Partners

Bangladesh Agricultural University (BAU) is the first public Agricultural University established in Mymensingh, Bangladesh in 1961. The main task of the University is to tone up the quality and standard of higher agricultural education and to produce first rate agriculturists, agricultural scientists and technologists for shouldering the responsibilities of agricultural development of the country. BAU has six faculties offering seven bachelor’s degrees and several masters degrees. Out of six faculties, the Faculty of Fisheries established with its four departments, of which the Department of Aquaculture is the pioneer one contributing to teaching, research and development in various aspects of aquaculture.

Dr. M. Mahafujul Haque

Dr Mohammad Mahfujul Haque (Ripon) at the Department of Aquaculture, Bangladesh Agricultural University (BAUI), Mymensingh has 16 years of teaching and research experience in aquaculture systems and development. In his doctoral study in the University of Stirling (UoS), he analyzed the household level livelihoods impacts of rice field-based fish seed production in Northwest Bangladesh. He contributed to the development process of Pangasius Aquaculture Dialogue Standards implemented by WWF. During 2008-2011, he worked as a monitoring specialist in Decentralized Fish Seed Project under RIUP funded by DFID. During 2007-2013, he taught web-based distance MSc programme between UoS and BAU. With the funding support from IFS, he analyzed wastewater and sediments of Pangasius ponds and developed some alternative techniques of utilizing the wastes. Later, he worked as a research investigator in EU funded SEAT project (2009-2013, 7^thFramework Programme) to increase value and volume of farmed seafood exporting from Asia to EU market. During 2013-2014, he led an action research supported by EU funded project, ANEP to develop Integrated Floating Cage Aquageoponics System (IFCAS), an innovation of fish and vegetable production in underutilized shaded ponds. Recently he has completed a collaborative research project of transforming climate knowledge with and for the society funded by the Research Council of Norway. He has published a good number of articles in a variety of peer reviewed journals in recent years. The key interest of Dr. Haque is to contribute to the value-chain analysis of PHPs in the IMAQulate project.

Belal Hossain

Mr. Belal Hossain has more than 10 years working experience in the Department of Fisheries (DoF), Bangladesh holding different positions as Research Officer, Biochemist, Fish Inspection and Quality Control Officer in laboratory and Senior Upazila Fisheries Officer in the field level extension activities. He has skills to analyze fish, shrimp, feed, water samples to determine the chemical quality of products maintaining EU standards. He has expertise on method development and validation of the LCMSMS/HPLC system following international protocol. He has worked as Technical Manager in the accredited laboratory of DoF. He has participated in many long term and short term training programs especially on food/fish analysis in Bangladesh, India, France and Belgium. In addition to that he worked as a Focal person to implement the National Residue Control Plan (NRCP) and Aquaculture Residue Monitoring Plan (RMP) at the field level to determine the origin of residue contamination in fish and fishery products in Bangladesh. He has conducted many awareness training programs as trainer to the farmers and stakeholders. He published research articles in international journals and Fish week compendium, Department of Fisheries (DoF) Bangladesh. Now Mr. Belal is working as a Research Assistant in IMQAQulate project and doing PhD in the Department of Aquaculture, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh.

WorldFish is an international, nonprofit research organisation, harnessing the potential of fisheries and aquaculture to reduce hunger and poverty. It is one of 15 centres supported by the consultative group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). WorldFish has been working in Bangladesh for more than 28 years with focused research and development such as sustainable aquaculture, community-based inland and coastal fishery resources management, social and policy issues, networking and capacity building of national institutions and technology transfer to improve livelihoods, nutrition, income and food security of communities.

Mr Ahmad Jaman

Mr. Ahmed Jaman has been working in WorldFish Bangladesh for more than five years. He has been involved in research on fish health management, hatchery operation, farm economics, rice-fish production system, aquaculture value chain, monitoring and evaluation tools such as Sense maker, most significant change, participatory rural appraisal. He gained post-graduation in Fisheries Biology and Genetics from University of Rajshahi, Bangladesh.

Mr Hazrat Ali

Mr. Hazrat Ali has more than 8 years of experience in several research and development projects implemented in Bangladesh and Nepal. His skills included improve farm productivity of small scale farmers, value chain analysis, grassroots institution development, effective market linkage to make the system sustainable through Participatory Market Chain Approach (PMCA), sustainability, standard and certification in Bangladesh aquaculture, qualitative and quantitative data management, application of monitoring and evaluation tools such as SenseMaker, Most Significant Change (MSC). He has published five research articles in international peer reviewed journals.

Dr Muhammad Meezanur Rahman

Dr Meezanur Rahman is a scientist at WorldFish Bangladesh. He has 23 years experience in research, business and development projects. His professional accomplishments include leading, coordinating and participating in research and development projects, technical support, marketing and sales in south Asian countries (Bangladesh, Indonesia, Myanmar and the Philippines) and in an international aquaculture business company and implementation of aquaculture development projects in Bangladesh. His research interest covers shrimp/prawn and fish health management, improvements across the aquaculture value chain and production without medicalisation. He has been leading several research projects in WorldFish Bangladesh in collaboration with national and international universities, research centres and the private sector. He is a reviewer of international journals. Dr. Rahman conducted his Ph.D. research on the virulence of White Spot Syndrome Virus (WSSV) isolates and the effect of temperature on WSSV infected shrimp at Ghent University, Belgium.

The Sustainable Aquaculture Group (within the Institute of Aquaculture) addresses key areas of long term Resilience and Sustainability of the Sector resulting in improved Aquatic Food Security. Our activities are strongly integrated across the group and encompass environmental modelling, all forms of carrying capacity, spatial analysis, biodiversity and new species, international development, securing and improving fishers' livelihoods, value chains and life cycle assessment. Much of this operates under the guidelines of the Ecosystem Approach to Aquaculture. 

Dr Francis Murray (Principal Investigator)

As Principal Investigator for the IMAQulate project, Dr Francis Murray has nearly 25 years experience in aquaculture, encompassing industry, academic research, rural development and consultancy (Stirling Aquaculture). Dr Murray has a broad inter-disciplinary perspective on the aquaculture sector.  

He has commercial experience in salmon production and a research background on integrated small-holder aquaculture systems in Asia and Africa, working with CARE International and the World Fish Centre. He was a co-ordinator of a highly inter-disciplinary EU-FP7 large-scale collaborative research-project Sustaining Ethical Aquaculture Trade (2009-2014).  This project assessed the sustainability of major export seafood commodity groups farmed in Asia acknowledging values and perspectives of stakeholders along entire value chains. He currently specialises in global value chain analysis and is in a Horizon2020 research consortium (PRIMEFISH) researching competitiveness of European aquaculture and fisheries. He also coordinates various research projects exploring novel approaches to reducing aquacultures dependency on marine feed ingredients.

Prof Dave Little (Co-Investigator)

Prof Dave Little is a systems scientist with over 30 years experience in leading research and capacity building initiatives in Asia. He has a broad-based interdisciplinary background that has spanned commercial and developmentally focused research, supervised more than 100 postgraduate research students, including more than 20 PhDs. Since his time working at the Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok, he has continued to develop a network of collaborators throughout the region through research projects and distance learning initiatives. He has served as a Director of the World Aquaculture Society, is an advisor to various certification and standard setting organisations (Global Aquaculture Alliance, Soil Association, Monterey Bay Aquaria) and edits the Sustainability and Society section of the journal Aquaculture.

Mahmoud El Tholth (PDRA)

Dr Mahmoud Eltholth is an epidemiologist and health economist with over 10 years’ experience in animal and aquatic research. Mahmoud’s main area of interest is Epidemiology, Public Health, Aquaculture, Value Chain Analysis and Health Economics. He has been a co-investigator in many national and international multidisciplinary projects in collaboration with the Royal Veterinary College, University of London, World Fish Centre and the International Livestock Research and the Institute of Aquaculture, University of Stirling. Along his career, Mahmoud has gained experience in qualitative and quantitative research methods. Mahmoud contributes to the preparation and delivery of Epidemiology and Veterinary Public Health lectures for undergraduate and postgraduate courses. He has also been supervising several research projects and MSc Veterinary Epidemiology dissertations.

Mahmoud’s current position is Postdoctoral Researcher at Institute of Aquaculture, University of Stirling on BBSRC and Newton funded projects “Evaluating Costs and Benefits of Prophylactic Health Products and Novel Alternatives on Smallholder Aquaculture Farmers in Asia and Africa (IMAQulate)” in India, Kenya and Bangladesh and “Behavioural Prophylaxis in Tilapia” in Egypt.

William Leschen

Will Leschen has 20 years experience in commercial, interdisciplinary aquaculture research and government sector engagement, both within the UK and developing countries. Recently this has included managerial and coordinating roles in EU and Scottish government funded projects in Asia (Sustaining Ethical Aquaculture Trade) and Africa (Aquaculture Enterprise Malawi). He also has experience in setting up successful African aquaculture networks (SARNISSA) with over 2000 members following and sharing information and contacts across borders and languages.  Will has an extensive background in aquatic animal health.

Robyn Shilland (Research Administrator)

With a MSc in Marine Environmental Management and experience of working with Kenyan communities on mangrove conservation, Robyn is supporting the team of IMAQulate researchers to deliver key project outcomes.  

The Quadram Institute is the only publicly funded UK research institute that focuses on the underlying science of food and health to address the global challenges of: 

• Food Security
• Diet and Health
• Healthy Ageing
• Food Waste

Our mission is to be an international leader in research that addresses the fundamental relationships between food and health, food and the gut and the sustainability of the food chain in order to further the production of safe, healthy foods.

Dr Nathalie Juge

Dr Juge is a Group Leader at the Institute of Food Research. Her research is focused on understanding the molecular mechanisms underpinning gut bacteria-mucus interactions, reflecting the emerging paradigm that mucus is critical to maintain a homeostatic relationship with gut microbiota and that any deviations from this dynamic interaction have major implications for animal health. Employing a combination of genomic, molecular and biochemical techniques, understanding the mechanisms by which gut commensals interact with host mucus and complex dietary glycans are being addressed. These underpinning studies provide an evidence base upon which to base informed decisions about gut health, diet and therapeutic intervention.

The John Innes Centre is an independent, international centre of excellence in plant science and microbiology.  Our mission is to generate knowledge of plants and microbes through innovative research; apply our knowledge of nature’s diversity to benefit agriculture, the environment, human health and well-being; train scientists for the future and engage with policy makers and the public.  The research we do makes use of a wide range of disciplines in biological and chemical sciences, including microbiology, cell biology, biochemistry, chemistry, genetics, molecular biology, computational and mathematical biology.

Prof. Rob Field

Prof. Rob Field has over 30 years experience in multidisciplinary chemical biology research, publishing nearly 200 research papers and review articles  delivering over 175 research lectures and generating ca £14M in research income. He maintains extensive collaborative research links around the world, reflecting research interests that range from bacterial adhesion and infection, through polysaccharide biochemistry and enzymology to the development of small molecule inhibitor approaches to treat infectious disease. An underlying feature of Prof. Field’s research is the development of new technologies, including carbohydrate microarrays and glyconanoparticle-based diagnostics.

Dr Ravindra Pal Singh

Dr Ravindra Pal Singh is a Research Assistant at the Department of Biochemistry, John Innes Centre, United Kingdom. He has been performing research on glyconomics and gut microbiome under IMAQulate project. He obtained his PhD at CSIR - Central Salt and Marine Chemicals Research Institute, Bhavnagar, India in 2013. He did previous postdocs at Tel Aviv University Isreal, Saurashatra University India and Kyushu University Japan. he has also been working in the area of host-bacterial interaction, microbial ecology, bacteriology, drug discovery and analytical chemistry during and since his PhD and previous postdocs. He has published 26 articles in scientific peer reviewed journals, 2 books, and 1 patent. He is also playing a role as Review Editor for Frontiers in Microbiology journal.

The Royal Veterinary College is the largest and longest-established vet school in the English-speaking world and is a college of the University of London.  The College offers undergraduate, postgraduate and CPD programmes in veterinary medicine and veterinary nursing and is ranked in the top 10 UK universities for biosciences. As one of the world's leading specialist veterinary and biological science research institutions, the RVC brings together talented individuals; all of whom share a passion for human and animal health and welfare.

Dr. Rachel Lawrence

Dr. Lawrence is a Senior Lecturer in Immunology. Her work has studied the immunology of nematode infection for over 25 years and has been central for the understanding of immunoregulatory mechanisms that temper inflammation. Her current research seeks to identify the immunological environment that controls both pathogen clearance and immunopathology in vertebrate hosts. RL has recently initiated a new program of research using zebrafish as a model of infectious disease to understand the interplay between microbiota, pathogens and modulation of the host immune environment. She supervises a Bloomsbury Consortium PhD student to investigate the influence of temperature change upon immunity to infectious disease in a zebrafish model. In addition, RL has a NC3Rs PhD student and is part of a multi-disciplinary BBSRC program, both of which investigate the role of the microbiome in induction of immunity to infection in fish.

Founded in the 15^th century, the University of St Andrews is Scotland's first university and the third oldest in the English speaking world. Marine Biology at St Andrews covers aquatic environments, evolutionary processes, behavioural biology, biodiversity, biological sustainability, marine microbiology and marine mammal biology. The Scottish Oceans Institute is an interdisciplinary research institute within the University that is dedicated to understanding the marine environment. Marine Biology is located in the Gatty Marine Laboratory on the sea front at the East Sands. It’s staff are members of the School of Biology. Other members of SOI are drawn from the Schools of Geography and Geoscience or Mathematics and Statistics.

Dr. Valerie Smith

Val Smith is a comparative immunologist and environmental microbiologist at the Scottish Oceans Institute, University of St Andrews. She specialises in marine and aquatic animal health, primarily fish and shellfish. In addition to the IMAQulate project, she is also co-Principal Investigator on two other BBSRC-Newton Fund international consortium projects investigating the various factors that influence disease susceptibility in farmed fish and shrimp in Asian aquaculture. Separate current research lines include understanding the multi-functionality of whey acidic four disulphide core antimicrobial proteins (known as crustins) in decapods, and the role of chromatin externalised from the nuclei of phagocytes in both fish and invertebrates. She has published over 120 research papers over her 38-year academic career and has been a long-standing member of the International Society for Developmental and Comparative Immunology for which she held the Presidential Office from 2006 to 2015. She is also a member of the Editorial Boards of Developmental and Comparative Immunology, Fish and Shellfish Immunology and Frontiers in Immunology.

Professor Kenton Morgan (co-Investigator)

Coming soon