Magdy Madkour

"I am delighted and privileged to be associated with BioMed Central’s  recent effort  to  launch this  peer-reviewed journal  aiming to shed light on the latest research developments in the field of  Agriculture and Food Security. I consider this online journal a unique opportunity for young researchers to publish manuscripts and share their findings via one of the most dynamic and exiting means of information and knowledge sharing in existence to date."

Magdy  Madkour has been the  Head  of  Biotechnology at the Arid Lands Agriculture Research Institute, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt since 2006. He is also the Chairman of the Technical Committee of the Agricultural Research for Development Fund at the Ministry of Agriculture and Senior Advisor to Bibliotheca Alexandrina.

Professor Madkour obtained his BSc. (Excellent with Grade of Honour, 1969) and MSc (1972) in plant pathology from the Faculty of Agriculture, Alexandria University, Egypt. In 1977 he received his PhD in Physiological Plant Pathology from the University of Wales in Aberystwyth, UK. From 1978 –1989 Dr. Madkour served as lecturer, Associate Professor and Professor of plant pathology, Alexandria University, Egypt. He worked as Visiting Professor at the Plant Growth Laboratory, University of California at Davis, USA from 1989 to 1990. In 1990 he established and headed the Agricultural Genetic Engineering Research Institute (AGERI) at the Ministry of Agriculture, Egypt. From 2001 to 2004, he was selected to hold the post of Vice President, then President of the Agricultural Research Center, Egypt. He was the Assistant Director General for International Cooperation at the International Centre for Agricultural Research in Dry Areas (ICARDA) from 2004 till 2006.

Professor Madkour served on the Technical Advisory Committee of the CGIAR (1996-2000), and on the Board of Trustees of ICARDA (2001) and IPGRI (Bioversity) in 2003. In 2007, Professor Madkour was decorated with Egypt’s Presidential Gold Medal as the recipient of the State Award of appreciation in Advanced Agricultural Technologies. He also received three AOAD awards for scientific excellence in 2001 and 2003 and was the recipient of the FAO World Food Day Medal in 2001. Three patents for novel biological insecticides were issued in his name. Professor Madkour has authored one hundred and forty peer reviewed scientific publications and contributed to seven books.