This summer, Ekra Hoque ’26 has taken her biochemistry training home to Bangladesh, where she’s investigating a critical public health issue: food safety. At BRAC University in Dhaka, she’s exploring what it’s like to conduct scientific research in the place where she hopes to build her future career.
Hoque’s experience is supported by Career Services’ Summer Internship Funding program, which is designed to help offset related expenses. Her host institution, BRAC University, was established in 2001 by Sir Fazle Hasan Abed, the founder of BRAC, one of the world’s largest nongovernmental organizations. Modeled on the American liberal arts college system, the university shapes future leaders who can balance academic excellence with empathetic leadership.
At BRAC, Hoque joined a large microbiology lab to investigate the quality and safety of food commonly sold in open-air markets — “where affordability often comes at the cost of hygiene,” Hoque says. “Many people in Bangladesh, especially those living in poverty, rely on these markets for daily food, but they’re not always safe.”
Her research involved collecting items such as fruits, dates, grains, and nuts, and testing them for microbial and fungal contamination.
“When I started off, I was looking for aflatoxins,” Hoque says. These are spores produced by fungal growth on food that can have toxic effects. But as her testing commenced, she found these and more: gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria, lactose fermenters and non-fermenters.
“While some of these microbes occur naturally in the human body, they may pose health risks when consumed in large quantities through contaminated food,” says Hoque. “I think that, with further research, we’ll be able to better understand how these microbes affect consumers.”
Along the way, Hoque has learned several new lab techniques, including culturing cells, PCR (polymerase chain reaction), and ELISA, a test used to detect specific bacteria and fungi.
“Working in a large, high-volume lab environment was such an educational experience for me,” she adds. “I had to keep up with the pace and, many times, work independently. My long-term goals include coming back to Bangladesh and working as a professor here, conducting research.”
Short term, Hoque and her BRAC colleagues hope to build on this work by collecting hospital data and exploring the broader correlations between food contamination and public health in Bangladesh.
“Through this work, we hope to raise awareness and explore safer, more sustainable alternatives,” says Hoque.
Visit Career Services online for more information about summer internship funding at 91鶹Ʒ.