ISID is pleased to welcome Mohamed Sirdar to the ISID Team as Global Program Specialist, AMR !
Dr Mohamed M. Sirdar (PhD) is a graduate of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Khartoum (Sudan). He further completed his MSc and PhD at the Epidemiology Section of the Faculty of Veterinary of Science, University of Pretoria (South Africa). His MSc project focused on food safety, with specific emphasis on antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and antimicrobial residues in poultry products, while his PhD was on the epidemiology and control of Foot-mouth-disease (FMD) in the human-domestic animals-wildlife interface of South Africa.
Prior to joining ISID, Dr Sirdar was a Sub-Regional Programme Officer at the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH), Sub-Regional Representative for Southern Africa based in Gaborone (Botswana). Mohamed was primarily coordinating AMR projects in terrestrial and aquatic animals within the 16 Southern African Development Community (SADC) Member states. He was also responsible for coordinating the animal health component of two AMR Multi-partner Trust Fund projects focusing on vaccine development, sub-standard and falsified veterinary medicines and advancing the implementation of AMR National Action Plans (NAPs). During his time at WOAH, he was also engaged with other activities related to aquatic animal health and avian influenza control. Mohamed was also representing WOAH together with FAO and EU-FMD Commission in the Global FMD Working Group of The Global Framework for Transboundary Animal Disease Control (GF-TADs).
Before joining WOAH, Mohamed was a Senior Veterinary Researcher (Epidemiology and Training) at the South African Agricultural Research Council, Onderstepoort Veterinary Research Institute (ARC-OVR) based in Pretoria. He was leading the Epidemiology and Training Unit of the ARC-OVR and coordinated the training activities of the Institute. Prior to his move to South Africa, Dr Sirdar worked for 9 years with the Sudanese poultry industry in both public and private sectors of Sudan.
In 2016- until 2021, Dr Sirdar joined the International Society for Infectious Disease-Programme for Monitoring Emerging Diseases (ISID-ProMED) -USA, working as a part-time Animal Health Moderator for Anglophone Africa. Mohamed has published more than 45 research articles in peer reviewed journals and conferences proceedings. His research activities are related to food safety and trans-boundary animal diseases with specific emphasis on FMD. Mohamed is the current President of the Southern African Society for Veterinary Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine (SASVEPM).