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Dr. Humira Sonah completed her schooling from Vishwa Bharti higher secondary school, Srinagar. Thereafter she joined Purvanchal University to pursue graduation in Agriculture. Subsequently, she did her master's in agriculture biotechnology from Indira Gandhi Agriculture University, Raipur. While working at National Institute on Plant Biotechnology she completed her Ph.D. from Banasthali University. During Ph.D. research she identified loci governing sheath blight resistance in rice. Soon after completion of Ph.D. she got invitation to join University Laval, Canada as a Postdoctoral Researcher. At University Laval, she developed a genotyping-by-sequencing method useful for marker-based applications in crop improvement programs. The genotyping by sequencing developed by her is widely being used across the globe. She did her another postdoctoral fellowship from University of Missouri, USA. She joined back University Laval and worked as a Visiting Professor. Considering her remarkable achievements in Plant Biology, the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Government of India awarded her Ramalingaswami Fellowship which is one of the most prestigious awards aiming to attract high-quality Indian brains working abroad. Dr. Sonah is presently working as Ramalingaswami Fellow at National Agri-Food Biotechnology Institute (NABI), Mohali, Punjab

Awards/Honors:Ramalingaswami Fellowship Award by Department of Biotechnology, DBT, India in 2018; PhytoSciences Award by Sherbrooke University in 2015; Research Excellence Award for postdoctoral research by Faculté des Sciences de l'Agriculture et de l'Alimentation (FSAA), Laval University, Quebec (QC) Canada in 2011; Research Excellence Award for postdoctoral research by FSAA Laval University, Quebec (QC) Canada in 2015.

Patents:Methods and tools for plant pathogen assessment Publication Number WO/2019/241883, PCT/CA2019/050856

Major Contributions:Dr. Sonah has developed genotyping by sequencing approach and performed Genome-wide association studies for many important traits in soybean.Her career goal is to improve the nutritional quality of soybean, make it tailored as per Indian consumer preference so that it can be adopted as a staple food in the daily diet. Dr. Sonah’s mission continues to eradicate hidden hunger by providing high-quality vegetarian sources of protein-rich food.She has published more than 80 papers in high impact journals

The Indian Society of Genetics and Plant Breeding feels proud to bestow on Dr. Humira Sonah the Fellowship of the Society for her outstanding contributions in Rice Genetics and Breeding.