioSS), and an eLife Community Ambassador. 

He received several awards, including the Royal Society-Newton Advanced Fellowship (2017), the Travel Award for the Asia Pacific Biosafety Association Conference from the United States Department of State Biosecurity Engagement Program (2017), and the Alltech Young Scientist Award 2012/13, and recognition as one of The Asian Scientist 100 for outstanding contributions to science in Asia (https://www.asianscientist.com/as100/).

His research group is committed to applying their expertise and ideas to catalyse efforts to achieve the second Sustainable Development Goal (SDG2). See the interview: https://www.springernature.com/gp/researchers/the-source/blog/blogposts-communicating-research/enhan...