Afsar Ali, PhD

Research Associate Professor

Office: EPI 276
Phone: 352-273-7984
Email: aali@epi.ufl.edu

CV

Professional Memberships

  • American Society for Microbiology
  • Bangladesh Society of Microbiologists

Courses Taught

  • Molecular Biology of Infectious Diseases
  • Ecology of Pathogenic Bacteria
  • Food Microbiology
  • Molecular Epidemiology of Infectious Diseases
  • Advanced Topics in Laboratory Sciences

Current Research Interests

  • Epidemiology and Ecology of Vibrio cholerae in Bangladesh
  • Emergence of Vibrio Vulnificus in Aquaculture Reservoirs
  • The genetic and physiologic analyses of rugose variant of V. cholerae

Education

  • B.S. in Soil Microbiology, 1983. University of Dhaka, Bangladesh
  • M.S. in Microbiology, 1985. University of Dhaka, Bangladesh
  • M. S. in Clinical Microbiology, August 1993. Department of Microbiology, University of Maryland at College Park, Maryland.
  • Ph.D. in Molecular Biology/Biotechnology, December 1998. Department of Marine-Estuarine-Environmental-Sciences, University of Maryland at College Park, Maryland.

Professional Experience

July 2010 to Present:Research Associate Professor. Environmental and Global Health, School of Public Health and Health Professions & Emerging Pathogens Institute (EPI), University of Florida at Gainesville.

July 2008-June 2010: Research Assistant Professor. Emerging Pathogens Institute (EPI) & Environment and Global Health (a Courtesy Appointment from April 1, 2010) School of Public Health and Health Professions; University of Florida at Gainesville.

2004-2008: Assistant Professor. Department of Epidemiology & Preventive Medicine, School of Medicine, the University of Maryland at Baltimore.

2000-2004: Instructor (Microbiologist). Department of Epidemiology & Preventive Medicine, School of Medicine, the University of Maryland at Baltimore.

03/2000-10/2000: Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, the University of Maryland at Baltimore.

1999-2000: Research Fellow, Department of Hospital Epidemiology, the University of Maryland at Baltimore, Baltimore, Maryland

1995-1998: Graduate Research Associate, the University of Maryland at Baltimore, Center for Vaccine Development (CVD) Baltimore, Maryland.

1993-1994: Research Associate, John Hopkins University, and the University of Maryland at Baltimore, (CVD) Baltimore, Maryland.

1990-1993: Research Assistant. Department of Microbiology, the University of Maryland at College Park, Maryland.

1990-1993: Teaching Assistant. Department of Microbiology, the University of Maryland at College Park, Maryland.

1986-1990: Microbiologist. International Center for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (ICDDR, B), Dhaka, Bangladesh.

1985-1986: Quality Control Microbiologist, Bangladesh Organon Limited (Multinational Pharmaceutical Industry), Dhaka, Bangladesh.

 

Selected Publications

  • Jubair M, Morris JG Jr, Ali A (2012) Survival of Vibrio cholera in Nutrient-Poor Environments Is Associated with a Novel “Persister’’ Phenotype. PLoS ONE 7(9): e45187. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0045187
  • Afsar Ali, Yuansha Chen, Judith A. Johnson, Edsel Redden, Yfto Mayette, Mohammed H. Rashid, O. Colin Stine, and J. Glenn Morris, Jr. Recent clonal Origin of Vibrio cholerae in Haiti. 2011. Emerg Infect. Dis. (In press)
  • Mahmud, Z. H., A. C. Wright, S. C. Mandal, J. Dai, M. K. Jones, M. Hasan, M. H. Rashid, M. S. Islam, J. A. Johnson, P. A. Gulig, J. G. Morris, Jr., A. Ali. 2010. Genetic characterization of Vibrio vulnificus strains from tilapia aquaculture in Bangladesh. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 76: 4890-4895
  • Grim, C, J., Y. Zo, N. A. Hasan, A. Ali, W. B. Chowdhury, A. Islam, M. H. Rashid, M. Alam, J. G. Morris, Jr., A. Huq and R. R. Colwell 2009. RNA-colony blot hybridization method for enumeration of culturable Vibrio cholerae and Vibrio mimicus bacteria. Applied and Environmental Microbiology. 75: 5439-5444.
  • Chen, Y., Bystricky, P., Adeyeye, J., Panigrahi, P., Ali, A., Johnson, J. A., Busch, C. A., Morris J. G. Jr., Stine O. C. 2007. The capsule biogenesis genes are embedded in the LPS region in non-O1 Vibrio cholerae NRT36S. BMC Microbiology. 15: 7-20.
  • Seshadri, R., S. W. Joseph, A. K. Chopra, J. Sha, J. Shaw, J. Graf, D. Haft, M. Wu, O, Ren, M. J. Rosovitz, R. Madupu, L. Tallon, M. Kim, S. Jin, H. Vuong, O. C. Stine, A. Ali, A. J. Horneman, J. F. Heidelberg. Genome Sequence of Aeromonas hydrophila ATCC 7966T: The Jack of All Trades. Journal of Bacteriology. 2006. 188: 8272-82
  • Alam, M, Sultana M, Nair, G. B., Sack, R. B., Sack, D. A., Siddique, A. K., Ali, A., Huq, A., and Colwell, R. R. 2006. Toxigenic Vibrio cholerae in the aquatic environment of Mathbaria, Bangladesh. Applied and Environmental Microbiology. 72: 2849-2855.
  • Ali, A*. J. G. Morris, Jr., and J. A. Johnson. 2005. Sugars inhibit expression of the rugose phenotype of Vibrio cholerae. Journal of Clinical Microbiology. 43:1426-1429.
  • Huq, A., R. B. Sack, A. Nizam, I. M. Longini, G. B. Nair, A. Ali, J. G. Morris, M. N. H. Khan, A. K. Siddique , M. Yunus, M. J. Albert, D. A. Sack, and R. R. Colwell . 2005. Critical factors influencing the occurrence of Vibrio cholerae in the environment of Bangladesh. Applied and Environmental Microbiology. 71:4645-4654.
  • Rashid, M. H., C. Rajanna, D. Zhang, V. Pasquale, L. S. Magder, A. Ali, S. Dumontet, D. K. R. Karaolis. 2004. Role of exopolysaccharide, the rugose phenotype and VpsR in the pathogenesis of epidemic Vibrio cholerae. FEMS Microbiology Letters. 230:105-113.
  • Ranjanna, C., J. Wang, D. Zhang, Z. Xu, A. Ali, Y. M. Hou, and D. K. Karaolis. 2003. The Vibrio Pathogenecity Island of Epidemic Vibrio cholerae forms precise extrachromosomal circular excision products. Journal of Bacteriology. 185: 6893-6901.
  • Rashid, M. H., C. Ranjanna, A. Ali, and D. K. Karaolis. 2003. Identification of genes involved in the switch between the smooth and rugose phenotypes of Vibrio cholerae. FEMS Microbiology Letters. 227: 113-119.
  • Sack, R. B., A. K. Siddique, I. M. Longini, Jr., A. Nizam, M. Yunus, M. S. Islam, J. G. Morris, Jr., A. Ali, A. Huq, G. B. Nair, F. Qadri, S. M. Faruque, D. A. Sack, and R. R. Colwell. 2003. A 4-year study of the epidemiology of Vibrio cholerae in four rural areas of Bangladesh. Journal of Infectious Disease. 187 : 96-101.
  • Ali, A., M. H. Rashid, and D. K. R. Karaolis. 2002. High-frequency rugose exopolysaccharide production by Vibrio cholerae. Applied and Environmental Microbiology. 68: 5773-5778.
  • Ali, A., Z. H. Mahmud, J. G. Morris, Jr., S. Sozhamannan, and J. A. Johnson. 2000. Sequence analysis of TnphoA insertion sites in Vibrio cholerae mutants defective in rugose polysaccharide production. Infection and Immunity. Vol. 68: 6857-6864.