Dr. Ariful Islam

Dr. Ariful Islam graduated with a DVM and a MS in Pharmacology from Chittagong Veterinary and Animal Sciences University and an MPH in Epidemiology from American International University, Bangladesh. He has more than ten years working experience in emerging infectious diseases and zoonoses as well as clinical experience. He is also involved in the organization’s EcoHealthNet program where graduate scholars spend four to five weeks in Bangladesh, under Dr. Islam’s mentorship, participating in wildlife surveillance activities. Dr. Ariful Islam, Senior Scientist at EcoHealth Alliance, currently works in Bangladesh as the Country Coordinator for the USAID-supported Emerging Pandemic Threat Program’s PREDICT project based at Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR). Using the One Health approach, the project is investigating the behaviors, practices, and ecological and biological factors driving disease emergence, transmission, and spread. Dr. Ariful Islam’s work is focused on understanding the drivers of zoonotic viruses such as Nipah virus, avian influenza, MERS-CoV, Ebola, novel virus discovery, and zoonotic disease emergence at the animal, human, and ecosystem interface.

As a Bangladesh Programs Coordinator at EcoHealth Alliance, Dr. Ariful coordinates all of EcoHealth Alliance’s sampling, testing, capacity building, and training efforts in Bangladesh. Dr. Arif began working with EcoHealth Alliance in January 2009 on the Nipah virus ecology research project in Bangladesh. In 2012, Dr. Ariful became the PREDICT Bangladesh country coordinator for USAID’s Emerging Pandemic Threats program. Dr. Ariful works closely with partners from the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR), the Bangladesh Forest Department, the Department of Livestock Services, Bangladesh Livestock Research Institute (BLRI), the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (ICDDR,B), and local universities to develop personnel and laboratory capacity and establish sustainable disease surveillance systems.

Dr. Ariful Islam also acts as an Executive Board Member of One Health Bangladesh. For the last ten years, Dr. Ariful has strengthened his One Health skillset while working with PREDICT to prevent, detect, and rapidly respond to the spillover of potentially infectious pathogens from wildlife to humans and domestic animals. His team has worked with partners and colleagues to build and develop the capacity for conducting One Health surveillance activities in the field and viral detection in laboratories. As a native of Bangladesh, Dr. Ariful Islam’s long-term goal is to contribute to the improvement of high quality scientific research in Bangladesh through his work at EcoHealth Alliance.