Shamim I. Ahmad, after obtaining his Master’s degree in Botany from Patna University, Bihar, India and his PhD in Molecular Genetics from Leicester University, England, joined Nottingham Polytechnic as Grade 1 lecturer and was subsequently promoted to SL post. Ahmad served for about 37 years at Nottingham Trent University (formerly Nottingham Polytechnic) before taking an early retirement to spend his time writing books and conducting full‑ime research. For more than three decades he worked on different areas of biology including thymineless death in bacteria, genetic control of nucleotide catabolism, development of anti‑IDS drugs, control of microbial infection of burns, phages of thermophilic bacteria and microbial flora of Chernobyl after the nuclear accident. But his primary interest, which started 27 years ago, is DNA damage and repair, particularly near UV photolysis of biological compounds, production of reactive oxygen species and their implications on human health including skin cancer and xeroderma pigmentosum. He is also investigating photolysis of non‑biological compounds such as 8‑methoxypsoralen+UVA, mitomycin C, and nitrogen mustard and their importance in psoriasis treatment and in Fanconi anemia. In 2003 he received a prestigious “Asian Jewel Award” in Britain for “Excellence in Education”. He is the Editor of Molecular Mechanisms of Ataxia Telangiectasia and Molecular Mechanisms of Cockayne Syndrome, published byvLandes Bioscience. He also edited Molecular Mechanisms of Fanconi Anemia, Molecular Mechanisms of Xeroderma Pigmentosum, Diseases of DNA Repair and Neurodegenerative Diseases, published by Landes Bioscience and Springer Science+Business Media.