Contact information
Email: abdul.rehman@uvas.edu.pk
Cell: 0334-4053221
Phone: +92-42-99211374-201
Dr. Abdul Rehman
Associate Professor
DVM (Medalist), MPhil (Medalist), PhD (FU, Germany)
HEC Approved Supervisor
Biography
Originally trained as a veterinarian, I have evolved as an early career veterinary epidemiologist with a strong passion for the epidemiology of infectious diseases with high economic and public health significance and aim to significantly contribute to the socio-economic development of resource-limited communities around the globe. I have been serving as Assistant Professor at the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health (EPH), University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences (UVAS), Lahore—the top-ranked veterinary institution in Pakistan—since January 2017.
Briefly, I received my graduation (DVM) in 2009 and MPhil (Epidemiology and Public Health) in 2012 from UVAS and secured 3rd and 1st positions, respectively. Later, I earned my doctoral degree in December 2016 from Germany by jointly working at Friedrich-Loeffler-Institute of Epidemiology, Federal Research Institute for Animal Health, and the Institute of Parasitology and Tropical Veterinary Medicine, Freie Universität, Berlin. In my masters, I worked on the epidemiology of dengue fever in Lahore, Pakistan, while my PhD research focused on the epidemiology of ticks and tick-borne pathogens in the semi-arid and the arid agroecological zones in Pakistan. During my doctoral training, I gained skills in designing research methodologies, sample size calculations, sampling techniques, spatial analysis, disease mapping, data analytics including statistical modeling using R software and ArcGIS/QGIS and got expertise in laboratory techniques particularly molecular assays such as various types of polymerase chain reactions (PCRs). After completing my PhD, I returned to Pakistan and joined the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, UVAS as an Assistant Professor. During the last five years, I have been working on the epidemiology of infectious diseases (e.g. Foot and mouth disease and tick-borne infections) with particular focus on zoonotic infections (Brucellosis, Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever and Q-fever), and antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Recently, through a three-months fellowship at the Institute for Epidemiology, FLI by German Academic Exchange Council (DAAD), I have advanced my data analysis skills using R by working on a long-term animal health surveillance data from Pakistan.
Area of Interest
- Veterinary epidemiology
- One Health
- Zoonotic pathogens
- Antimicrobial resistance
- Vector-borne infections
- Production animal health
Publications
Research Publications
Conference Papers
Book Chapter
Research Publications
- Sabir Hussain, Abrar Hussain, Muhammad Umair Aziz, Baolin Song, Jehan Zeb, Hasib F, M Yasir, Jun Li, Abdul Rehman, David George, Alejandro Cabezas-Cruz, and Olivier Sparagano. First serological evidence of Q fever in large ruminants and its associated risk factors in Punjab, Pakistan. Accepted in Scientific Reports Sep 2022.
- Ullah N, Ashraf K, Rehman A, Suleman M, and Rashid MI. 2022. Propagation of Babesia bigemina in Rabbit Model and Evaluation of Its Attenuation in Cross-Bred Calves. Animals, 12(2287):, 1–8.
- Ali, I., Rehman, A., Mushtaq, M.H., Ijaz, M., Khaliq, M.S., Saad, M., Khan, U., Khalid, S., Masud, A., Abbas, A., Parveen, S., Saman, A., Sauter-Louis, C., Conraths, F.J., 2022. Outbreak investigation and identification of risk factors associated with the occurrence of foot and mouth disease in Punjab, Pakistan. Prev. Vet. Med. 202, 105613. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.prevetmed.2022.105613
- Ashraf, W., Rehman, A., Ahmad, M.-D., Rabbani, M., Mushtaq, M.H., Aamir, K., Xue, K.S., Wang, J.-S., 2022. Assessment of aflatoxin B1-lysine adduct in children and its effect on child growth in Lahore, Pakistan. Food Addit. Contam. Part A 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1080/19440049.2022.2080871
- Haider, A., Khwaja, I.A., Qureshi, A.B., Khan, I., Majeed, K.A., Yousaf, M.S., Zaneb, H., Rehman, A., Rabbani, I., Tahir, S.K., Rehman, H., 2022. Effectiveness of Mild to Moderate Hypothermic Cardiopulmonary Bypass on Early Clinical Outcomes. J. Cardiovasc. Dev. Dis. 9, 151. https://doi.org/10.3390/JCDD9050151
- Ghafar, Abdul, Robin B. Gasser, Tariq Abbas, Abdul Rehman, Charles G. Gauci, and Abdul Jabbar. 2021. “Ticks and Tick-Borne Diseases of Bovines in a Smallholder Livestock Context: The Pakistani Example.” Advances in Parasitology, October. https://doi.org/10.1016/BS.APAR.2021.08.009.
- Hussain S, Hussain A, Rehman A, George D, Li J, Zeb J, Khan A, and Sparagano O. 2021. “Spatio-Temporal Distribution of Identified Tick Species from Small and Large Ruminants of Pakistan.” Biologia 2021, August, 1–11.
- Javed, M. U., Ijaz, M., Fatima, Z., Anjum, A. A., Aqib, A. I., Ali, M., Rehman, A., Ahmed, A., & Ghaffar, A. (2021). Frequency and Antimicrobial Susceptibility of Methicillin and Vancomycin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus from Bovine Milk. Pakistan Veterinary Journal. https://doi.org/10.29261/pakvetj/2021.060
- Jamil, T., Ullah Khan, A., Saqib, M., Hammad Hussain, M., Melzer, F., Rehman, A., Zubair Shabbir, M., Ali Khan, M., Ali, S., Shahzad, A., Khan, I., Iqbal, M., Ullah, Q., Ahmad, W., Khalid Mansoor, M., Neubauer, H., & Schwarz, S. (2021). Animal and Human Brucellosis in Pakistan. Frontiers in Public Health, 1, 660508. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2021.660508
- Khan, M. R., Rehman, A., Khalid, S., Ud, M., Ahmad, D., Avais, M., Sarwar, M., Awan, F. N., Melzer, F., Neubauer, H., & Jamil, T. (2021). Seroprevalence and Associated Risk Factors of Bovine Brucellosis in District Gujranwala, Punjab, Pakistan. Animals, 11(6), 1–11.
- Hussain, S., Hussain, A., Ho, J., Li, J., George, D., Rehman, A., Zeb, J., & Sparagano, O. (2021). An Epidemiological Survey Regarding Ticks and Tick-Borne Diseases among Livestock Owners in Punjab , Pakistan: A One Health Context. Pathogens, 1–14.
- Ghafar, A., Abbas, T., Rehman, A., Sandhu, Z.-D., Cabezas-Cruz, A., & Jabbar, A. (2020). Systematic Review of Ticks and Tick-Borne Pathogens of Small Ruminants in Pakistan. Pathogens, 9(11), 937. https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens9110937
- Kasi, K.K., Arnim, F., Schulz, A., Rehman, A., Chudhary, A., Oneeb, M., Sas, M.A., Jamil, T., Maksimov, P., Sauter‐Louis, C., Conraths, F.J., Groschup, M.H., 2020. Crimean‐Congo haemorrhagic fever virus in ticks collected from livestock in Balochistan, Pakistan. Transbound. Emerg. Dis. tbed.13488. doi:10.1111/tbed.13488
- Altaf, M., Ijaz, M., Kashif Iqbal, M., Rehman, A., Avais, M., Ghaffar, A., Ayyub, R.M., 2020. Molecular Characterization of Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and Associated Risk Factors with the Occurrence of Goat Mastitis. Pak. Vet. J. 40, 1–6. doi:10.29261/pakvetj/2019.079
- Ghaffar, A., Ijaz, M., Ali, A., Farooqi, S.H., Rehman, A., Ali, M.M., Zafar, M.Z., Naeem, M.A., 2020. First report on molecular characterization of anaplasmosis in small ruminants in Pakistan. J. Parasitol. 106, 360–368. doi:10.1645/19-90
- Ali, S., Ijaz, M., Farooqi, S.H., Durrani, A.Z., Rashid, M.I., Ghaffar, A., Ali, A., Rehman, A., Aslam, S., Khan, I., Masud, A., Mehmood, K., 2019. Molecular characterisation of Theileria equi and risk factors associated with the occurrence of theileriosis in horses of Punjab (Pakistan). Equine Vet. Educ. 1–9. doi:10.1111/eve.13161
- Altaf, M., Ijaz, M., Ghaffar, A., Rehman, A., Avais, M., 2019. Antibiotic susceptibility profile and synergistic effect of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs on antibacterial activity of resistant antibiotics (Oxytetracycline and Gentamicin) against methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Microb. Pathog. 137, 103755. doi:10.1016/j.micpath.2019.103755
- Azmat, M., Ijaz, M., Farooqi, S.H., Gha, A., Ali, A., Masud, A., Saleem, S., Rehman, A., Ali, M.M., Mehmood, K., Khan, A., Zhang, H., 2018. Molecular epidemiology, associated risk factors, and phylogenetic analysis of anaplasmosis in camel. Microb. Pathog. 123, 377–384. doi:10.1016/j.micpath.2018.07.034
- Ijaz, M., Abbas, S.N., Farooqi, S.H., Aqib, A.I., Anwar, G.A., Rehman, A., Ali, M.M., Mehmood, K., Khan, A., 2018. Sero-epidemiology and hemato-biochemical study of bovine leptospirosis in flood affected zone of Pakistan. Acta Trop. 177, 51–57. doi:10.1016/j.actatropica.2017.09.032
- Rehman, A., Conraths, F.J., Sauter-Louis, C., Krücken, J., Nijhof, A.M., 2018. Epidemiology of tick-borne pathogens in the semi-arid and the arid agro-ecological zones of Punjab province, Pakistan. Transbound Emerg Dis. doi:10.1111/tbed.13059
- Roy, B.C., Estrada-Peña, A., Krücken, J., Rehman, A., Nijhof, A.M., 2018. Morphological and phylogenetic analyses of Rhipicephalus microplus ticks from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Myanmar. Ticks Tick. Borne. Dis. 9, 1069–1079. doi:10.1016/j.ttbdis.2018.03.035
- Rehman, A., Nijhof, A.M., Sauter-Louis, C., Schauer, B., Staubach, C., Conraths, F.J., 2017. Distribution of ticks infesting ruminants and risk factors associated with high tick prevalence in livestock farms in the semi-arid and arid agro-ecological zones of Pakistan. Parasit. Vectors 10, 190. doi:10.1186/s13071-017-2138-0
- Khalid, S., Rehman, A., Amir, M.Y., Rehman, A., Sarfaraz, I., Asif, M., 2017. Comparative Efficacy of Ivermectin and Fipronil on Controlling Tick Infestation in Commercial Layers: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Pakistan J. Zool. 49, 1139–1142.
- Akhtar, A.M., Majeed, Sadia, Jamil, M., Rehman, A., Majeed, Sufia, 2016. Hepatitis-C virus infection among injecting drug users in Lahore, Pakistan: A cross sectional study. Pakistan J. Med. Sci. 32, 373–8. doi:10.12669/pjms.322.9038
- Khalid, S., Ijaz, M., Ali, M., Rehman, A., Mehmood, K., 2015. Prevalence and Chemotherapy of Canine Diabetes Mellitus in and around Lahore, Pakistan. Pak. J. Zool. 47, 895–898.
- Younas, A., Khan, M.S., Ijaz, M., Ashraf, K., Ali, M.M., Khan, I., Rehman, A., 2014. Prevalence and chemotherapy of coccidiosis in dogs in and around Lahore-Pakistan. J. Anim. Plant Sci. 24, 350–353.
- Akhtar, A.M., Khan, M.A., Ijaz, T., Maqbool, A., Iqbal, Z., Rehman, A., 2014. Hepatitis C Virus Infection in Pregnant Women in Lahore, Pakistan: An Analytical Cross Sectional Study. Int. J. Agric. Biol 16, 160–164.
- Ahmad, M.D., Idrees, M., Sadiq, S., Rehman, A., Mushtaq, M.H., 2013. Seroepidemiological Investigation, Risk Factors Analysis of Brucellosis in Ruminants and Their Owners in District Buner of Pakistan. Buffalo Bull. 3, 1104–1109.
- Akhtar, A.M., Khan, M.A., Ijaz, T., Iqbal, Z., Rana, M.Y., Maqbool, A., Rehman, A., 2013. Seroprevalence and Determinants of Hepatitis-C Virus Infection in Blood Donors of Lahore, Pakistan. Pakistan J. Zool 45, 1–7.
- Ijaz, M., Khan, M.S., Khan, M.A., Maqbool, A., Ali, M.M., Rehman, A., Mehmood, K., Saleem, M.H., Shabbir, M.Z., 2012. Comparative study of culture and PCR for detection of carriers of Streptococcus equi in naturally infected mules in Pakistan. J. Anim. Plant Sci. 22, 256–259.
Conference Papers
Book Chapter
- Bacterial Zoonoses in Pakistan published in Zoonoses: Bacterial Diseases. 2014. Daya Publishing House, New Delhi. Page 436-441(ISBN: 978-9351301615)
Honours and awards
- Epidemiological modelling of tick-borne infections and economic analysis of tick control strategies in Pakistan under re-invitation programme for former scholarship holders, 2021
- Edinburgh Fellow at the 6th World One Health Congress 2020.
- Selected as member of the Global Well-being Team of the UNESCO’s “Youth As Researchers” (YAR)
- EcoHealth Conference Award – Cali, Colombia, 12th – 18th August 2018
- ICTP Award 2017, to attend a Workshop / Conference on Mathematical Models of Climate Variability, Environmental Change and Infectious Diseases in Italy.
- PhD scholarship from HEC, Pakistan and DAAD, Germany, 4/2013 to 3/2017
- Selected for Korean Government Scholarship for PhD (KGSP), 15 June 2012
- Secured 1st position in MPhil degree (session 2010-12), UVAS, Lahore, 2012
- Secured Fouji Foundation Academic Distinction Award, 2011
- Secured 3rd position among 150 students in Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (session 2004-2009) from UVAS, Lahore, 20 April 2011
Workshops
- Consultative Meeting for Deliberations and Draft the National Surveillance Strategy for AMR in Animal Environments. Organized under the Fleming Fund on 19 May 2022 and 17 August 2022.
- Second Consultation Meeting on the Regional Monitoring and Surveillance Guideline Volume 5: Monitoring antimicrobial use at the farm level. Jointly organized by FAO and OIE from 27 – 29 April 2021.
- Inception Workshop for The Global Rinderpest Post- Eradication Security: Phase II, FAO Islamabad, 18 Jun 2020 (Virtual)
- Mathematical modelling of infectious diseases with application to COVID-19, 10 & 24 Apr 2020 (Virtual)
- Identify Potential Mentors for the Field Epidemiology Training, FAO, Islamabad, 5 Feb 2020
- Zoonoses, Food safety and Community participation, National Centre for Rural Development Government of Pakistan Islamabad, 19 – 21 March 2018 (As a Resource person)
- Workshop on Mathematical Models of Climate Variability, Environmental Change and Infectious Diseases, ICTP, Trieste, Italy, 08 – 16 May 2017.
- International Workshop on Ticks and Tickborne diseases, 29 Sep – 02 Oct 2014.
- Disaster Management and Risk Reduction organized by OIC Ministerial Standing Committee (COMSTECH), Islamabad, 19 – 21 Nov 2013
- International Workshop 'Introduction to epidemiological toolbox' Conducted by FAO Reference Centre for Veterinary Public Health, FU, Berlin, 22 – 25 April 2013
- Workshop on "Biostatistics & Data Analysis" UVAS, Lahore, 7 – 11 May 2012
- Organized a One-day Workshop on "The Awareness and Field Tests for Diagnosis of Rabies" held on 20 December 2011, UVAS, Lahore.
- "Biostatistics & Epidemiology" at King Edward Medical University, Lahore, Pakistan, 5 – 17 July 2010
Trainings
- A two-month long online training course of Youth As Researchers Initiative by UNESCO
- Cooperation in Animal Epidemic Prevention and Control for Belt & Road Countries. May 12 – June 01, 2021, Jiangsu Inspection and Quarantine Institute of Quality, China
- A week long training on Bio-risk Management Jointly organized by Health Security Partners and University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lahore, January 18 – 22, 2021
- Training “Use of Polymerase Chain Reaction” organized by the US National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, August 28 – 30, 2019, NIH, Islamabad, Pakistan & October 28 – November 1, 2019 at KEMRI, Nairobi, Kenya
- Intellectual Property Rights and Requirements for Patent Filing. May 2, 2019
- Microsoft Data Science Bootcamp, HEC, Lahore. April 18 – 20, 2018
- Training on Data Entry Procedure for Farmer Registration System held on September 27, 2011, at Punjab Information Technology Board, Lahore Pakistan
- Global Gap, IFS, Logistics and Traceability, July 4 – 14, 2011 at PIAM, Pakistan
- Training on Development of Disease Reporting Network in Punjab held on June 8 – 9, 2011 at University of Veterinary & Animal Sciences, Lahore, Pakistan
Research work under process for publication
- Saman, A., Chaudhry, M., Ijaz, M., Shaukat, W., Zaheer, M.U., Mateus, A., Rehman, A. Assessment of knowledge, perception, practices and drivers of antimicrobial resistance and antimicrobial usage among veterinarians in Pakistan Manuscript under review in Scientific Reports.
- Waseela Ashraf, Abdul Rehman, Mansur-ud-Din Ahmad, Masood Rabbani, Muhammad Hassan Mushtaq, Khalida Aamir. Assessment of aflatoxin M1 exposure and its associated determinants in children from Lahore, Pakistan. Under review in Food Addit. Contam. Part A
- Amna Azam, Shahid Pall, Iahtasham Khan, Waqas Ahmad, Tariq Jamil, Abdul Rehman, Muhammad Imran, Wasim Shehzad, Muhammad Fiaz Qamar. Brucellosis as potential blood-transfusion hazard in Pakistan: A hospital-based cross-sectional study. Under review in Pathogens and Global Health
International Conferences/ Presentations
- 6th World One Health Congress, Edinburgh, UK, 30 Oct – 03 Nov 2020 (Virtual)
- 5th International Meeting on Apicomplexan Parasites in Farm Animals, 2 – 4 October 2019, Berlin, Germany
- 9th International Conference on Antimicrobial Agents in Veterinary Medicine. Rome, Italy from 16 – 19 Oct 2018.
- DVG-Vet-Congress, 9 –12 Nov 2017, Estrel Convention Center, Berlin, Germany
- 2nd Conference on Impact of Environmental Changes on Infectious Diseases 17 – 19 May 2017, International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP), Trieste, Italy
- German Symposium on Zoonoses Research 2014 and 7th International Conference on Emerging Zoonoses from 16 – 17 Oct 2014, Berlin, Germany
- Parasite and Parasitic diseases, organized by German Veterinary Medical Society, from 29 Jun to 01 Jul 2015, Stralsund, Germany
- International conference on Dengue and its control [Post DF/DHF outbreak] Organized by WHO from 27 – 29 Feb 2012, Lahore, Pakistan.
Research Projects
| Title | Amount (Rs.) in Million
|
Role |
| In vitro evaluation of acaricidal resistance in Rhipicephalus microplus from Pakistan | 0.476 | Principle Investigator |
| Development of indigenous inactivated Equine Influenza (EI) vaccine and comparative efficacy study versus imported vaccines. Project funded by PARB for Three years (2018 – 2021) | 9.017 | Team Member |
| Mechanistic study of MRSA from bovine and occupational worker, and its application in field condition. Funded by Pakistan Agricultural Research Council, Islamabad | 5.99467 | Team Member |
| Development of a diagnostic kit using Reverse Line Blot Assay for simultaneous detection of multiple tick-borne pathogens | 14.691 | Principle Investigator |
Policy Papers
- Tick-Borne Diseases: A threat to Livestock Economy and Public Health in Pakistan. Current Status and Control Strategies
- Aflatoxins: food safety and security issues for humans and livestock. Policy guidelines for resolving the issues