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Nasrin Moazami is an Iranian medical microbiologist and biotechnologist. She received her Ph.D. in 1976 from the Faculty of Medicine at Laval University. Moazami is the pioneer of biotechnology and microalgae-based fuels in Iran.
She established a research center in 1987, the only Regional Reference Center for Biotechnology in West and Central Asia. She also founded the Persian Type Culture Collection (PTCC). In 1985, she became an affiliated member of the World Federation for Culture Collections (WFCC), and in 1992, she joined the MIRCEN International Network, a collection of microorganisms with industrial importance.
In 1986, Moazami managed a joint project between the Iranian Research Organization for Science and Technology (IROST), the UNDP, and UNESCO. The project evaluated the feasibility of using Bacillus thuringiensis to control malaria vectors in southern Iran. Their slow-release formulation was patented at the European Patent Office in 2003, and the project was later transferred to a private company, which began production of 1,000 tons per year in 2004.
From 1990 to 2004, she served as Head of the IROST Biotechnology Department and from 2004 to 2010, she was Director of the Institute of Advanced Technology at IROST.
In 1995, she established the Persian Gulf Biotechnology Research Center—now the Qeshm Microalgae Biorefinery— on Qehm Island, Iran. This center has become a key research hub for applied marine biotechnology.
From 2001 to 2010, she was the principal investigator of an Iranian bio-diesel and bio-ethanol-based microalgae project. In 2011, she took on the role of manager for the National Project to scale up microalgae-based diesel, ethanol, and other valuable microalgae products in the Persian Gulf knowledge village.
In 2014, the expertise from this project was transferred to the Iranian private sector under the name "Qeshm MicroAlgae Biorefinery" (QMAB). The first 100 hectares of microalgae cultivation are currently under construction on Qeshm Island, with plans to expand to 1,000 hectares within three years (www.qmabco.com).
In 2016, Professor Moazami was appointed to the Scientific Board of UNESCO's International Basic Sciences Program (IBSP) (http://en.irost.org/content/professor-nasrin-moazami-appointed-member-ibsp-unesco).
In 2022, the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) named a new genus, Moazamivirus, which includes three (3) species, in honor of Professor Nasrin Moazami.