Nutritional Biochemistry

The Nutritional Biochemistry Laboratory aims at research in diverse fields ranging from finding sustainable ways to improve nutritional status of the population to evaluate and combat arsenic toxicity. The research areas cover a wide variety of topics including the assessment of the extent of micronutrient (iron, zinc, vitamin A etc.) deficiency and ways to mitigate the problem (supplementation, fortification), extent of arsenic toxicity in water and food chain, measurement of arsenic toxicity in human body including As metabolites in hair, nail, and urine, and extent of lead toxicity in urban areas etc.

The interest of the laboratory includes nutrigenomics, searching novel biomarkers for zinc status at individual level, genetic interaction between environment and health; nutrient-nutrient interaction (effect of vitamin A status on iron and zinc absorption); fetal and early life exposure to environmental factors including food and toxic elements, e.g. arsenic, and the effects on immune system and bone development in later part of life; risk factors for development of rickets in early childhood; identifying specific biomarkers of neonatal immune defenses against bacterial infections by prenatal dietary interventions (vitamin D); dietary factors and biomarkers relating to chronic non-communicable diseases (heart diseases, diabetes) etc. Other studies include improving micronutrient status of vulnerable populations i.e. women and children by using biofortified rice (zinc) and orange fleshed sweet potatoes (vitamin A). Consuming the biofortified rice, individuals will be able to access 20% more zinc than the conventional rice. The biofortified sweet potato provides 580 µg retinol (vitamin A)/100 gm which is adequate to meet the daily requirement for preschool children.

The laboratory participates in external quality control program with NIST, Washington and CDC, Atlanta. In addition, the laboratory provides training to Masters and PhD level students as well as to researchers from different government and non-government institutes.

The laboratory collaborates with different national and international institutes for training, research and services in both home and abroad. The collaborating national institutes include (a) Dhaka University (b) North South University (c) National Institute of the Diseases of the Chest and Hospital (NIDCH) (d) Save the Children, and (e) Social Assistance and Rehabilitation for the Physically Vulnerable (SARPV). The collaborators from abroad include (a) University of California, Davis, USA, (b) Pennsylvania State University, USA (c) Centre for Disease Control (CDC), USA (d) National Institute of Standards and Technology, USA (e) Brandenburg University, Germany (f) Karolinska Institute, Sweden (g) University of Iceland, Iceland (h) Georgetown University, Washington, DC (i) Institut Pasteur, France (j) Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology, Berlin (k) London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK and (l) University of Tsukuba, Japan.

Staff