Anwar Huq, Ph.D., joined the department of microbiology in 1989 and is currently a professor at the Maryland Pathogen Research Institute at the University of Maryland, College Park. Huq received a B.S. in zoology, an M.S. in marine zoology from the University of Karachi and a Ph.D. in microbiology from the University of Maryland, College Park in 1984. His graduate work on the ecology of Vibrio cholerae and plankton, specifically copepods, lead to major findings on survival, multiplication and transmission of this pathogen in the environment. 

Huq’s research interests include understanding of pathogens, primarily the waterborne pathogens, and focuses on disease prevention and intervention. With global climate change, a significant impact is expected to occur on many such pathogens. His ecology work contributed to the development of prediction models for cholera using satellite data, and his sari filtration method to prevent cholera proved to save lives and reduce cases of cholera in Bangladesh.

Huq has published over 250 papers in peer-reviewed journals, books and proceedings cited over 21,000 times. He has also presented over 110 invited talks in over 60 countries.  

Huq has been a member of ASM since 1980, was elected as a fellow of the American Academy for Microbiology in 1999 and received the Distinguished Scientist Award from the University of Maryland in 2019. He serves on numerous committees at universities, institutes, journals and professional societies, nationally and internationally. Huq served as the general secretary of the Bangladesh Society of Microbiologists (BSM) in 1987-1989. He also founded the International Society of Bangladesh-Affiliated Microbiologists (ISBM) and is the immediate Past-President and currently on the board of directors of the society.