Dr Md Saiful Islam | UNSW Research

My Expertise

My expertise lies in emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases, infectious disease surveillance (including wastewater and environmental surveillance), outbreak investigation, immunisation, antimicrobial resistance, and infection prevention and control. I examine the social, behavioural, and infrastructural determinants that influence disease emergence, transmission, and prevention. My research is deeply rooted in a One Health approach, integrating social science intelligence with epidemiological methods to enhance epidemic preparedness, response, and recovery. I employ multi-method approaches, combining quantitative epidemiology, qualitative research, and social science theories, to understand community behaviours, attitudes, and health system dynamics. To address complex and evolving public health threats, I actively engage local communities, policymakers, and frontline health workers, ensuring that interventions are context-specific, evidence-based, and sustainable. My vision is to bridge the gap between biomedical sciences and social science research, making social and behavioural insights a core component of global health security and pandemic preparedness.

Fields of Research (FoR)

Infectious diseases, Public health, Health and community services, Health services and systems

Biography

Dr. Md Saiful Islam is an infectious disease social epidemiologist and lecturer at the School of Population Health, UNSW Sydney. His research and teaching focus on emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases, infectious disease surveillance (including wastewater and environmental surveillance), One Health, zoonotic diseases, epidemic preparedness and response, infection prevention and control, and antimicrobial resistance. His work integrates...view more

Dr. Islam earned his PhD in Public Health from UNSW, where his research on tuberculosis infection prevention and control policies in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) earned him the Dean’s Award for Outstanding PhD Thesis. He completed postdoctoral training in infectious diseases and immunisation at the National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, focusing on COVID-19 contact tracing and quarantine policies in the Indo-Pacific region.

With 18 years of research experience, Dr. Islam has led and contributed to projects across Australia, Southeast Asia, the Pacific, and Africa, investigating social and behavioural drivers of disease emergence and prevention strategies. His current research includes:

Avian influenza spillover risk in Australia
Wastewater-based surveillance for rapid Mpox detection and response in New South Wales
Nipah virus and anthrax transmission dynamics in Bangladesh
Antimicrobial resistance and stewardship

Dr. Islam has authored over 75 peer-reviewed publications in high-impact journals, including Emerging Infectious Diseases, Clinical Infectious Diseases, and The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. He has secured competitive funding as Principal Investigator and Co-Investigator, with grants from the Triple I Seed Grant, Australian Society for Microbiology, ESCMID, Sabin Vaccine Institute, Grand Challenges Canada, the Asian Development Bank, and the US CDC.

As an internationally recognised expert, Dr. Islam serves as an advisory group member of the Human Spillover and Emerging Disease Scanning (HASEDS) group for the Australian government. He is a former ambassador for the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America and an invited reviewer for global funding bodies such as CEPI. Additionally, he is co-chair of the Early Career Researcher (ECR) Committee for the Council of Academic Public Health Institutions Australia (CAPHIA).

My Grants

2023-2024: Exploring factors affecting vaccine uptake and acceptance among zero-dose children, Sabin Vaccine Institute (Washington D.C., District of Columbia, US). URL: https://www.vaccineacceptance.org/operationalizing-of-the-who-besd-framework/
30/06/2018-28/02/2021: Making the invisible visible: saving brains via lead-free districts in Bangladesh, Grand Challenges Canada, Bold Ideas with Big Impact. URL: https://www.grandchallenges.ca/grantee-stars/1810-20755/

My Qualifications

PhD in Public Health, UNSW, Australia

Master of Public Health in Epidemiology and Quantitative Methods, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Master of Social Science in Sociology, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh

Bachelor of Social Science in Sociology, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh

My Research Activities

Key Research Activities and Collaborations

Infection Prevention & Control (IPC) and Antimicrobial Stewardship

Strengthening the function of Infection Prevention & Control and Antimicrobial Stewardship committees in tertiary care hospitals in Bangladesh
Piloting Health Care Associated Infections (HAI) surveillance in selected tertiary care hospitals of Bangladesh
Surveillance and outbreak investigations for emerging infectious diseases
Piloting infection control interventions for severe infections spread by the respiratory route

Antibiotic Use and Resistance

Antibiotic Use and Surgical Sites Infections among C-Section and Abdominal Surgery Patients in Low-Resource Healthcare Settings: An observational study
Use of antibiotics in commercial cattle, poultry, and fisheries in Bangladesh

among family caregivers (FCGs) in some selected district hospitals in Bangladesh

Vaccination and Public Health

Exploring the burden and factors affecting vaccine uptake and acceptance amongst zero-dose children and women using the WHO behavioral and social drivers (BeSD) framework in Bangladesh
Making the invisible visible: saving brains via lead-free districts in Bangladesh

Pandemic preparedness and response

COVID-19–Related Infodemic and Its Impact on Public Health
COVID-19 vaccine rumors and conspiracy theories and its impact
Rapid formative assessment for new and routine vaccines and COVID-19 vaccine introduction – caregiver survey and providers survey in seven Pacific Island countries
COVID-19 contact tracing and quarantine policies in the Indo-Pacific Region
Assessing the burden of laboratory-confirmed influenza

Zoonotic and Emerging Pathogens

Social and Behavioral Drivers of Emerging Pathogens Spillover from Animals to Human
Bangladesh-Myanmar Cross Border Surveillance for Zoonotic Diseases
Investigations of anthrax outbreaks and risk factors for anthrax in humans and domestic animals in Bangladesh
Poultry rearing practices and the risk of Avian Influenza transmission in humans
Reducing the risk of Nipah virus transmission from patients to caregivers
Nipah virus transmission from date palm saps and traditional liquor

Tuberculosis

Reducing Tuberculosis infection among healthcare workers in tertiary care teaching hospitals through rapid identification and cohorts of suspected tuberculosis cases
Tuberculosis infection control practices and the risk of latent tuberculosis infection among healthcare workers in Bangladeshi hospitals

Child Health and Mortality

Child Health and Mortality Prevention Surveillance (CHAMPS)-Ongoing
Piloting postmortem specimen collection for diagnosing the cause of death in a Bangladeshi Medical College Hospital