I am Farah Noshin Chowdhury, from Dhaka, Bangladesh. I have completed my Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in environmental sciences from Jahangirnagar University; and I have conducted research in the domains of ecotoxicology and public health prior to joining the University of Iowa. I wish to study the uncharted impacts on health caused by the disparities in nature. I am highly interested in holistically studying the toxicity of environmental chemicals in humans using a bottom-up approach, working from cellular toxic impacts to evaluating ultimate physiological markers of toxic stress-induced diseases.

The human body is inherently good at withstanding a certain amount of several toxic and unwanted chemicals. However, artificial chemicals foreign to biological processes and the sheer load of it being pressed down upon nature at this point is unprecedented in the Earth’s history. I believe, in today’s world, industries need to prevail, but not at the expense of life and health. Therefore, I have concentrated my research till now on the toxins in nature and public health, and now my future ambition is to conduct more critical research on human toxicology. On top of that, Iowa City being named as the third UNESCO City of Literature globally indicated to me a collective air of creativity in the city and on this university campus. Being an avid reader of literature, history, and mythology myself, I could not but be more interested to be a part of this community.