NATRAH IKHSAN

About

Associate Professor
Dr. Natrah Fatin Mohd Ikhsan

Department of Aquaculture

Faculty of Agriculture

Universiti Putra Malaysia

About Dr. Natrah Ikhsan

Dr. Natrah Ikhsan is an Associate Professor in the Department of Aquaculture, Faculty of Agriculture, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM). She is also an Associate Researcher in the Laboratory of Aquatic Animal Health and Therapeutics, Institute of Bioscience, UPM, and an Interim Member of the Laboratory of Sustainable Aquaculture, International Institute of Aquaculture and Aquatic Sciences, UPM. Currently, she is the Deputy Dean of Graduate Studies, Research and International, Faculty of Agriculture, UPM. She was previously the acting President and Vice President of the Malaysian Fisheries Society, and the Treasurer of the World Aquaculture Society- Asian Pacific Chapter.

She obtained her BSc (Hons) in Biology and MSc in Aquatic Biotechnology from Universiti Putra Malaysia.  She received her PhD in Applied Biological Sciences from the Laboratory of Aquaculture and Artemia Reference Center, University of Ghent, Belgium. Dr Natrah specializes in the field of Aquatic Microbial Ecology particularly in the development of innovative and sustainable microbial management strategies through understanding of the host-microbe interaction for enhanced microbial stability and efficient fish health management. Among her current research focus is on quorum sensing sociomicrobiology – its pathogenic and probiotic role particularly in bacteria, algae, zooplankton & other hosts in the aquaculture ecosystem as disease control agents. 

Award & recognition

  • Merdeka Award Grant [RM 109,540]
  • Expert panel for Ocean University of China - Integrated Ecosystem Management
  • Board of Studies for BSc. (Hons.) Bioveterinary Sciences (International Medical University, IMU)
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Research, Supervision & Publication

She was the Principal Investigator of two International Grants. The first grant funded by International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Canada in collaboration with the Global AMR Innovation Fund (GAMRIF), United Kingdom on the ‘Integrated Probiotic Quorum Quenching Strategies to reduce Antimicrobial Resistance in Shrimp Aquaculture’ amounting RM4,737,262 million. The project is also in collaboration with Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, International Islamic University of Malaysia, Infrastructure University Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), Swansea University (United Kingdom) and Ghent University (Belgium). Among the outputs are quorum quenching products in the form of probiotics and antibodies either as feed or mature culture water that could reduce the occurrence of antimicrobial resistance in aquaculture. She was recently invited again by IDRC to send another proposal under the AQUADAPT program and her team concept note has been shortlisted for the next full proposal development. The next project is scheduled to begin in September 2023.

The second grant was funded by the European Union under the Trans-Eurasia Information Network (TEIN) through the Asi@Connect programme with funds close to RM 1 million. The project is on ‘Aquatic Resource Management in Mangrove Ecosystem via Internet of Things Application’ with the mission to provide awareness to the global community on the importance of mangroves and its ecosystem monitoring through the use of technology. Various academic institutions in the Europe and Asia are involved including universities from Malaysia (Universiti Putra Malaysia, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Universiti Malaysia Terengganu), Belgium (Université Libre de Bruxelles/Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium); China (South China Institute of Botany, China); Thailand (Mahidol University); Philippines (University of the Philippines Los Baños); Bangladesh (Bangladesh Fisheries Research Institute); Australia (University of Tasmania) and New Zealand (National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research Ltd (NIWA). The website of the project can be accessed at https://meita.org.my/.

Nationally, she is the project leader of fourteen research grants amounting RM 931,490  from private and governmental bodies including Ministry of Higher Education (Fundamental Research Grant & Knowledge Transfer Programme Grant for University-Industry Partnership), Ministry of Science Technology (Sciencefund), Universiti Putra Malaysia Grant (Pak Rashid Foundation Grant, Research University Grant, Innohub Market Validation Grant) and private grant (Malaysia Toray Science Foundation & Merdeka Award Grant funded by Petronas, ExxonMobil & Shell).

She was one of the inaugural recipients of the Merdeka Award Grant for International Attachment under the three founding partners – PETRONAS, ExxonMobil and Shell. Under the grant, she was attached to Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego under Distinguished Professor Dr. Farooq Azam, a world renowned Aquatic Microbial Ecologist. For this award, she has been featured in different mass media channels including newspapers (Utusan Malaysia, The Star, Berita Harian, Harian Metro), radio (Business Radio Station BFM) and television (In Person Astro Awani). She was also involved in roadshows to share her experiences during attachments at local universities (Universiti Putra Malaysia, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, International Medical University) as well as schools (Terengganu State School-funded by ExxonMobil). 

She is the author and co-author of various research articles in international peer-reviewed journals with a total of 66 journal papers (32 as main & corresponding author), a total of 29 Q1/Q2 journals (17 as main & corresponding author) with two books and three book chapters. Her current Scopus H-Index is 18 (1093 citations) and Google Scholar H-index of 21 (1719 citations). She is also the reviewer of several international and national journals including Q1, Q2 journal in the field of microbiology, phycology and aquaculture such as PloS one, Aquaculture, Diseases of Aquatic Organism, Aquatic Microbial Ecology and Algal Research.

She was invited as a keynote and invited speakers in various conferences mainly on the topics of mitigation strategies involving quorum sensing technology with the recent talk on quorum quenching strategies to reduce antimicrobial resistance in shrimp aquaculture in the AMRU-Asia Pacific 2023 conference organized by Food and Agriculture Organizations of the United Nations (FAO) and Chulalongkorn University, Thailand. The talk that was organized online attracted more than 11,000 participants worldwide.

She was a member of Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) Asian Core Program (2012-2016) under the Seagrass and Seaweeds group, a multilateral joint research program involving six Asian countries, namely Malaysia, Japan, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam. She was also a member of a five-year (2016-2021) Malaysia-Japan International Collaboration under the SATREPS-COSMOS (JICA-JST) with the aim to establish a novel microalgae mass culture system using recycled nutrients from aquaculture waste. This project is in association with different Japanese institutions including Soka University, University of Tokyo, National Institute for Environmental Studies and Tokyo Institute of Technology.

To date, under her supervision, three PhD and six Master students have graduated. She is currently supervising five PhD and four MSc students as the principal supervisor. Under her mentorship, her postgraduate students won international, national awards and grants including the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission in the United Kingdom, Malaysia Toray Science Foundation, Alltech Young Scientist Local Winner, Best Oral Presenter for International Conference on Beneficial Microbes & Best Poster in International Conference on Advances in Fish Health. As a co-supervisor, two PhD, four Master students have graduated; six PhD and nine MSc students are currently under supervision as committee members. In recognition of her expertise in quorum sensing, a postdoctoral researcher, Dr Samia Mezaache-Aichour from Universite de Setif, Algeria carried out a one-month training attachment in her lab.

Teaching & Learning

Dr Natrah’s teaching experiences include teaching courses of Algae Culture (AKU4243), Culture of Aquatic Flora (AKU4242), Biology and Culture of Aquatic Flora (AKU4241), Live Food Production in Aquaculture (AKU4402), Principles of Aquaculture (AKU3201), Farm Practice: Aquaculture (AKU3002), Livestock and Aquaculture Production Systems (PRT3004) and Agriculture and Man (PRT2008). She was also the coordinator of the Final Year Project for Bachelor of Agriculture (Aquaculture) (AKU4999A, AKU4999B). She feels that there should be a balance between teaching & research and shared her experience in ‘Empowering 21st Century Aquaculture Leaders Via Experiential Learning in Higher Education’ in the South East Asian Higher Education Summit 2016 at the Higher Education Leadership Academy (AKEPT), Malaysia.

She always encourages her undergraduate students to be active outside of the class where she assists students under her capacity as academic advisor to apply for student industrial grants, such as the Khind Starfish Foundation Grant awarded by Khind Holding Berhad. The proposal was shortlisted for an interview which provided a platform for students to sharpen their communication & presentation skills.

Dr Natrah is also active in curriculum development at the faculty & department level where she is a curriculum committee member.

At the university level, she is the Panel of Reviewer for Self-Accreditation Audit and is appointed as Malaysian Qualifications Agency assessor for assessment of university programs at national level.

She is currently the board member of Bachelor of Science in Bioveterinary Sciences (Hons), International Medical University Malaysia.