With a background in plant molecular biology, my research interest lies in elucidating and engineering metabolic pathways in crops to improve their nutritional quality and productivity. Throughout my career, I have developed diverse skills in molecular biology labtechniques, focusing on cutting-edge gene editing tools like CRISPR-Cas9 and heterologous gene expression techniques essential for unveiling the underlying mechanisms of natural compound biosynthesis pathways. I have also gained experience in integrative omics approaches, which involve integrating data from various omics, including transcriptomic and metabolomics.

• Ablazov A, Jamil M, Haider I, Wang JY, Melino V, Maghrebi M, Vigani G, Liew KX, Lin PY, Chen GT, Kuijer HN, Berqdar L, Mazzarella T, Fiorilli V, Lanfranco L, Zheng X, Dai NC, Hsing YI, Tester M, Blilou I & Al-Babili S. (2023) "Zaxinone Synthase overexpression modulates rice physiology and metabolism, improving growth and productivity under normal and low phosphate supply" BioRxiv https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.10.06.561198
• Ablazov A, Votta C, Fiorilli V, Wang JY, Aljedaani F, Jamil M, Balakrishna A, Balestrini R, Liew KX, Rajan C, Berqdar L, Blilou I, Lanfranco L & Al-Babili S. (2023) "ZAXINONE SYNTHASE 2 regulates growth and arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis in rice" Plant Physiology. 191:382-99.
• Ablazov A, Felemban A, Braguy J, Kuijer HN, Al-Babili S. (2023) "A Fast and Cost-Eective Genotyping Method for CRISPR- Cas9-Generated Mutant Rice Lines" Plants. 12:2189.
• Ablazov A, Mi J, Jamil M, Jia KP, Wang JY, Feng Q, Al-Babili S. (2020) "The apocarotenoid zaxinone is a positive regulator of strigolactone and abscisic acid biosynthesis in Arabidopsis roots" Frontiers in Plant Science. 11:518781.

• ​Ph.D., Plant science, KAUST, Thuwal, Saudi Arabia, 2017
  
• M.Sc., Genetics and Bioengineering, IBU, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, 2015​

• 2017 -current: Ph.D. Student, KAUST, Thuwal, Saudi Arabia
  
• 2016-2017: Research Intern, Plant Genomics Center, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia
  
• 2014-2016: Researcher, Fatih University, Istanbul, Turkey 
  
• 2013-2014: Research assistant, IBU, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
  
• 2012: Research Internship, Life science, The University of Manchester, Manchester, UK​

• Australian Research Council (ARC) Wheat HUB Scholarship
• Turkish research council (TÜBİTAK) scholarship
• Erasmus Program scholarship (European Union)​​
• Proposal Progression Award