Md Saiful Islam

Dr. Md Saiful Islam is a social epidemiologist and Senior Lecturer at the School of Population Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of New South Wales. His research and teaching center on emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases, surveillance, and outbreak investigation, as well as infection prevention and control, including antimicrobial resistance and immunization. He examines broader social, behavioural, and infrastructural factors that contribute to disease emergence, spread and prevention, including vaccination.

Saiful earned a PhD in public health from UNSW, focusing on infection prevention and control in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). He completed post-doctoral training in emerging infectious diseases, with a specific focus on COVID-19 contact tracing and quarantine policies, and their implementation in LMICs. Saiful has worked in dynamic and complex environments in Australia and globally, including Bangladesh, Cambodia, Laos, Pacific Island countries, Mali, and Mozambique. His research on emerging infectious diseases emphasizes the One Health approach and integrates social science intelligence in epidemic preparedness, response, and recovery. This includes research on the social and behavioral drivers of emerging pathogen spillover from animals to humans, understanding transmission pathways of Nipah virus, anthrax, and avian influenza. Currently, this work is being undertaken in Australia and Bangladesh.