Molecular geneticist Joseph Borg has been promoted to Full Professor at University of Malta (UM), he shared on Monday.
“Today I received some good news,” he said, before announcing that UM has recognised his “work, research, and lecturing”, promoting him to the new role after more than 12 years in various positions at the university.
“Whilst the title may sound singular, it is in fact the work of many that helped me achieve this,” Prof Borg explained. He went on to thank past and present mentors, colleagues from UM, and also the other institutions and organisations that he is a part of for supporting his research and growth in the field of bioscience.
When contacted by WhosWho.mt, Prof Borg highlighted his admiration of Sir Isaac Newton's words: “If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.”
"The mentoring and help I got from a niche group of people who want good and success for me was pivotal. The rest I simply ignore and continue doing what I do best," he explained.
Prof Borg is primarily interested in understanding the development of globin gene switching, regulation and control of erythropoiesis, and also to use next generation sequencing tools to “uncover locked secrets of life”. He teaches and trains a number of young scientists “so that they can become independent and become future resources in return", with the view that "Alone I can run fast, but together we can run very far.”
Apart from his role at UM, Prof Borg is also an Investigator in Multi-omics and Systems Biology at NASA GeneLab, and also forms part of United States-based space research and technology organisation Twin Orbit’s core team. He is also a member of European Space Agency’s ESA topical team, and a member of the American Society for Gravitation and Space Research. Prof Borg is also one of a number of scientists involved in COV-IRT, a non-profit organisation that brings together scientists from over 70 institutions worldwide to better understand COVID-19 and characterise potential co-infections.
In November 2020, he launched Malta’s first ever biomedical science programme containing a series of missions planned to the International Space Station. “These will assist greatly in the planning and design of future manned missions to space, ensuring longer and better stays, and mitigating the ill-effects that are known to inflict life,” he explained.
Additionally, he has also been President of the Malta Association of Biomedical Scientists for over four years, and has served as Council Member at Germany-based European Molecular Biology Laboratory and EMBO for eight years.
Prof Borg holds a Doctor of Philosophy in Human and Medical Genetics and a Master of Science in Molecular Genetics, both from UM, among other qualifications and licences.
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