Dr. Irshad Ahmed
Specialist and Technical Manager of the Molecular Biology Unit of the Central Food Laboratories
Dr. Irshad Ahmed is trained in the field of Microbiology. He received his PhD with specialization in microbial genomics and evolutionary microbiology. Dr. Ahmed was elected as Associate Editor of the Gut Pathogens (BMC) Journal and also serves as a reviewer to a number of BMC, PloS and ELSEVIER journals in his field.
Dr. Ahmed’s work frequently entails the bacterial outbreak investigation using whole genome DNA fingerprinting-based platforms such as PFGE, MLST, MLVA, spoligotyping and MIRU-VNTR, etc. He also serves as a trainer for the WHO PulseNet Programme for outbreak investigation for the PulseNet Middle East.
Dr. Ahmed’s expertise is in exploiting cutting-edge technologies to provide rapid diagnostic solutions in food safety and security while his research has contributed to molecular epidemiology of bacterial pathogens, particularly in unraveling the population genetic structure, evolution and virulence mechanisms of major human pathogens: H. pylori, M. tuberculosis and P. aeruginosa. Similarly, his lab is involved in food security and safety related investigation and diagnostics of the food stuffs by using rapid means of detections such as PCRs and RT- PCRs. Dr. Ahmed had authored more than 20 research publications in international journals of repute.
Dr. Ahmed is a member of the International Society for Genomic and Evolutionary Microbiology (Italy). He currently holds the position of Specialist and Technical Manager of the Molecular Biology Unit of the Central Food Laboratories.
