Sid Thakur, BVSc, MVSc, PhD

Professor of Molecular Epidemiology

• sthakur@ncsu.edu
• Office: 919.513.0729
• Additional positions:
  • Director of Global Health, CVM
  • Director of Global Health, NC State
• Lab: Thakur Molecular Epidemiology Lab 
• Twitter: @SidThakurLab
• Department: Population Health and Pathobiology

Biography Sid Thakur has specialized in antimicrobial resistant infectious pathogens and food safety for nearly 20 years. Throughout his career, he has applied a One Health approach to investigate the impact of interplay between animals, humans and their environment on the dissemination and persistence of antimicrobial resistant bacterial strains.  His lab focuses on understanding the molecular epidemiology of multi-drug resistant foodborne pathogens to improve global food safety, and the dynamics of bacterial pathogens in food animals, retail meat, humans and the environment. Thakur’s lab also represents the State of North Carolina in two national surveillance systems: the National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System (NARMS) and the whole genome sequencing Genome Trakr program.  Thakur has active collaborations in several countries. Among these global projects, he led a WHO-AGISAR project in India to establish an antimicrobial resistance surveillance system across human and veterinary institutions, and collaborated with researchers from the University of Surrey, UK, to create a Collaborative Hub for Advancing Interdisciplinary Research (CHAIR), which aimed to reduce and prevent the emergence of antimicrobial resistance in animal and human populations. In 2018, Thakur was named director of the College of Veterinary Medicine’s Global Health program, and also Director of Global Health for NC State University. In these roles, Thakur plans to build multidisciplinary collaborations within the college and with global partners to reduce the burden of infectious diseases in humans and animals.

Global Health Research Fields

• Antimicrobial resistance
• Food safety
• Public health

Main Areas of Expertise

• Antimicrobial resistant foodborne pathogens
• Bacterial pathogen surveillance
• Whole genome sequencing

Global Health Research Interests

• Understanding the molecular epidemiology of important multi-drug resistant (MDR) bacterial pathogens that impact both human and animal health at the global scale
• Identifying new strategies for detection and mitigation of antimicrobial resistance in zoonotic pathogens
• Establishing One Health training programs

Countries of Experience

• Australia
• China
• India
• Morocco
• Senegal
• South Africa
• United Kingdom

Ongoing Projects

• Generating whole genome sequencing profiles of bacterial foodborne pathogens around the world (WHO-AGISAR and FDA GenomeTrakr collaborative project)
• National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System (NARMS) 
• Identifying approaches for mitigating risk of infectious pathogen transmission at the animal and fresh produce interface

Network (collaborators)

• College of Health Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, KwaZulu Province | South Africa
• Govind Ballabh Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar | India
• IAV Hassan II, Hassan II Institute of Agronomy & Veterinary Medicine, Rabat | Morocco
• Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Izatnagar, Bareilly | India
• Indian Council of Agricultural Research – Central Institute of Fisheries Technology (ICAR CIFT), Cochin | India
• Institute of Microbial Technology, Chandigarh | India
• Institut Pasteur, Dakar | Senegal
• Inter-State School of Veterinary Sciences and Medicine (EISMV), Dakar | Senegal
• National Research Center on Meat (NRCM), Hyderabad | India 
• Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh | India
• Qingdao Agricultural University, Qingdao | China
• School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Surrey, Guildford | United Kingdom
• Shandong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Jinan | China
• University of Pretoria, Pretoria | South Africa
• University of Wollongong, Wollongong | Australia

Selected Publications

Suchawan P, van Vliet A, Thakur S. Whole genome sequencing analysis of multiple Salmonella serotypes provides insights into phylogenetic relatedness, antimicrobial resistance, and virulence markers across humans, food animals and environmental sources. BMC Genomics (Accepted 2018). 

Moreno AM, Moreni LZ, Gomes VTM, Moreira J, Oliveira CH, Peres BP, Silva APS, Thakur S, Ragione RL. First report of mcr-1-harboring Salmonella enterica serovar Schwarzengrund isolated from poultry meat in Brazil. Diagn Microbiol Infect Dis (Submitted 2018).

Ball TA, Cray PJ, Horovitz J, Thakur S. Molecular characterization of Salmonella from cattle and chicken farms in Uganda. Online J Public Health Inform 2018; 10(1): e148. (Pubmed)

Kumar D, Pornsukarom S, Sivaraman G, Thakur S. Environmental dissemination of Multidrug Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus sciuri (MDR-MRSS) after application of manure in commercial swine production systems. Foodborne Pathog Dis 2018;15 (4): 210-217 (Pubmed)

Kniel K, Kumar D, Thakur S. Understanding the complexities of food safety using a “One Health” approach. Microbiology Spectrum 2018; 6 (1) (Pubmed)

Suchawan P, Thakur S. Horizontal dissemination of antimicrobial resistance determinants in multiple Salmonella serotypes `isolated from the environment of commercial swine operations after manure application. Appl Environ Microbiol 2018. 83 (20): e01503-17. (Pubmed)

Global Health Memberships

• American Society for Microbiology (ASM)
• International Association for Food Protection (IAFP) 

 

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