Researcher Profile

My research interest is focused on maternal and child health, with particular interest on child’s neuro-cognitive, language, motor, executive function and behavioral development. My research also addresses all possible childhood adversities that affect optimal development in early years e.g. child maltreatment and abuse, negative parenting, maternal mental health, exposure to environmental toxicants and child malnutrition. I am also involved with developing a sustainable and feasible developmental intervention (nutritional, educational, behavioral, health-hygiene and psychosocial stimulation) for underprivileged children in the community. A greater focus of my work is to improving knowledge, attitude and practices of the population of Bangladesh regarding child development so that we can get better, productive future generations with optimum potentials. 

• Faculty Member for ECD Professional Development Programme of Early Childhood Development Resource Centre (ECDRC) under BRAC University’s Institute of Educational Development
• Editorial board member of Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved 
• Ex-Bulletin Editor and Join Secretary of Rotary Club Ramna 2009-10
• Member of the Bangladesh ECD network
• Member of Shishu Bikash (Child Development) Network which works at a national level to improve child development activities all over the country
• Member of Bangladesh Society for Child Neurology, Development and Disability (BSCNDD)
• Fellow of Royal Society of Tropical Medicine & Hygiene (RSTMH)
• Member of Bangladesh Medical Association (BMA)
• Executive Committee Member of Community Health Research Association, Bijoy Nagar, Dhaka
• Member of the Gender Equality Committee at icddr, b

Selected publications include:

• Tofail F,Hamadani JD, Mehrin F, Ridout  D, Huda SN, Grantham-McGregor SM. Psychosocial stimulation benefits development in nonanemic children but not in anemic, iron-deficient children.J Nutr. 2013 Jun;143(6):885-93.
• Kippler M, Tofail F, Hamadani JD, Gardner RM, Grantham-McGregor SM, Bottai M, Vahter M. Kippler M, Tofail F, Hamadani JD, Gardner RM, Grantham-McGregor SM, Bottai M,Vahter M. Early-life cadmium exposure and child development in 5-year-old girls and boys: a cohort study in rural Bangladesh. Environ Health Perspect. 2012 Oct;120(10):1462-8.*Both contributed equally as 1^st author
• Tofail F,Hamadani JD, Ahmed AZ, Mehrin F, Hakim M, Huda SN. The mental development and behavior of low-birth-weight Bangladeshi infants from an urban low-income community. Eur J Clin Nutr. 2011 Sep 28.
• Tofail F,Vahter M, Hamadani JD, Nermell B, Huda SN, Yunus M, Rahman M, Grantham-McGregor SM. Effect of arsenic exposure during pregnancy on infant development at 7 months in rural Matlab, Bangladesh. Environ Health Perspect.2009 Feb;117(2):288-93.
• Tofail F,Persson LA, El Arifeen S, Hamadani JD, Mehrin F, Ridout D, Ekström EC, Huda SN, Grantham-McGregor SM. Effects of prenatal food and micronutrient supplementation on infant development: a randomized trial from the Maternal and Infant Nutrition Interventions, Matlab (MINIMat) study. Am J Clin Nutr. 2008 Mar;87(3):704-11.
• Tofail F,Kabir I, Hamadani JD, Chowdhury F, Yesmin S, Mehreen F, Huda SN. Supplementation of fish-oil and soy-oil during pregnancy and psychomotor development of infants. J Health Popul Nutr. 2006 Mar;24(1):48-56.
• Hamadani JD, Tofail F, Huda SN, Alam DS, Ridout DA, Attanasio O, Grantham-McGregor SM. Cognitive deficit and poverty in the first 5 years of childhood in Bangladesh. Pediatrics. 2014 Oct;134(4):e1001-8.
• Pendergast LL, Scharf RJ, Rasmussen ZA, Seidman JC, Schaefer BA, Svensen E, Tofail F, Koshy B, Kosek M, Rasheed MA, Roshan R, Maphula A, Shrestha R, Murray-Kolb LE; MAL-ED Network Investigators. Postpartum depressive symptoms across time and place: Structural invariance of the Self-Reporting Questionnaire among women from the international, multi-site MAL-ED study. J Affect Disord. 2014 Oct;167:178-86.
• Jiang NM, Tofail F, Moonah SN, Scharf RJ, Taniuchi M, Ma JZ, Hamadani JD, Gurley ES, Houpt ER, Azziz-Baumgartner E, Haque R, Petri WA Jr. Febrile illness and pro-inflammatory cytokines are associated with lower neurodevelopmental scores in Bangladeshi infants living in poverty. BMC Pediatr. 2014 Feb 18;14:50.
• Frongillo EA, Tofail F, Hamadani JD, Warren AM, Mehrin SF. Measures and indicators for assessing impact of interventions integrating nutrition, health, and early childhood development. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2014 Jan;1308:68-88.
• Rydbeck F, Bottai M, Tofail F, Persson LA, Kippler M. Urinary iodineconcentrations of pregnant women in rural Bangladesh: A longitudinal study. JExpo Sci Environ Epidemiol. 2013 Nov 13.
• Hamadani JD, Tofail F, Cole T, Grantham-McGregor S. The relation between age of attainment of motor milestones and future cognitive and motor development in Bangladeshi children. Matern Child Nutr. 2013 Jan;9 Suppl 1:89-104.
• Hamadani JD, Baker-Henningham H, Tofail F, Mehrin F, Huda SN, and Grantham-McGregor SM. Validity and reliability of mothers’ reports of language development in 1-year-old children in a large-scale survey in Bangladesh. Food and Nutrition Bulletin, vol. 31, no. 2 (supplement) © 2010, The United Nations University.
• Hamadani JD, Tofail F, Hilaly A, Huda SN, Engle P, Grantham-McGregor SM. Use of Family Care Indicators and Their Relationship with Child Development in Bangladesh J Health Popul Nutr 2010 Feb;28(1):0000 ISSN
• Nahar B, Hamadani JD, Ahmed T, Tofail F, Rahman A, Huda SN, Grantham-McGregor SM. Effects of psychosocial stimulation on growth and development of severely malnourished children in a nutrition unit in Bangladesh. Eur J Clin Nutr. 2009 Jun;63(6):725-31.