The government has appointed Professor Tahmina Shirin as Director of the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research or IEDCR.

Shirin is currently leading the virology department of the government’s disease control agency as Chief Scientific Officer.

The health and family planning ministry in an order on Wednesday said her appointment will be effective from Aug 20.

She has succeeded Meerjady Sabrina Flora as the chief of the agency, which is playing a crucial role in the fight against COVID-19.

The government transferred Sabrina to the Directorate General of Health Services, or DGHS, as an additional director general a week ago.

The government has made a number of changes to key positions in the health sector amid scandals involving the COVID-19 pandemic.

Before the transfer of Sabrina, Abul Kalam Azad resigned as the director general of health services following intense criticism over irregularities in the sector.

Sabrina became a household name after she appeared in the daily briefings on the COVID-19 situation in the initial days of the outbreak in the country.

Her successor Shirin is a former head of the department of immunology and molecular biology at the National Institute of Cancer Research and Hospital.

Shirin received her MBBS degree from Mymensingh Medical College.

She did her PhD in immunology from Dhaka University in collaboration with the Umea University of Sweden and M Phil in virology from the Institute of Post Graduate Medicine and Research of Bangladesh.