Farah Ishtiaq

Farah-Ishtiaq-2-blackwhite

Farah Ishtiaq
Principal Scientist
farah.ishtiaq@tigs.res.in

Education

PhD, Aligarh Muslim University, 1999

Experience

  • Wellcome Trust – Department of Biotechnology India Alliance Intermediate Fellow, Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, 2013 – 2019
  • Maternity break [used this time for writing successful grants and publishing articles], 2011 – 2013
  • Postdoctoral Research Associate, Global Health Program Wildlife Conservation Society, USA, 2010 – 2011
  • Marie Curie International Incoming Research Fellow (Return Phase), Wildlife Institute of India, India, 2008 – 2010
  • Marie Curie International Incoming Research Fellow, Edward Grey Institute, University of Oxford, UK, 2006 – 2008
  • Postdoctoral Research Associate, Edward Grey Institute, University of Oxford, UK, 2005 – 2006
  • Postdoctoral Research Associate, Genetics Program, Smithsonian Institution, 2002 – 2005
  • National Coordinator, Important Bird Areas Programme and Indian Bird Conservation Network, Bombay Natural History Society, India, 1999 – 2002
  • Research Scientist, Bombay Natural History Society, India, 1998 – 1999

Expertise

Disease Ecology, Evolution, Conservation Biology

Areas of interest

Vector Ecology and Genomics Surveillance

Honors and Awards

  • Indian Council of Medical Research, Tracking SARS-CoV-2 with Wastewater: An environmental surveillance and epidemiological studies in Bangalore city [Approved], 2021
  • Wellcome Trust/DBT India Alliance, Intermediate Fellowship: GBP 450,000: Altitudinal gradient in vector-borne parasites in Himalayas, 2013 – 2019
  • Ramanujan Fellowship, Department of Science and Technology, India (Not taken up), 2012
  • International Incoming Marie Curie Fellowship (return phase), European Commission: GBP 19500. Avian malaria in Himalayan foothills, 2008 – 2009
  • International Incoming Marie Curie Fellowship, European Commission, GBP194,000: Avian malaria in South Pacific Islands, 2006 – 2008

Publications

  • Ferraguti M, Magallanes S, Jiménez-Peñuela J, Martínez-de la Puente J, Garcia-Longoria L, Muriel, J, Albayrak T, Bensch S, Bonneaud C, Clarke R, Árpád Czirják G, Dimitrov D, Espinoza-Ramirez K, Ewen J, Ishtiaq F, Figuerola J, Flores-Saavedra W, Garamszegi LZ, Hellgren O, Marzal (in review) Environmental, geographical, and time-related impacts on avian malaria infection in introduced and native populations of house sparrow (Passer domesticus), a globally invasive species. Global Ecology and Biogeography (GEB-2021-0726).
  • Huang X, Peng Y, Ellis VA, Ishtiaq F, Wang H, Liang W, Wu Q, Bensch S, Dong L (in review) Global biogeographic and evolutionary patterns of avian haemosporidians in the great tit (Parus major) species complex. Evolution Letters, MS ID: EVL3-21-0123.
  • Dey P. and F Ishtiaq (in review) Ecology and life-history strategies predict physiological stress in seasonally sympatric Himalayan passerines.
  • Ishtiaq F (2021) Ecology and evolution of avian malaria: implications of land use changes and climate change on disease dynamics. Jour. Of Indian Institute of Science. 101: 213-225.
  • Ishtiaq F, S Swain, and S Sampath (2021) Anopheles stephensi: Vector of the Month. Trends in Parasitology. 37:571-572.
  • Menzies R, J Borah, U Srinivasan and F Ishtiaq (2021). The effect of habitat quality on the blood parasite assemblage in understory avian insectivores in the Eastern Himalaya. Ibis. 163:962-973.
  • Ishtiaq F and S Renner (2020) Chapter 16: Bird Migration and Vector-born Parasite Transmission. In Diego Santiago-Alarcon and Alfonso Marzal (eds) Avian malaria and related parasites in the tropics: ecology, evolution, and systematics. Springer Nature Switzerland. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-51633-8_16
  • Nandakumar M and F Ishtiaq (2020). Genetic drift and bottleneck do not influence diversity in toll-like receptor genes at a small spatial scale in a Himalayan passerine. Ecology & Evolution, 10(21): 12246-12263.
  • Chakravarty R, M Reudi, F Ishtiaq (2020) A recent survey of bats with descriptions of echolocation calls and new records from the western Himalayan region of Uttarakhand, India. Acta Chiropterologica, 22(1): 197–224.
  • Grubaugh N, F Ishtiaq YX Setoh and AI Ko (2019) Misperceived risks of Zika-related microcephaly in India. Trends in Microbiology, 27: 381-383.
  • Bhattacharyya S and F Ishtiaq (2019) Noninvasive sampling reveal population genetic structure in the Royle’s Pika (Ochotona roylei) in the western Himalaya. Ecology and Evolution, 9: 180-191.
  • Bhattacharyya S, D Dawson, H Hipperson, F Ishtiaq (2019) A diet rich in C3 plants reveals the sensitivity of an alpine mammal to climate change. Molecular Ecology, 28:250-265.
  • Ishtiaq F, S Barve (2018) Do avian blood parasites influence hypoxia physiology in montane birds? BMC Ecology, 18:15.
  • Ishtiaq F (2018) A call to introduce structured Zika surveillance in India. Trends in Parasitology, 34: 92-95.
  • Ishtiaq F, CGR Bowden, YV Jhala (2017) Seasonal dynamics in mosquito abundance and temperature do not influence avian malaria prevalence in the Himalayan foothills. Ecology & Evolution, 7:8040-8057.
  • Barve S, S Dixit, AA Dhondt, F Ishtiaq (2017) Sexual dimorphism in breast stripe width and beak ecomorphology in western Himalayan population of Green-backed Tits Parus monticolus. Avian Biology Research, 10(4):259-263.
  • Ishtiaq F, M Rao, V Palinauskas (2019) Molecular characterisation and morphological description of a prevalent parasite Haemoproteus leiothrichus nov. in laughingthrushes (Leiothrichidae) in the eastern and western Himalaya, India. Wellcome Open Research, 3:94.
  • Ishtiaq F (2017) Exploring host and geographical shifts in transmission of haemosporidians a Palaearctic passerine wintering in India. Journal of Ornithology, 158:869-874.
  • Ishtiaq F, M Rao, X Huang, S Bensch (2017) Estimating prevalence of avian haemosporidians in natural populations – a comparative study on screening protocols. Parasites & Vectors, 10: 127.RESEARCH FUNDING
  • Barve S, AA Dhondt, VB Mathur, F Ishtiaq, ZA Cheviron (2017) Life-history characteristics influence physiological strategies to cope with hypoxia in Himalayan birds. Royal Soc. London B 284: 1846.
  • Clark NJ, S Olsson-Pons, F Ishtiaq, SM Clegg (2015) Specialist enemies, generalist weapons and the potential spread of exotic pathogens: malaria parasites in a highly invasive bird. International Journal of Parasitology, 45 (14):891-899.
  • Olsson-Pons S, NJ Clark, F Ishtiaq, SM Clegg (2015) Differences in host species relationships and biogeographic influences produce contrasting patterns of prevalence, community composition and genetic structure in two genera of avian malaria parasites in southern Melanesia. Journal of Animal Ecology, 84(4): 985-998.
  • Ishtiaq F, V Prakash, RE Green, J Johnson (2014) Management implications of genetic studies for ex situ populations of three critically endangered Asian Gyps vultures. Animal Conservation, 18(3): 259-270.
  • Price T, DM Hooper, CD Buchanan, UF Johansson, DT Tietze, P Alstrom, P Olsson, M Ghosh-Harihar, F Ishtiaq, SK Gupta, J Martens, B Harr, P Singh, D Mohan (2014) Niche filling slows the diversification of Himalayan Songbirds. Nature, 509: 222-225.
  • Ishtiaq F, M Gilbert, J Brown, P Joyner, DD Stallknecht (2012) Antibodies to influenza A virus in wild birds across Mongolia from 2006 through 2009. Journal of Wildlife Diseases, 48(3): 768-775.
  • Ishtiaq F, JS Beadell, BH Warren, RC Fleischer (2012) Diversity and distribution of avian haematozoan parasites in the western Indian Ocean region: a molecular survey. Parasitology, 139 (2):221-31.
  • Ishtiaq F, S Dutta, B Yumnam, YV Jhala (2011) Low genetic diversity in the endangered Great Indian Bustard (Ardeotis nigriceps) across India and implications for conservation. Conservation Genetics, 12 (3): 857-863.
  • Ishtiaq F, S Javed, MC Coulter, AR Rahmani (2010) Resource partitioning in three sympatric species of storks in Keoladeo National Park, India. Waterbirds, 33(1): 41-49.
  • Ishtiaq F, SM Clegg, AB Phillimore, RA Black, IPF Owens, BC Sheldon (2010) Biogeographical patterns of blood parasite lineage diversity in avian hosts from southern Melanesian islands. Journal of Biogeography, 37: 120-132.
  • Beadell, JS, R Covas, M Melo, F Ishtiaq, SL Perkins, GR Graves, RC Fleischer (2009). Host-associations and evolutionary relationships of avian blood parasites from West Africa. International Journal of Parasitology, 39(2): 257-266.
  • Ishtiaq F, L Guillaumot, SM Clegg, AB Phillimore, RA Black, IPF Owens, NI Mundy, BC Sheldon (2008). Avian haematozoan parasites and their associations with mosquitoes across southwest Pacific Islands. Molecular Ecology, 17: 4545-4555.
  • Ishtiaq F, E Gering, J Rappole, AR Rahmani, YV Jhala, C Dove, C Milensky, S Olson, M Peirce RC Fleischer (2007). Prevalence and diversity of avian haematozoan parasites in Asia: a regional survey. Journal of Wildlife Diseases, 43(3): 382-398.
  • Beadell JS., F Ishtiaq, R Covas, M Melo, BH Warren, CT Atkinson, S Bensch, GR Graves, YV Jhala, MA Peirce, AR Rahmani, DM Fonseca, RC Fleischer (2006). Global phylogeographic limits of Hawaii’s avian malaria. Royal Soc. London B, 273: 2935-2944.
  • Ishtiaq F, JS Beadell, AJ Baker, AR Rahmani, YV Jhala, RC Fleischer (2006). Prevalence and evolutionary relationships of haematozoan parasites in native versus introduced populations of common myna Acridotheres tristis. Royal Soc. London B, 273: 587-594.
  • Durrant KL, JS Beadell, F Ishtiaq, GR Graves, SL Olson, E Gering, M Peirce, CM Milensky, BK Schmidt, C Gebhard, RC Fleischer (2006). Avian haematozoa in South America: a comparison of temperate and tropical zones. Ornithological Monographs, 60: 98-111.
  • Ishtiaq F, AR Rahmani (2005). The Forest Owlet Heteroglaux blewitti: Vocalization, breeding biology and conservation. Ibis, 147:197–205.
  • Ishtiaq F, AR Rahmani, S Javed, MC Coulter (2004). Nest-site characteristics of Black-necked Stork Ephippiorhynchus asiaticus and Woolly-necked Stork Ciconia episcopus in Keoladeo National Park, Bharatpur, India. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society, 101 (1):90-95.
  • Ishtiaq F, AR Rahmani, PC Rasmussen. (2002). Ecology and behaviour of the Forest Owlet (Athene blewitti). In Newton, I., Kavanagh, R.P., Olsen, J. & Taylor, I.R. 2002. Ecology and Conservation of Owls. Melbourne: CSIRO Publishing. Pp. 80-88.
  • Ishtiaq F, S Jhunjhunwala, Z Islam, AR Rahmani (2000). Conservation of Galliformes through IBA Approach. Proceedings of the 2nd International Galliformes Symposium. Kathmandu and Royal Chitwan Park, Nepal. Pp. 17-25.
  • Ishtiaq F, AR Rahmani (2000). Further information on the status and distribution of Forest Owlet Athene blewitti in India. Forktail (16): 125-130.
  • Ishtiaq F, AR Rahmani (2000). Cronism in Forest Spotted Owlet Athene blewitti. Forktail (16): 172- 173.
  • Rasmussen CP, F Ishtiaq (1999). Vocalizations and Behaviour of Forest Spotted Owlet Athene blewitti. Forktail (15): 61-66.
  • Ishtiaq F (1998). Cannibalism in Woolly-necked Stork Ciconia episcopus. Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society, 95(2): 337.