Mohammed Zawad Reza completed his M.Sc. in Biological Oceanography at the Christian-Albrechts-University of Kiel in 2024. For his master’s thesis at GEOMAR-Biotech, he investigated the chemical potential of sediment-derived fungi through co-cultivation approaches, chemical characterization, and bioactivity testing against plant pathogens. He also gained experience as a research intern at the Hellenic Centre for Marine Research, where he worked on the isolation and analysis of marine actinomycetes and microbiomes.

In September 2025, Zawad joined the Microbial Natural Products group under Prof. Rolf Müller at HIPS to pursue his doctoral studies. His research focuses on exploring cryptic biosynthetic gene clusters in myxobacteria, combining genome mining and genetic engineering with heterologous expression and bioactivity-guided isolation to uncover novel natural products with pharmaceutical potential.