Faculty Profile

Muhammad Azad, PhD

Associate Professor

Contact Information

  • Office Address: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, Sylhet-3114, Bangladesh
  • Phone: +8801302897622
  • Email: makazad-bmb@sust.edu, bmbsumon@yahoo.co.uk

Biography

Dr. Muhammad Azad is an Associate Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Shahjalal University of Science and Technology (SUST). His research encompasses a diverse range of disciplines including plant physiology, microbiology, and molecular biology, with a specific emphasis on investigating the transmission of multidrug-resistant bacteria within the community, analyzing their antibiotic resistance patterns, and elucidating the genetic mechanisms underlying the acquisition of antibiotic resistance through the application of molecular biology and microbiology techniques. He is currently conducting research on the green synthesis of iron oxide and zinc oxide nanoparticles from various plant sources, with a focus on exploring their biological functionalities.

He obtained his B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the University of Dhaka and completed his Master's thesis at the enteric microbiology laboratory of the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b). He earned his Ph.D. in Plant Biochemistry from Saitama University in Japan in 2010 and worked as a Collaborative Researcher (Post Doctoral Fellow) at the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in Saitama University from 2010 to 2013.

During his Ph.D. dissertation work, he studied the transcriptional regulation of plastidic phosphate translocator genes of mesembryanthemum crystallinum, a model CAM plant. He also isolated and characterized a polyubiquitin gene and its promoter region from this CAM plant, resulting in a first-author publication in Biosci. Biotechnol Biochem. His outstanding academic achievement awarded him the prestigious Monbukagakusho Scholarship from the Japanese government for conducting his Ph.D. in Japan. He was recently awarded the SUST Research Grant 2021-2022 as a principal investigator. The title of his current research project is "In-house green synthesis of superparamagnetic porous iron oxide nanozyme for glucose and cholesterol detection".

Education

  • PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the Saitama University of Japan.
  • M.Sc. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the University of Dhaka.
  • B.Sc. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the University of Dhaka.

Research Interests

  • Molecular Biology
  • Enteric Microbiology
  • Evolutionary Biology
  • Biotechnology

Active Research Project

  • 1. SUST Research Grant 2021-2022 titled as "In-house green synthesis of superparamagnetic porous iron oxide nanozyme for glucose and cholesterol detection"

Previous Research Project

  • 1. Isolation and Molecular Characterization of Extended Spectrum β-lactamase and Carbapenem Resistant E. coli and K. pneumoniae from Meat and Fish Samples of Bangladesh.

Journal Publications

  • 1. Hoque A. F., Huq S., Abdullah-Al-Shoeb M., Mishu M., Azad M. A. K., (2022) Awareness and likelihood of accepting COVID-19 vaccines among the university students of Bangladesh.
  • 2. Akter, M., Brown, N., Clokie, M., Yeasmin, M., Tareq, T., Baddam, R., ... & Talukder, K. (2019). Prevalence of Shigella boydii in Bangladesh: Isolation and characterization of a rare phage MK-13 that can robustly identify shigellosis caused by Shigella boydii type 1. Frontiers in microbiology, 10, 2461.
  • 3. Ohkubo, S., Saito, T., Abul Kalam Azad, M., Kawai, H., Suda, W., Kore-eda, S., ... & Ohnishi, J. I. (2020). Microbial Community Structures in Terrestrial Subsurface Sediments from the Southern Kanto Plain, Japan. Geomicrobiology Journal, 1-8.
  • 4. Rahman, M. N., Abdullah-Al-Shoeb, M., Huq, S., & Azad, M. A. K. Assessment of antibacterial efficacy of Lugol's iodine compared with commercial hand sanitizers of Bangladesh.
  • 5. Mishu, M. A., Sajib, S. D., Ullah, M. M., Imran, M. A., Mia, M. W., Huq, S., ... & Azad, M. A. K. (2020). An Overview on COVID-19 Outbreaks Scenario in South Asia. Bioresearch Communications-(BRC), 7(1), 976-984.
  • 6. Isolation and characterization of a polyubiquitin gene and its promoter region from Mesembryanthemum crystallinum. Azad MAK, Morita K, Ohnishi J, and Kore-eda S. Bioscience, Biotechnology, and Biochemistry. 77 (3): 551-559, 2013.
  • 7. Characterization of the plastidic phosphate translocators in the inducible Crassulacean acid etabolism plant Mesembryanthemum crystallinum. Kore-eda S, Akira N, Kazuki T, Azad MAK, Ohnishi J, Nishiyama Y, and Yuzuru T. Bioscience, Biotechnology, and Biochemistry. 77 (7): 1511-1516, 2013.
  • 8. Pyrosequencing based study of bacterial community structure in subsurface sediments from southern Kanto Plain, Japan. Ohkubo S, Azad MAK, Saito T, Suda W, Kore-eda S, Hamamoto S, Saito H, Takemura T, Komatsu T, Ohnishi J. MicrobeEnvironments. In press.

Teaching

  • Molecular Biology
  • Plant Biochemistry
  • Plant Biotechnology
  • Clinical Biochemistry
  • Endocrinology
  • Metabolism

Awards & Recognition

  • Monbukagakoshu Scholarship from the Japanese government Post graduate scholarship from the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh

Graduate Supervision

  • 1. Biological and antioxidant activity of ZnO nano material synthesized from dried Hisbiscus rosa-sinesis leaves.
  • 2. Green synthesis and biological functionalities of Iron Oxide nanoparticles.
  • 3. Green synthesis of Zin-Iron Oxide based composite nanomaterial for electrochemical sensor development and antibacterial activities.