Sofia Boqvist

During my veterinary training, I became interested in how animal and human health are interconnected, which is the focus of Veterinary Public Health. This subject has continued to engage and interest me, and today, I am a professor of Veterinary Public Health with a focus on food safety. Veterinary public health also encompasses several other areas, such as food safety and epidemiology of zoonotic infections. I have a genuine global interest and collaborate with several African and Asian universities and institutes.

Sofia Boqvist. Photo: Anneli Sundin

I have the overall responsibility for the subject of Veterinary Public Health, and our team ensures that courses in food safety, meat inspection, and food control within the veterinary program maintain high quality and are relevant from a societal perspective. I primarily lecture on food safety and global food security, and supervise thesis and master’s students.

Bacterial plates. Photo: SLU

My research primarily focuses on various aspects of risk and risk management in the food chain. This includes, for example, identifying risks and investigating interventions to improve the food chain, modernizing food control, and working to increase sustainability and reduce waste. In my research, I also aim to contribute to strengthening global food security.

Current and a selection of previous research projects

• Remote meat inspection using electronic nose (SLV)
• Improved cleaning and disinfection at meat premises – reducing spread of spoilage-, pathogenic- and antimicrobial resistant bacteria (SLF)
• AMR in zoonotic pathogens – a challenge for urban smallholder livestock production system, Uganda (VR)
• One Health Initiative – Food safety interventions along pork value chain in Vietnam (ILRI)
• Eating crickets – an appetizing solution for today´s global problems (Formas)
• Molecular characterization and AMR among Salmonella spp. isolated from food sold at informal markets in Cambodia (Sida)
• Management of animal diseases and antimicrobial use by information and communication technology to control AMR in East Africa (JPIAMR)

I have extensive experience in collaboration and in translating research-based knowledge into practice and policy, both within Sweden and globally. By maintaining a close dialogue with stakeholders, the potential to make the best use of research increases. Cooperation and extension are essential parts of SLU’s mission. This can be used to disseminate science-based results that benefit society and stimulate new collaborations.

Current position

Professor of Veterinary Public Health with a focus on Food Safety

Academic degrees

Associate Professor in Infectious Disease Epidemiology 2010; PhD in Reproduction 2002; Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) 1997

Informal food market in Alexandria, Egypt. Photo: Ingrid Hansson

Previous employments

I have previously worked at the Zoonosis Center, the National Veterinary Institute, and the former Swedish Institute for Communicable Diseases, , as well as a practicing small and large animal veterinarian.

A selection of commissions

• Programme director of the Agriculture for Food Security 2030 (AgriFoSe2030) programme: 2020-. AgriFoSe2030 targets the UN Sustainable Development Goal 2 - "End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture" in low-income countries. AgriFoSe2030 synthesises and translates existing science into policy and practice and develops the capacity to achieve this. The programme collaborates with partners in the Global South.
• Head of Centre of Global Animal Diseases, SLU: 2011-2015. I founded this centre on behalf of the faculty, which was later transformed into the Committee for Global Animal Diseases.
• Swedish European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) representative in Task Force for Zoonoses: 2002-2007
• Several international research assignments and assessments in, for example, Vietnam, Tajikistan, Lao PDR, Uganda, Kenya, Sierra Leone, Ethiopia, and Zimbabwe.

I am the main supervisor for three ongoing PhD projects and two completed ones, as well as a co-supervisor for two ongoing and eleven completed PhD projects. Additionally, I serve as the main supervisor for MSc projects.

More than 95 peer-reviewed articles in international journals. A selection of them are presented below.

Söderqvist K, Peterson M, Ohlsson V, Johansson M, Boqvist S. A Microbiological and Sensory Evaluation of Modified Atmosphere-Packed (MAP) Chicken at Use-By Date and Beyond. 2024.  Foods. 4, 13, 2140. https://doi.org/10.3390/foods13132140

Kautto A H, Medin I, Almqvist V, Boqvist S, Vågsholm I. 2023. Remote ante mortem inspection – examining the possibility for sustainable low-capacity slaughter. Food control. 153:2023. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodcont.2023.109967

Moazzami M, Bergenkvist E, Boqvist S, Frosth, Langsrud S, Møretrø T, Vågsholm I, Hansson I. 2023. Assessment of ATP-Bioluminescence and Dipslide Sampling to Determine the Efficacy of Slaughterhouse Cleaning and Disinfection Compared with Total Aerobic and Enterobacterales Counts. Journal of Food Protection. 10:86. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfp.2023.100155

Singha S, Ceciliani F, Rahman M, Mannan MA, Chowdhury S, Nath SC, Bhushan Paul O, Persson P, Boqvist S. 2023. Factors influencing somatic cell counts and bacterial contamination in unpasteurized milk obtained from Water Buffalo in Bangladesh. Tropical Animal Health and Production. 55: 242. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11250-023-03644-x

Rortana C, Dang-Xuan S, Nguyen-Viet H, Unger F, Lindahl JF, Tum S, Ty C, Grace D,  Osbjer K, Boqvist S. 2022 Quantitative risk assessment of salmonellosis in Cambodian consumers through chicken and pork salad consumption. Front. Sustain. Food Syst. 6:1059235. https://doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.2022.1059235

Abu Hatab A, Krautscheid L, Boqvist S. 2021. COVID-19, Livestock Systems and Food Security in Developing Countries: A systematic review of an emerging literature. Pathogens, 10: 586. https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens10050586

Rajala E, Vogel I, Sundin A, Kongmanila D, Nassuna Musoke M.G., Musundire R, Nasha Mulangala M, Chiwona-Karltun L, Magnusson U, Boqvist S. 2020. How can agricultural research translation projects targeting smallholder production systems be strengthened by using Theory of Change? Global Food Security. 28, article: 100475, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gfs.2020.100475

Hansson I, Tamminen L-M, Frosth S, Fernström L-F, Emanuelsson U, Boqvist S. 2020. Occurrence of Campylobacter spp. in Swedish calves, common sequence types, and antibiotic resistance patterns, Journal of Applied Microbiology. https://doi.org/10.1111/jam.14914

Fernandez-Cassi X,  Söderqvist K, Bakeeva A, Vaga M, Dicksved J, Vagsholm I,  Jansson A, Boqvist S. 2020. Microbial communities and food safety aspects of crickets (Acheta domesticus) reared under controlled conditions, Journal of Insects as Food and Feed. 6(4); 429-440 https://doi.org/10.3920/JIFF2019.0048

Vågsholm I, Shah Arzoomand N, Boqvist S. 2020.  Food security, safety, and sustainability - getting the trade-offs right. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, section Agro-Food Safety. Review. https://doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.2020.00016

Habib I, Harb A, Hanson I, Vågsholm I, Osama W, Adnan S, Anwar M, Agamy N, Boqvist S. 2020. Challenges and opportunities towards the development of risk assessment at the consumer phase in developing countries— the case of Campylobacter cross-contamination during handling of raw chicken in two Middle Eastern countries. Pathogens, 9: 62; https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens9010062

Hallenberg Ström G, Björklund H, Barnes A C, Chau Thi Da, Nguyen Huu Yen Nhi, Trinh Thi Lan, Magnusson U, Norman Haldén A, Boqvist S. 2019. Antibiotic use by small-scale farmers in freshwater aquaculture in the upper Mekong Delta, Vietnam. 31:3Journal of Aquatic Animal Health https://10.1002/aah.10084

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