Dr. Ashraful Kabir pursued his doctoral degree from the School of Public Health & Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Australia. He is an organized, meticulous public health practitioner with over 10 years of experience in epidemiological and behavioral research and teaching. He is diversely skilled with knowledge across most functions, including research design, data curation and analysis, reporting, and publication. Mr. Kabir is an analyst with a broad and deep understanding of various research methods and approaches. His research focused on health system management, service delivery, and policy development in non-communicable diseases, maternal & child health, primary health care, and infectious diseases. 

Mr. Kabir held investigator and consultant roles in several international organizations, including Children Without Worms, the United Nations World Food Programme, Management System International, GIZ GmbH, and ICDDR’B. He developed various research projects and adopted qualitative, quantitative, and epidemiological approaches at community and hospital levels. He published over 15 first-authored papers in high-ranked journals, including PloS One, BMJ Open, PloS NTD, BMC Public Health, etc. Mr. Kabir is strongly interested in epidemiological methods and is fascinated with contributing to new research projects in Bangladesh, Australia, and elsewhere.

Research Profile: GoogleScholar

Dr. Ridwan Siddique is a Scientist in the Energy Systems and Climate Analysis Group at the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI). His main research areas are regional and global scale hydroclimatic modeling, analysis and prediction of extreme events, uncertainty quantification, and climate risk assessment.  Dr. Siddique's current research activities examine weather and climate impacts on renewable energy and the electric power sector to facilitate climate resiliency and adaptation planning. Before joining EPRI, he worked for the U.S. National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and the United States Geological Survey (USGS) Northeast Climate Adaptation Science Center (NECASC). His dissertation was focused on improving short- to medium-range weather and flood forecasts and quantifying their associated uncertainties. He also has experience working with different federal, state, and private organizations like NOAA, NASA, Massachusetts State Office of Energy and Environment, Massachusetts Department of Transportation, and Idaho Power on climate analysis and research collaborations. Dr. Siddique received his PhD from the Pennsylvania State University in Civil Engineering with a major in Hydrology and Water Resources and minor in Computational Science. He earned his MS from the University of Texas at Arlington and BS from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology.

Publications

Siddique, R. & R. Palmer, 2021. Climate change impacts on local flood risks in the U.S. northeast: A Case Study on the Connecticut and Merrimack River Basins." Journal of the American Water Resources Association 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1111/1752-1688.12886.

Siddique, R., A. Mejia, N. Mizukami & R. Palmer, 2021. Impacts of global warming of 1.50C, 2.00C and 3.00C on hydrologic regimes in the northeastern U.S. Climate 2021, 9(1), 9; https://doi.org/10.3390/cli9010009

Siddique, R., A. Karmalkar, F. Sun & R. Palmer, 2020. Hydrological extremes across the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in a changing climate. Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies, 32, 100733. https://doi.org/10.1029/2018WR023197

Dr. Amm Quamruzzaman teaches interdisciplinary research methods, introduction to social theory and cultural analysis, health and development, the globalization of rights, values, and laws in the 21^st century, quantitative data analysis and visualization, and climate change from an interdisciplinary perspective at the Interdisciplinary Studies Field (ISF), University of California Berkeley. He also supervises Senior Thesis research, a capstone experience, and the final product of the ISF major students. Professor Quamruzzaman received his MSS in sociology from Dhaka University in Bangladesh, an MA in sociology from Queen’s University in Canada, and a PhD in sociology from McGill University. At McGill, he taught courses such as research Methods, Introductory Sociology, sociology of Culture, Health, and Development, development and Underdevelopment, Technology and Society, Social Movements, and Identity and Inequality. His research interests include comparative health policy analysis, healthcare migration, degrowth, deglobalization, climate change, social movements, identity politics, social inequality, development, and governance. He has published in top journals and authored several books. 

PUBLICATIONS

Books

Quamruzzaman, Amm. 2010. The Militia Movement in Bangladesh: Ideology, Motivation, Mobilization, Organization, and Ritual. Germany: LAP Lambert Academic Publishing.

Quamruzzaman, Amm and UK Committee for UNICEF. 2006. Project Chittagong Hill Tracts: Field Notes. UK: UNICEF.

Journal articles

Quamruzzaman, Amm. 2020. “Exploring the Impact of Medical Brain Drain on Child Health in 188 Countries over 2000-2015.” Societies 10(4): 73; https://doi.org/10.3390/soc10040073.

Sachetti, Florencia Caro, Amm Quamruzzaman et al. 2020. “Women in Global Care Chains: The Need to Tackle Intersecting Inequalities in G20 Countries.” T20 Policy Brief; https://t20saudiarabia.org.sa/en/briefs/Pages/Policy-Brief.aspx?pb=TF4_PB2.

Michaelowa, Axel, Amm Quamruzzaman et al. 2020. “Ensuring that Covid-19 Recovery Policies Support the Transformation to a Climate Neutral Society.” T20 Policy Brief; https://t20saudiarabia.org.sa/en/briefs/Pages/Policy-Brief.aspx?pb=TF11_PB7.

Quamruzzaman, Amm. 2017. “Governance of Infrastructure Provisioning and Healthcare Services for Enhancing Health Service Utilization.” Sociological Insights for Development Policy 2(5): 1-2; https://sociologyofdevelopment.com/policybriefs/.

Quamruzzaman, Amm. 2017. “Infrastructure Provisioning and Health Service Utilization in Africa: Does Governance Explain the Gap?” Sociology of Development 3(1): 47-69; http://dx.doi.org/10.1525/sod.2017.3.1.47.

Quamruzzaman, Amm and Matthew Lange. 2016. “Female Political Representation and Child Health: Evidence from a Multilevel Analysis.” Social Science & Medicine 171: 48-57; http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2016.10.025.

Quamruzzaman, Amm. 2015. “Rituals of Violence in Armed Movements: Evidence from Bangladesh.” McGill Sociological Review 5(July): 43-56; https://www.mcgill.ca/msr/msr-volume-5/rituals-violence-armed-movements.

Quamruzzaman, Amm, José Mendoza Rodríguez, Jody Heymann, Jay Kaufman, and Arijit Nandi. 2014. “Are Tuition-Free Primary Education Policies Associated with Lower Infant and Neonatal Mortality in Low- and Middle-Income Countries?” Social Science & Medicine 120: 153-159; http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2014.09.016.

Quamruzzaman, Amm. 2013. “The Pursuit of Happiness: An Analysis of Aggregate Difference in the Distribution of Happiness in the United States.” McGill Sociological Review 3(February): 55-72; https://www.mcgill.ca/msr/volume3/article4.

Quamruzzaman, Amm. 2010. “The Militia Ideology in Bangladesh.” SSRN Journal; DOI: 10.2139/ssrn.1569796.

Quamruzzaman, Amm. 2009. “Graveyards and Urbanization: The Case of Dhaka City.” SSRN Journal; http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1414122.

 

Book review

Quamruzzaman, Amm. 2013. Book Review of “Islamist Terrorism and Democracy in the Middle East,” McGill Sociological Review 3(February): 95-97; https://www.mcgill.ca/msr/volume3/bookreview2.

Working papers

Quamruzzaman, Amm. “Economic Growth or Good Governance: Which is More Important in Reducing Poverty and Insecurity in Sub-Saharan Africa?”

Endres, Philine and Amm Quamruzzaman. “Primary Care Deserts: The Effect of Primary Care Physician Shortages on Health in California.”

Quamruzzaman, Amm. “Equity and Health Implications of the International Migration of Healthcare Professionals in 20 Resource-Poor Countries.”

Lange, Matthew, Emre Amasyali, and Amm Quamruzzaman. “The Legacies of an Empire Divided: British Colonialism, Precolonial Institutions, and Nation-Building.”

Lange, Matthew and Amm Quamruzzaman. “Explaining National and Ethnic Identification in Sub-Saharan Africa.”

 

Conference papers

2019   “Healthcare Migration and Child Health in the Sending Society: A Multilevel Analysis.” Presented in the Canadian-Australian Health Sociology Conference, Vancouver, BC.

2018   “British Colonialism and Nationalist Violence: Integrating Colonial and Precolonial Explanations.” Co-presented in the American Sociological Association annual conference, Philadelphia, PA.

2017   “The Impact of the International Migration of Doctors on the Sending Society.” Presented in the workshop on Global Migration, Gender and Professional Credentials: Transnational Value Transfers and Losses, Balsillie School of International Affairs, Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, Ontario.

2016   “Ethical Dilemma Concerning the Migration of Health Professionals.” Presented in the International Sociological Association’s International Conference: Migration in Turbulent World, Doha, Qatar.

2015   “Governance for Health: Infrastructural Power and Healthcare Service Delivery and Utilization in Africa.” Presented in the American Sociological Association annual conference, Chicago, Illinois.

2015   “Economic Growth or Good Governance: Which is More Important in Reducing Poverty and Insecurity in Sub-Saharan Africa?” Presented in the Canadian Sociological Association annual conference, Ottawa, Ontario.

2015   “Female Political Representation and Child Health: Exploring a Causal Link.” Presented (with co-author Matthew Lange) in the 4th annual conference of the ASA Sociology of Development section, Providence, Rhode Island.

2015   “African Governance for Health: How does Infrastructural Power Affect Healthcare and Public Health Service Delivery and Utilization?” Presented in the Sociology Graduate Publication Workshop at McGill University, Montreal.

2010   “Why shall I not resist? The Militia Motivation in Bangladesh.” Presented in the Sociology Graduate Student Symposium at Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario.

2010   “The Militia Ideology in Bangladesh.” Presented in the History across Disciplines workshop at Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia.

2009   “Graveyards and Urbanization: The Case of Dhaka City.” Presented in the Sociology Graduate Student Symposium at Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario.

 

Invited talks

2016   “Barriers to Health Access: Structural or Infrastructural?” A talk given in the seminar organized by McGill Students’ Chapter of Universities Allied for Essential Medicines (UAEM), McGill University, Montreal.

2015   “Women in Politics and Women’s Access to Healthcare.” A talk given in the panel on “Women’s Access to Healthcare: Policies and Issues,” hosted by the McGill chapters of the Foundation for International Medical Relief of Children (FIMRC) and of the Student Association for Medical Aid (SAMA), McGill University, Montreal.

2014   “Governance for Health in the Global South.” A talk given in the Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) Equity Committee’s annual conference, Montreal.

 

FELLOWSHIPS, SCHOLARSHIPS, AND AWARDS

2017   Fonds Québec de recherche société et culture (FQRSC) postdoctoral fellowship on “When Emigration Hurts: Exploring the Impact of International Health-Professional Migration on Health Service Delivery.” Declined due to accepting another full-time appointment.

2016   Arts Undergraduate Society Teaching Excellence Award nomination, McGill University.

2015   Samuel Lapitsky Scholarship for outstanding academic performance, McGill University.

2015   Best Graduate Student Paper Award in the Sociology of Development Research Cluster of the Canadian Sociological Association for “Economic Growth or Good Governance: Which is More Important in Reducing Poverty and Insecurity in Sub-Saharan Africa?”

2014   Fonds Québec de recherche société et culture (FQRSC) doctoral scholarship, for two and a half years.

2013   Doctoral Fellowship for the CIHR-funded project: “Examining the Effects of Social Policy on Health Equity,” Institute for Health and Social Policy, McGill University, for two years.

2012   Samuel Lapitsky Scholarship for outstanding academic performance, McGill University.

2012   Arts Graduate Student Travel Award, McGill University.

2008   Queen’s Graduate Award, Queen’s University, for two years.

Dr. Rakibul Islam is a clinical epidemiologist interested in non-communicable diseases in women and is currently working at the Women's Health Research Program at Monash University, Australia. His current projects address sex hormones and their impact on cardiovascular disease risk as well as on cancer, cognition, and frailty in older Australian women, which has attractive possibilities for pharmacological interventions aimed at prolonging the morbidity-free life span of older women. He is a lead researcher in a large study of young Australian women's physical and psychological health. He also works on projects on African and Middle Eastern refugees in Australia and Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh.

Dr. Islam is a highly experienced women's health epidemiologist with over 80 publications in reputed journals, including the Lancet, the Lancet Diab & Endo, BMJ, JAMA, and JCEM. Dr. Islam was an invited speaker in the full-day workshop in Berlin, Germany, to develop the first “global consensus position statement on the use of testosterone therapy for women.” His role was to ensure all the leading clinicians from 11 international societies understood the major meta-analysis that he undertook.  Hence, he was awarded the Australasian Menopause Society Scientific Prize in 2020, which is highly prestigious.

He earned his PhD from the School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Australia. He completed his first year of post-doctoral fellowship at the Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute, Australia, in collaboration with CDC, USA. Dr. Islam has over 10 years of teaching experience in Bangladesh and Australia. He currently teaches introductory epidemiology and introductory biostatistics for BioMed Honours students at Monash University, Australia. 

Research Profile: ResearchGate GoogleScholar

Dr.Stefano Renzetti is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Medical and Surgical Specialties, Radiological Sciences, and Public Health at the Università degli Studi di Brescia. Dr. Renzetti earned his doctoral degree in Epidemiology, Environment, and Public Health at the Department of Clinical Sciences and Community Health, Università degli Studi di Milano, in 2021. During his doctoral training, he gained expertise in applying and extending novel statistical and machine-learning methods to assess the impact of exposure to environmental mixtures on human health. In 2022, he obtained the assistant professor position at the Università degli Studi di Brescia. His current research project title is “An exposomic approach for health and sustainable development.” Which aims to develop monitoring systems and quantify and prevent environmental pollution exposures through the study of the exposome. Dr. Renzetti’s research is currently funded from the Italian Ministry of University and Research through its program Programma Operativo Nazionale “Ricerca e Innovazione” 2014-2020 (PON R&I FSE-REACT EU), Azione IV.4 “Contratti di ricerca su tematiche dell’innovazione”.

Research Profile: ResearchGate GoogleScholar

Dr. John Oldroyd is a Senior Lecturer in Public Health at Australian Catholic University. He brings expertise as a lecturer, public health researcher, and academic leader. His research interests are life course epidemiology, health aging, cardiovascular disease, mental health, and the social determinants of health.  At Australian Catholic University, he is the Master of Public Health coordinator.  He has teaching experience in chronic disease epidemiology, humanitarian assistance and health, global health, and sustainable development. He is passionate about training the next generation of public health practitioners. 

Research Profile: GoogleScholar

Patricia Luna is a distinguished public health professional who has completed a dual Master of Public Health (MPH) degree through the prestigious European Master of Public Health (EMPH) program, with her studies spanning across two renowned institutions: the University of Sheffield in the UK and Universidad de Granada in Spain. With a deep-seated passion for improving public health outcomes, Patricia has dedicated her research efforts towards understanding and addressing critical issues in early childhood development, malnutrition, and the emergence of cardiometabolic risk factors among children. Beyond her academic and professional pursuits, Patricia finds joy and expression in dancing, which not only serves as a creative outlet but also reflects her dynamic approach to life and work. Her unique blend of academic rigor, research dedication, and personal interests positions her as a dynamic force in the field of public health, poised to make significant contributions to child health and wellbeing.

Dr. Jafor is a Research Fellow in Environment and Climate Change at the South Asian Institute for Social Transformation (SAIST). As a researcher specializing in climate change, population studies, and environmental sustainability, his work focuses on understanding the complex interactions between environmental factors and population dynamics in South Asia, East Africa, and Sub-Saharan Africa. He is also a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS) at the University of Michigan, where he concentrates on climate change, health, and environmental sustainability in Bangladesh, Kenya, and Uganda. In this role, he collaborates closely with the ICDDRB in Bangladesh and several key institutions in other countries. Previously, he served as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service, contributing to the ‘Bangladesh Environment and Migration Survey (BEMS)’ project. Dr. Jafor earned his PhD from the University of Adelaide, where he investigated the impact of extreme climate events on fertility decisions in Bangladesh. He also holds advanced degrees in sociology from Shahjalal University of Science and Technology. Dr. Jafor’s research experience spans a variety of international projects, and he is proficient in analytical software such as STATA, R, and QGIS. He has also developed expertise in drafting successful IRB protocols for the University of Michigan’s projects in Bangladesh and Uganda. Passionate about teaching and mentoring, he has designed courses and delivered guest lectures at prestigious institutions. With numerous publications and active participation in professional organizations, Dr. Jafor is committed to advancing our understanding of how climate change affects population behaviors and environmental health.