Shamim I. Ahmad earned his Master's degree in Botany from Patna University, Bihar, India, and his PhD in Molecular Genetics from Leicester University, England. He then joined Nottingham Polytechnic as a grade 1 lecturer and subsequently was promoted to the post of Senior Lecturer. Ahmad now spends much of his time producing/writing medical books. For more than three decades he researched different areas of molecular biology/genetics including thymineless death in bacteria, genetic control of nucleotide catabolism, development of anti-AIDs drug, control of microbial infection of burns, phages of thermophilic bacteria, and microbial flora of Chernobyl after the nuclear power station accident. But his main interest is DNA damage and repair specifically by near-ultraviolet light mostly through the photolysis of biological compounds, production of reactive oxygen species, and their implications on human health including skin cancer. He also investigates near-ultraviolet photolysis of non-biological compounds such as 8-metoxypsoralen, mitomycin C, and their importance in psoriasis treatment and in Fanconi anemia. He has collaborated with the University of Osaka, Japan, and he and his colleagues were able to show that a number of naturally occurring enzymes were able to scavenge the reactive oxygen species. In 2003 he received a prestigious Asian Jewel Award in Britain for Excellence in Education. His long time ambition to produce medical books started in 2007 and since then he has published Molecular mechanisms of Fanconi Anemia, Molecular Mechanisms of Xeroderma Pigmentosum; Molecular Mechanisms of Cockayne Syndrome; Molecular Mechanisms of Ataxia Telangiectasia; Diseases of DNA repair; Neurodegenerative diseases; Diabetes: an Old Disease a New Insight, Obesity: a Practical Guide, Thyroid: Basic Science and Clinical Practice, and Ultraviolet light in Human Health, diseases and environment; also as a co-author the book on Diabetes: A comprehensive Treatise for patients and Caregivers. His most recent books are Reactive Oxygen Species in Biology and Human Health and Aging: Exploring a Complex Phenomenon.
