Siddhartha Thakur

Bio

Dr. Siddhartha “Sid” Thakur is the Executive Director of Global One Health Academy and Professor of Molecular Epidemiology at the College of Veterinary Medicine at NC State. He is responsible for expanding NC State’s One Health research, education and engagement efforts and developing evidence-based recommendations for tackling current and future global threats. He is an NC State Chancellor faculty scholar. He received his Degree in Veterinary Medicine and Master of Veterinary Public Health from India and his Ph.D. from NC State.

His research focus is to fill critical knowledge gaps in the complex chain of events leading to the development, dissemination, and persistence of antimicrobial-resistant (AMR) bacterial foodborne pathogens at the interface of humans, animals, plants, and the environment. He is an NC State Chancellor faculty scholar. He has won numerous awards, including the Larry Beuchat Young Researcher Award by the International Association for Food Protection and the Outstanding Global Engagement award by NC State. Dr. Thakur has authored or co-authored 80 peer-reviewed publications and edited two books on Food Safety.

AFFILIATIONS

NC State Global One Health Academy. https://provost.ncsu.edu/global-one-health-academy/

CERTIFICATIONS

Oakridge Research Associated Universities Postdoctoral Fellow at Center for Veterinary Medicine, Food and Drug Administration, Laurel, Maryland, 20708. 2005-2007.
Doctor of Philosophy in Population Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, NC State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, 27606. 2002-2005.
Master of Veterinary Science in Veterinary Public Health, Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Izatnagar, India. 1998-2000.
Bachelor of Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry, Gobind Ballabh Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Udham Singh Nagar, India. 1993-1998.

Area(s) of Expertise

Dr. Thakur`s research is centered on two predominant themes. The first revolves around understanding the phenotypic and genotypic similarity and/or diversity of AMR bacterial strains reported in animals and humans. This involves characterizing and elucidating the mechanisms of AMR at the molecular level, analyzing DNA fingerprint patterns, and determining the risk factors that predispose animals and humans to infections by these strains. The second theme focuses on using phylogenetics to study the evolution of drug-resistant bacterial strains at the population level. In this, molecular approaches are undertaken to analyze pathogen evolution on an evolutionary scale.

Publications

• Antimicrobial resistance in food-borne pathogens at the human-animal interface: Results from a large surveillance study in India , ONE HEALTH (2024)
• Characteristics of antimicrobial resistance in Escherichia coli isolated from retail meat products in North Carolina , PLOS ONE (2024)
• Fluoroquinolone-resistant Campylobacter in backyard and commercial broiler production systems in the United States , JAC-ANTIMICROBIAL RESISTANCE (2024)
• Megaplasmid Dissemination in Multidrug-Resistant Salmonella Serotypes from Backyard and Commercial Broiler Production Systems in the Southeastern United States , FOODBORNE PATHOGENS AND DISEASE (2024)
• Phenotypic and Genotypic Characterizations of Antimicrobial-Resistant Escherichia coli Isolates from Diverse Retail Meat Samples in North Carolina During 2018-2019 , FOODBORNE PATHOGENS AND DISEASE (2024)
• Serovar-level identification of bacterial foodborne pathogens from full-length 16S rRNA gene sequencing , MSYSTEMS (2024)
• The genomic diversity and antimicrobial resistance of Non-typhoidal Salmonella in humans and food animals in Northern India , ONE HEALTH (2024)
• Widespread prevalence of plasmid-mediated bla_CTX-M type extended-spectrum beta-lactamase Escherichia coli in backyard broiler production systems in the United States , PLOS ONE (2024)
• Detection of resistance and virulence plasmids in Campylobacter coli and Campylobacter jejuni isolated from North Carolina food animal production, 2018-2019 , FOOD MICROBIOLOGY (2023)
• Draft Genome Sequences of Escherichia coli and Enterococcus faecalis Coisolated from Polymicrobial Extraintestinal Infections of Chickens and Turkeys , MICROBIOLOGY RESOURCE ANNOUNCEMENTS (2023)