Meet the Global Ambassadors: our Q&A with Arsalan Zaidi

Dr Arsalan Zaidi has more than 24 years of experience investigating probiotics, their interactions with animal gut commensals and pathogens utilizing both cultivation dependent and independent approaches. The National Probiotic Lab he developed boasts all the resources, equipment, and protocols necessary to perform research on probiotics including next generation candidates.

He has been the principal investigator on various national research programs, working with both national and international academic and industrial partners. He is also the adjunct Professor of Biotechnology at the Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences (PIEAS), Islamabad, Pakistan. He has been the supervisor of six PhD students and eighteen M. Phil students from several national universities. 

What first sparked your love of microbiology?

It was by chance that, upon starting my first job as a junior government scientist in 2000, I was asked to join a lab in Faisalabad tasked with developing biofertilizers for leguminous crops. Before then, my understanding of microbiology was mostly limited to seeing petri dish cultures in lab demonstrations and listening to undergraduate lectures.

The applied side of microbiology that I got so involved in, encouraged me to delve deeper into this subject and made me pursue a PhD in microbiology 

What’s the microbe that most fascinates you and why?

The ever-increasing family of next-generation probiotics (NGPs), which includes species like Faecalibacterium prausnitzii and Akkermansia muciniphila, are of the utmost fascination!

What’s the best career advice you’ve ever been given?

Career development is an odd mix of personal perseverance and a heavy dose of serendipity.

What real-world problem would you eventually love to solve with microbiology?

The vexing problem of food safety in our regional context.

What keeps you awake at night?

The specter of multi-drug resistance in commensals is a nightmarish scenario.

What do you do to relax in your spare time?

Reading books, spending time with my family and pets (parrots and conures).

Why did you apply to become a Global Ambassador, and what would you like to do in your new role?

AMI’s initiative of Global Ambassadorships is a novel idea for scientific institutions in the third world. As an ambassador, it is challenging and exciting to introduce it into the local R&D ecosystem, where the students and faculty members are unfamiliar with volunteerism in promoting science. 

Dr. Arsalan Zaidi joined the National Institute for Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering (NIBGE) as a Scientific Officer in 2000 after graduating from Quaid i Azam University (QAU), Islamabad, Pakistan. In 2011, he received his Ph.D. in Molecular Microbiology from the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. When he returned, he launched the National Probiotics Lab initiative at NIBGE, where he served as project director until its completion. He is currently the Probiotics and Food Safety Research Group’s Principal Scientist and Group Leader. 

Global Ambassadors have a range of expertise and knowledge across regions and sectors, and support and promote applied microbiology and our organisation. They serve for a two-year tenure promoting AMI’s strategy and are a key source of information about our work. They play a pivotal role in our communication strategy and are equipped with marketing materials and merchandise to assist in growing membership in their regions. 

We are also looking for Global Ambassadors from a variety of regions! To find out more, click HERE.