A six-member delegation led by Pro-Vice Chancellor (Academic) of Dhaka University (DU) Prof. Dr. Abdus Salam took part in the JSPS Core-to-Core Symposium on One Health Approaches to Chemical Risk Management held in Japan. This symposium was held from 6–8 October 2026 at Ehime University.

  The members of the delegation were Dean of the Faculty of Earth and Environmental Sciences of DU Prof. Dr. Md. Humayun Kabir, Chairman of the Department of Fisheries Prof. Mohammad Mamun Chowdhury, Prof. Dr. Anwar Hossain and Dr. Md. Habibullah-Al-Mamun of the Department of Fisheries and Associate Professor of the Department of Oceanography and Director of the International Centre for Ocean Governance (ICOG) Dr. K M Azam Chowdhury.

The symposium was organized by the Center for Marine Environmental Studies (CMES), Ehime University, with Leading Academia in Marine and Environment Pollution Research (LaMer) as co-organizer, and was supported by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS). Prof. Dr. Kozo Watanabe, Deputy Director of CMES and Head of its Office for International and Social Cooperation, took the initiative for the programme and chaired its organizing committee. Researchers from Bangladesh, Japan, the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Mozambique and other countries joined the oral and poster sessions, as well as the plenary and special talks. The programme focused on research directions for sustainable development in South and Southeast Asia, in particular reducing the impact of chemicals used in medicine, agriculture, aquaculture and animal husbandry on the environment and ecosystems while protecting public health and livelihoods.

In the first oral session, Pro-Vice Chancellor (Academic) Prof. Dr. Abdus Salam delivered a presentation on the air quality status in Bangladesh, covering its occurrence, sources and impact on human health. Prof. Dr. Md. Humayun Kabir presented a poster on fire hazard risks from chemical warehouses in the Dhaka South City Corporation area. Prof. Mohammad Mamun Chowdhury presented a poster on the effects of dietary selenium and zinc nanoparticles on the growth of Pangasius in Bangladesh. Prof. Dr. Anwar Hossain presented on the contamination of antibiotics and antimicrobial resistance in the water environments of Bangladesh and strategies to mitigate the risks. Dr. K M Azam Chowdhury presented a poster on the seasonal characteristics of dissolved oxygen dynamics and the oxygen minimum zone in the northern Bay of Bengal, based on a coupled model–observation study.

On 8 October, alongside the symposium, a bilateral meeting was held between ICOG and CMES under the leadership of Pro-Vice Chancellor (Academic) Prof. Dr. Abdus Salam. Prof. Dr. Xinyu Guo represented CMES, with Prof. Dr. Akihiko Morimoto, Director of CMES, also taking part. ICOG’s research activities were presented by its Director, Dr. K M Azam Chowdhury. In the meeting, the Pro-Vice Chancellor (Academic) placed particular emphasis on strengthening ocean research, modelling and forecasting, and expressed the hope of collaborating with CMES in these areas. CMES’s work on physical–ecosystem and pollution coupling models is of great importance for the development of Bangladesh’s blue economy, and the research of Prof. Morimoto is likewise valuable for the country’s marine development.

During the meeting, the two sides exchanged crests and discussed future academic exchange and the possibilities for joint research between the two institutions. It was also agreed at the meeting to move forward with a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the University of Dhaka and Ehime University, which is expected to be signed soon under the supervision of DU Vice-Chancellor Prof. Dr. A. B. M. Obaidul Islam. Both sides expressed hope that the agreement would open new avenues for joint research, faculty and student exchange, and capacity building in marine science, environmental monitoring and public health.

09/10/2026

(Md. Rafiqul Islam)

Director

Public Relations Office

University of Dhaka