The Journey of a Bangladeshi Scientist

Marjana Akter is a Bangladeshi scientist whose work sits at the meeting point of life sciences, public health, and global security. She earned her BSc in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from Shahjalal University of Science and Technology (SUST), and her MSc in Microbiology and Hygiene from Bangladesh Agricultural University, a foundation bridging molecular research with real-world questions of health and food systems.

Her research interests span microbiology, molecular biology, poultry virology, infectious disease, and agricultural biotechnology. As first author of "Genomic and pathological insights into the first identified genotype IIIb chicken anemia virus strain in Bangladesh" (Microbiology Spectrum, 2025), she has contributed original findings at the intersection of poultry virology, phylogenetics, and agricultural science, with direct relevance to Bangladesh and the wider region.

Beyond the laboratory, Marjana is committed to biosecurity and science diplomacy. Her selection as the first Bangladeshi female researcher in the UNODA Young Women for Biosecurity Fellowship (2025) reflects a growing role in international conversations on biological risk reduction, while recognition in the Asian Scientist 100 (2026) for Agricultural Sciences and an invitation to judge the iGEM competition (2026) signal her emergence as a trusted voice among the next generation of scientists.

Above all, Marjana sees science as a bridge between disciplines, between nations, and between the students of Bangladesh and the global opportunities that once felt out of reach. She works to show that world-class science can rise from Bangladesh, and that young women have a rightful place at its frontier.