International collaborations
University of Virginia (USA)
We have been working in collaboration with the University of Virginia for more than six years. The primary focus of our collaborative work has been innovative modern diagnostics for drug resistant TB. We have published some of our findings in the Journal of Clinical Microbiology and another submission has recently been accepted for publication in PLoS One.
Laboratoire des Pathogènes Emergents, Mérieux Foundation, Lyon (France)
We work with Laboratoire des Pathogènes Emergents, Fondation Mérieux, France, to develop and evaluate advanced diagnostics tools. Currently we are working together to evaluate the QFT-P and HBHA assay as a supportive tool to monitor anti-TB treatment efficacy.
Radboud University Medical Centre, Nijmegen (Netherlands)
We are working with the radiology department of Radboud University Medical Centre to develop a cloud-based software platform. It will be able to analyse X-ray images from any digital X-ray machine and score them on the basis of TB-like abnormalities found in the image.
School of Pharmacy, University of Otago (New Zealand)
Our collaboration aims to identify potential anti-microbial agents by using the Minimum Inhibitory Concentration.
National collaborations
National Tuberculosis Control Programme (NTP)
All our projects are run in close collaboration with the NTP. We develop a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for each of our projects and the NTP supports us in every possible way. Currently, we are conducting nationwide drug-resistant TB surveillance, improving the TB situation in urban slums, scaling up screening, detection, and control of transmission of TB in prisons, studying the epidemiology of extra-pulmonary TB in Bangladesh, and ensuring external quality assurance of GeneXpert machines, in addition to other studies in collaboration with NTP.
National Institute of Diseases of the Chest and Hospital (NIDCH)
We are conducting several studies on the diagnosis and monitoring of anti-TB treatment efficacy/outcomes in collaboration with this referral hospital.
National Institute of Tuberculosis and Research, Shyamoli, Dhaka
Through our long-standing collaboration with this institution, we have completed several studies. We are currently collecting samples from the facility for three of our research projects.
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU), Dhaka
We collaborate with the sole medical university in Bangladesh on several projects. We have donated one GeneXpert machine to this prestigious institution to be used during our projects.
Other hospitals
We are conducting drug-resistant TB surveillance throughout the country. For this surveillance we collaborate with 17 hospitals spread over 12 districts covering all of the country's seven divisions.