Dr Farrah Zaidi
Ph.D , Department of Entomology, Institute of Agriculture and Biotechnology, Zhejiang University, China (2011) in Entomology
Research Interest: My research interests coincide with the subjects that I teach at BS, MSc, MPhil and PhD levels. These are Entomology & Environmental Biology. I have been a part of several teams working on environmental contamination and bioaccumulation. My Lab however is actively involved in research on arthropods and insects of Medical, Veterinary, Agricultural and Forensic importance. My students have worked on diverse projects focusing taxonomy, biology and ecology of a number of insect species. Among vectors our main emphasis has been groups such as sand flies. Among parasites, we have performed research on ticks and screwworm species of KP. Among pests, Orthopterans in family Acrididae have been the primary center of our research. Furthermore we have executed experiments in forensic entomology (insect succession on animal and human carcasses). Working on a diverse array of vectors I have developed a particular interest in Medical geography and Epidemiology. Being an ecologist I am also interested in spatial patterns of disease dispersion and the role of changing climate on vector-disease dynamics.
Telephone: 091-9216754
MSc in Zoology with Highest Marks
PhD in Entomology from Department of Entomology, Zhejiang University, China (CSC scholarship mutually funded by Governments of Pakistan and China) degree awarded in June 2011
Duration of University Service
Jan 2003 – May 2005 (split contracts); May 2005- Till date (Regular appointment)
Conferences attended as an invited Speaker
A conference on insects of medical importance, organized by NIFA (Nuclear Institute of Food and Agriculture), Pakistan
Research Work presented at conferences
- 1st international conference on forensic science and justice, GC University, Lahore
(Recovery of Chrysomya rufifacies from a human corpse: implications in forensic entomology)
- Pakistan Congress of Zoology (Research work presented several times in the fields of entomology and molecular systematics)
Research Publications
1. Khan M.I., Muhammad Khisroon, Ajmal Khan, Naila Gulfam, Muhammad Siraj, Farrah Zaidi, …….. and Fazli Qadir. “Bioaccumulation of Heavy Metals in Water, Sediments, Tissues and their Histopathological Effects on the Anodonta cygnea (Linea, 1876) in River Kabul, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Pakistan." BioMed Research International (accepted on 22 january 2018)
2. Asad Ali, Sadaf Javed, Saleem Ullah, Syeda Hira Fatima, Farrah Zaidi and Mansoor Shaukat Khan. Bayesian spatial analysis and prediction of groundwater contamination in Jhelum city (Pakistan) Environmental Earth Sciences (2018) 77: 87.
3. Siraj, Muhammad, Muhammad Khisroon, Ajmal Khan, Farrah Zaidi, Ahmad Ullah, and Ghani Rahman. "Bio-monitoring of Tissue Accumulation and Genotoxic Effect of Heavy Metals in Cyprinus carpio from River Kabul Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Pakistan." Bulletin of environmental contamination and toxicology (2018): 1-6.
4. Zaidi, Farrah. “Use of insect evidence in criminal investigations: Developing a framework for strengthening of the justice system.” Pakistan Journal of Criminology (2017).
5. Khisroon, Muhammad, Ajmal Khan, Muhammad Imran, Farrah Zaidi, Ahmadullah, and Syeda Hira Fatima. "Biomonitoring of DNA damage in individuals exposed to brick kiln pollution from Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan." Archives of Environmental & Occupational Health (2017): 1-6.
6. Zaidi, Farrah, Syeda Hira Fatima, Tehmina Jan, Mehreen Fatima, Asad Ali, Muhammad Khisroon, Muhammad Adnan, and Syed Basit Rasheed. "Environmental risk modeling and potential sand?fly vectors of Cutaneous Leishmaniasis in Chitral District: A leishmanial focal point of mount Tirchmir, Pakistan." Tropical Medicine & International Health (2017).
7. Zaidi, Farrah, Syeda Hira Fatima, Muhammad Khisroon, and Ayesha Gul. "Distribution modeling of three screwworm species in the ecologically diverse landscape of North West Pakistan." Acta tropica 162 (2016): 56-65.
8. Zaidi, Farrah, Naheed Ali, and Muhammad Khisroon. "Urinogenital Myiasis From Blow Fly in a Pakistani Child." Journal of the College of Physicians and Surgeons--Pakistan: JCPSP 26, no. 6 Suppl (2016): S35-6.
9. Zaidi, Farrah, Syeda Hira Fatima, and Ayesha Gul. "Dataset of traumatic myiasis observed for three dominant screw worm species in North West Pakistan with first report of Wohlfahrtia magnifica (Schiner)." Data in brief 8 (2016): 1333.
10. Fatima, Syeda Hira, Salman Atif, Syed Basit Rasheed, Farrah Zaidi, and Ejaz Hussain. "Species Distribution Modelling of Aedes aegypti in two dengue?endemic regions of Pakistan." Tropical Medicine & International Health 21, no. 3 (2016): 427-436.
11. Khisroon, M., Gul, A., Khan, A., Ali, N., Farrah Zaidi, Rasheed, S. B., & Akbar, H. (2015) Comet assay based DNA evaluation of fuel filling stations and automobile workshops workers from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistan. Journal of Occupational Medicine and Toxicology, 10(1), 27.
12. Khan, Khurshaid, Sobia Wahid, Nazma Habib Khan, Farrah Zaidi, Basit Rasheed, and Naheed Ali. "Numerical taxonomic analysis of sand flies (diptera; psychodidae) from Dir districts, Kpk Pakistan." J. Sc. & Tech. Univ. Peshawar 39, no. 1 (2015): 13-22.
13. Khattak, Romaan Hayat, Fawad Aziz, and Farrah Zaidi. Ejaz-Ur-Rahman. "Ichthyofauna of river Kabul at Nowshera, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan." IJBS 2, no. 2 (2015): 57-61.
14. Mirab-Balou, Majid, and Farrah Zaidi. "First report of the genus and species Cephalothrips monilicornis (Reuter)(Thysanoptera: Phlaeothripidae) from Doha, Qatar."
15. Ali, Naheed and Farrah Zaidi. Molecular systematics and divergence estimates of Pakistani mosquitoes in genus Anopheles. The Journal of animal and plant sciences, 24, (2014): 1069-1075.
16. Zaidi, Farrah, Shu-Jun Wei, Min Shi, and Xue-Xin Chen. "Utility of multi-gene loci for forensic species diagnosis of blowflies." Journal of Insect Science 11, no. 1 (2011): 59.
17. Zaidi, Farrah, and Xue-xin Chen. "A preliminary survey of carrion breeding insects associated with the Eid ul Azha festival in remote Pakistan." Forensic science international209, no. 1-3 (2011): 186-194.