Biography
Dr Debnath advises the programme on issues pertaining to the One Health projects including global food security and agricultural architecture.
He is currently working as senior technical adviser at the Emergency Center for Transboundary Emerging Diseases of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, Bangladesh.
Dr Debnath pioneered a One Health movement in Bangladesh in 2007 jointly with veterinarians, physicians and environmental scientists, and launched a new professional organization called One World One Health Bangladesh Initiative. He has been chairing One Health Bangladesh for the last five years.
He was the founding Vice-Chancellor at Chittagong Veterinary & Animal Sciences University. Because of his leading role in research and educational networking Chittagong Veterinary and Animal Sciences University has become one of the premier universities in South Asia.
Dr Debnath has also been serving on the board of the International Association for Ecology and Health (IAEH) as one of its members since 2011.
He received Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) and MSc (Vet Med) degrees from the Bangladesh Agricultural University in and has achieved MSc in Tropical Veterinary Medicine from the University of Edinburgh.
Dr Debnath has obtained a PhD in the field of Animal Virology from the University of Surrey and undertaken postdoctoral training in Japan.
Past experience
| 2011–present | One Health coordinator, Emergency Centre for Transboundary Animal Disease (ECTAD), Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), and international consultant |
| 2006–2018 | Professor, Department of Microbiology and Public Health, Chittagong Veterinary & Animal Sciences University (CVASU) |
| 2006–2010 | Founding vice-chancellor, Chittagong Veterinary & Animal Sciences University (CVASU) |
| 1996–2006 | Founding principal and dean, Chittagong Government Veterinary College, University of Chittagong |
| 1986–1996 | Senior scientific officer, Bangladesh Livestock Research Institute |
| 1979–1986 | Veterinary surgeon and scientific officer, Department of Livestock Services, Bangladesh |