The objective of my current research is to improve child health and survival by enhancing the understanding of the major causes of childhood morbidity and mortality and by designing and/or testing cost-effective public health interventions against them. I am currently engaged in the following areas of research: 1) Development of interventions to improve perinatal and neonatal health and survival; 2) Epidemiology of emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases (e.g., Acute Respiratory Infections, Tuberculosis), 3) Evaluation of diarrhoea and ARI vaccines (e.g., shigella vaccine, Hib vaccine), 4) Evaluation of health impact of different formulations of micronutrients, and 5) Evaluation including cost-evaluation of the Integrated management of childhood illness (IMCI) strategy which is part of WHO’s multi-country evaluation of IMCI strategy. Additionally, I am interested in research related to urban health care issues and in operations research to improve the management, quality and sustain ability of health care delivery systems. Research Associate
My main research interests are (1) evaluation of child survival programs using demographic methods and (2) mortality estimation techniques for various age groups in resource poor settings. Regarding neonatal health and survival, my research has focused on evaluation of community-based maternal and neonatal interventions in rural Bangladesh as well as hospital-level efficacy studies of neonatal health interventions.
My interests in neonatal health focus on maternal as well as neonatal survival, health and nutrition in resource poor settings. In particular, my research has focused on South Asia (Nepal, India, Bangladesh), where women marry and become pregnant at a young age, and are also nutritionally the most deprived. Current research includes describing the impact of young maternal age on pregnancy outcomes and infant survival and health; gender differences in neonatal and infant survival and health; and assessing the impact micronutrient interventions in utero and the neonatal period on health, survival and developmental outcomes. Research sites include: Sarlahi, Nepal ; Gaibandha, Bangladesh ; Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India
My overall research aims to increase infant and neonatal survival in low-resource settings through the development of effective, low-cost interventions that may be implemented at the community level. Current activities include investigation of topical umbilical cord cleansing with chlorhexidine, bacterial colonization of the cord and association with omphalitis (Bangladesh), prevalence, timing, and risk factors for newborn hypothermia (Nepal), development of sign-based algorithms for newborn skin and umbilical cord infections (Bangladesh, Nepal, Tanzania), and examination of the role of minimally-trained community-based health workers in improving maternal and neonatal outcomes (Burma, Nepal).
My research interests focus on two major areas, the epidemiology and control of blinding ocular disease in the United States and in developing countries, and the epidemiology and control of micronutrient malnutrition and infectious disease among young children in developing countries with special emphasis on vitamin A, iron, zinc and neonatal health.
My current work includes field trials of interventions to reduce neonatal mortality in Bangladesh, India and Nepal, as well as studies on community case management of sick children in Mali, and effectiveness studies of the large-scale introduction of Zinc tablets as a standard treatment for children with diarrhea in Mali, Pakistan and India.
Research Associate
My interests include program evaluation and formative research, with the goal of improving health outcomes for underserved populations. I am currently working with our research team to publish the findings from community-based intervention trials in India and Bangladesh. I am interested in looking at how neonatal health programs can be expanded to include postpartum family planning and to reduce the burden of stillbirths.
My interests are community- and home-based prevention and management of neonatal illness. I have previously worked in Central America and East Africa and I am currently working on a study of the etiology and treatment of neonatal sepsis in South Asia.
I am currently analyzing research data from the trial of a community-based package of maternal and neonatal health interventions in Sylhet District, Bangladesh.
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