Name: Dr. Tasnuva Ahmed
Designation: Research Investigator
Academic Institution:
Research Field: Infectious Diseases, Epidemiology
Research Interest: Enteric vaccines, Clinical Trial, Histo-blood group antigens,
Cholera, ETEC, COVID-19
E-mail: tasnuva.ahmed@icddrb.org ; drtasnuva.ahmed@gmail.com
Personal Website:
Researchgate Profile: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Tasnuva-Ahmed
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/dr-tasnuva-ahmed-472a076a
Goggle Scholars Profile:
https://scholar.google.com/citations?view_op=list_works&hl=en&authuser=1&hl=en&user=XOyX_eQAAAA
J&authuser=1
Short Biography
Tasnuva Ahmed, MBBS, MPH, MSc is a Research Investigator in the Division of Enteric
Respiratory Infection for Infectious Diseases Division. She is medical graduate and obtained her
MBBS from Peking University, China in 2011 with full scholarship under China Scholarship
Council. She also obtained Masters in Public Health degree with Epidemiology major from
North South University, Bangladesh in 2016. Most recently, she acquired MSc degree in One
Health consortium program from University of Nantes, France in 2019 where she gained
knowledge and experience working in a multidisciplinary setting. She also learned laboratory
techniques such as ELISA and PCR to carry out her thesis on the association of human histo-
blood group antigens with rotavirus infections.
Dr. Ahmed joined icddr,b in 2014 and has been actively involved in phase I, II and III of various
clinical vaccines trials like oral cholera vaccine, ETEC vaccine and typhoid vaccine as well as
non-inferiority trial of locally manufactured meningococcal vaccine. She was also actively
involved in typhoid surveillance study which aims to characterize the burden of enteric fever at
an urban site in Dhaka, Bangladesh. She also took lead during mass oral cholera vaccination
campaign in Dhaka. Currently, she is one of the core responsible physicians in enrolling patients,
analyzing data and managing project on “COVID-19: longitudinal immune correlates study”
which is a prospective cohort study in Bangladesh. She has also initiated the collaboration
between icddr,b and INSERM, France which has now grown in to a joint research on blood
group antigens related to Covid-19. Dr. Ahmed works with great enthusiasm to carry out
her designated tasks of supervision, monitoring, vaccination, surveillance, reporting
and periodic training of field staffs. As a young researcher, she is proficient and well
equipped to develop research concepts and has also co-authored in several scientific
papers which has been published in peer reviewed journals.
Other Experiences
Volunteer Work: Contact Tracing for COVID-19 cases with Institute of Epidemiology, Disease
Control and Research (IEDCR), Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), Bangladesh.
May-August 2020; Dhaka, Bangladesh
Institutional Contact
Research Investigator, Enteric and Respiratory Infections, Infectious Diseases Division, 68
Shaheed Tajuddin Ahmed Sarani, Mohakhali, Dhaka 1212, Bangladesh, Email:
tasnuva.ahmed@icddrb.org
Awards and Recognition
Travel Award, 16th Asian Conference on Diarrheal Diseases and Nutrition (ASCODD),
November 2022, Kolkata, Bangladesh
Third prize for best poster presentation at 15th Asian Conference on Diarrhoeal Disease and
Nutrition (ASCODD), January 2020, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Man-Imal, One Health, Financial Aid for 2 nd year Master’s program “From Animal to Man:
Analysing and Managing Health and Food Risks”, 2018-2019, France
Young Scientist Travel Award,14th Asian Conference on Diarrhoeal Disease and Nutrition
(ASCODD), November 2017, Kochi, India.
Second Class Academic Distinguished Awards, 2009-2010 academic year, Peking University
Health Science Centre, Beijing, China
Individual Excellence Award, 2008-2009 academic year, Peking University Health Science
Centre, Beijing, China.
Full scholarship under China Scholarship Council, 2006-2011
High School Honour Roll Award, Yew Chung Beijing International School, 2004-2005.
Top Year 12 student Award from Yew Chung Beijing International School, June 2005.
Selected publications
1. Akhtar, M., Chowdhury, M.I., Bhuiyan, T.R., Kaim, J., Ahmed, T., Rafique, T.A., Khan, A.,
Rahman, S.I., Khanam, F., Begum, Y.A. and Sharif, M.Z., 2019. Evaluation of the safety and
immunogenicity of the oral inactivated multivalent enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli vaccine
ETVAX in Bangladeshi adults in a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled Phase I trial
using electrochemiluminescence and ELISA assays for immunogenicity analyses. Vaccine,
37(37), pp.5645-5656.
2. Qadri F, Akhtar M, Bhuiyan TR, Chowdhury MI, Ahmed T, Rafique TA, Khan A, Rahman SIA,
Khanam F, Lundgren A, Wiklund G, Kaim J, Löfstrand M, Carlin N, Bourgeois AL, Maier N, Fix
A, Wierzba TF, Walker RI, Svennerholm AM. Evaluation of the safety and immunogenicity of
the oral inactivated enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli vaccine ETVAX in Bangladeshi children and
infants in a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled Phase I/II trial (2019, in press, Lancet
Infectious Diseases).
3. Chowdhury F, Bhuiyan TR, Akter A, Bhuiyan MS, Khan AI, Tauheed I, Ahmed T, Ferdous J,
Dash P, Basher SR, Hakim A. Augmented immune responses to a booster dose of oral cholera
vaccine in Bangladeshi children less than 5 years of age: Revaccination after an interval of over
three years of primary vaccination with a single dose of vaccine. Vaccine. 2019 Dec 24.
4. Chowdhury, F., Bhuiyan, T.R., Akter, A., Bhuiyan, M.S., Khan, A.I., Hossain, M., Tauheed, I.,
Ahmed, T., Islam, S., Rafique, T.A. and Siddique, S.A., 2020. Immunogenicity of a killed
bivalent whole cell oral cholera vaccine in forcibly displaced Myanmar nationals in Cox's Bazar,
Bangladesh. PLoS neglected tropical diseases, 14(3), p.e0007989.
5. Chowdhury F, Akter A, Rahman Bhuiyan T, Tauheed I, Ahmed T, Ahmmed F, Ahmed F, Karim
M, Mainul Ahasan M, Rahman Mia M, Mohammad Ibna Masud M, Wahab Khan A, Masum
Billah M, Nahar Z, Khan I, Rahad Hossain M, Ariful Islam AZM, Panday AS, Muktadir Rahman
Ashik M, Qadri F. A non-inferiority trial comparing two recombinant vaccines (Hepa-B vs.
Engerix-B) for hepatitis B among adults in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Vaccine. 2021 Oct
15;39(43):6385-6390. doi: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2021.09.031. Epub 2021 Sep 22. PMID: 34561142.
6. Aziz AB, Zaman K, Kim DR, Park JY, Im J, Ali M, Ahmmed F, Islam MT, Khanam F,
Chowdhury F, Ahmed T, Hoque M, Liu X, Pak GD, Tadesse BT, Jeon HJ, Kang S, Khan AI,
Kim JH, Marks F, Qadri F, Clemens JD. Re-evaluation of population-level protection conferred
by a rotavirus vaccine using the 'fried-egg' approach in a rural setting in Bangladesh. Vaccine.
2021 Sep 24;39(40):5876-5882. doi: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2021.08.048. Epub 2021 Aug 26. PMID:
34454788; PMCID: PMC8494114.
7. Akter A, Ahmed T, Tauheed I, Akhtar M, Rahman SIA, et al. (2022) Disease characteristics and
serological responses in patients with differing severity of COVID-19 infection: A longitudinal
cohort study in Dhaka, Bangladesh. PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases 16(1): e0010102.
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0010102
8. Im J, Khanam F, Ahmmed F, Kim DR, Kang S, Tadesse BT, Chowdhury F, Ahmed T, Aziz AB,
Hoque M, Islam MT. Prevention of Typhoid Fever by Existing Improvements in Household
Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene, and the Use of the Vi Polysaccharide Typhoid Vaccine in Poor
Urban Slums: Results from a Cluster-Randomized Trial. The American Journal of Tropical
Medicine and Hygiene. 2022 Mar 7;1(aop).
9. Tadesse BT, Khanam F, Ahmed F, Im J, Islam MT, Kim DR, Kang SS, Liu X, Chowdhury F,
Ahmed T, Aziz AB, Hoque M, Park J, Pak G, Zaman K, Khan AI, Pollard AJ, Kim JH, Marks F,
Qadri F, Clemens JD. Prevention of typhoid by Vi conjugate vaccine and achievable
improvements in household WASH: Evidence from a cluster-randomized trial in Dhaka,
Bangladesh. Clin Infect Dis. 2022 Apr 12:ciac289. doi: 10.1093/cid/ciac289. Epub ahead of print.
PMID: 35412603.