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Our People
AIDD Team

AIDD is a coalition of international and national disability experts, academics, health professionals and service providers engaged in research, education, advocacy and services related to disability and child health in Asia.

Our Profile

Professor M.A. Muhit

MBBS, MSc, MSc (Ophth), PhD

Co-Director

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Prof Muhit is a highly motivated and visionary leader in the field of public health ophthalmology and disability. His leadership was instrumental in developing and guiding the largest childhood cataract campaign anywhere in the world (Bangladesh Childhood Cataract campaign 2004-2009).

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This campaign identified over 12,000 cataract blind children and provided free sight restoring cataract surgery for over 10,000 blind children. This campaign led by Prof Muhit also facilitated the development of 8 Paediatric Ophthalmology Units across Bangladesh to provide sight restoring eye surgery to blind children. He also developed the main case finding method for this campaign – the Key Informant Method, which trained 20,000 community volunteers for case finding from remote villages and referral to eye hospitals.

Since 2008, Prof Muhit also led the first large scale campaign on childhood disability in Bangladesh, which identified, assessed and provided treatment, rehab and assistive devices to over 6,000 children with cerebral palsy, epilepsy, blindness, hearing impairment, cleft lip & palate and other severe disability. 

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Prof Muhit was trained in Bangladesh and England and has a PhD in international public health ophthalmology from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM). During his academic career he has taught and trained over 300 ophthalmologists, eye care managers and researchers from over 80 countries. Prof Muhit has also been involved in large-scale research programs on community eye health including Rapid Assessment of Avoidable blindness(RAAB) studies, Key informant method and childhood blindness studies in Bangladesh, Nepal, Iran, India, Sudan, Malawi, Indonesia and other countries and also childhood disability research programs. Prof Muhit is a long-term advocate for the rights of children with disability.

Professor Gulam Khandaker

MBBS, MPH, DCH, PhD, FAFPHM

Co-Director

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Prof Khandaker is a Public Health physician and an expert on infectious diseases and childhood disability in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC). 

He is a Fellow of the Australasian Faculty of Public Health Medicine, Royal Australasian College of Physicians.


Prof Khandaker is one of the lead investigators of the Bangladesh Cerebral Palsy Register (BCPR) study which is the first population based surveillance of children with CP in a LMIC to date. His research focuses on preventable causes of childhood disability in LMIC, gaining better understanding of the causal pathways for disability, testing innovative community-based interventions for early detection and prevention of childhood, and improving the quality of life of children with disabilities and their families, especially Cerebral Palsy (CP). He has completed his PhD from the University of Sydney and subsequently received highly prestigious Early Career Fellowship (Postdoc) from Australia; National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC). Dr Khandaker is widely published and has over 93 peer reviewed publications. He has established research collaborations in several LMICs including Bangladesh, Myanmar, Indonesia, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Vietnam.

Dr. Shekeeb S. Mohammad

MBBS, FRACP

Clinical Research Fellow

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Shekeeb S. Mohammad is a paediatric neurologist and lecturer with the University of Sydney clinical school at the Children’s Hospital at Westmead. He is a clinician-researcher with expertise in paediatric autoimmune neurological disorders and movement disorders including cerebral palsy, dystonia and tourette syndrome.

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He trained in paediatrics at PGIMER, Chandigarh, India and has subsequently trained in paediatric neurology in Brisbane and Sydney. He has completed a PhD with the University of Sydney in early diagnosis of autoimmune movement disorders. He has expertise and interest in medical education and curriculum development. Shekeeb was one of the 2014 Winston Churchill fellows and has established collaborations in paediatric deep brain stimulation with Great Ormond Street and Evelina London Children’s Hospitals which he visited during his fellowship.

Dr. Tasneem Karim

MBBS, MPH, PhD

Senior Research Program Manager

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Tasneem Karim is a PhD Candidate at the Discipline of Child and Adolescent Health, Sydney Medical School, The University of Sydney. She is a clinical epidemiologist with a specific interest in international public health and childhood disability. Her PhD titled ‘Cerebral palsy (CP) in Bangladesh: towards developing a national CP register, surveillance, early diagnosis and interventions for children with CP in low resource setting’  will describe the burden of CP in Bangladesh through a population-based register, assess the use of a novel method for early diagnosis and assess the outcome of a parents led early intervention and rehabilitation program for children with CP.

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She also coordinates research activities and service delivery with a multidisciplinary team consisting of local volunteers, community therapists, physiotherapists, dentists, psychologists, nutritionists, counsellors, physicians, and other key members. Her long-term vision is to improve the lives of children with CP and their families through translational research in low resource settings. 

Tanzina Rahman
BSc, MSc

Deputy Registrar, Academic Development, Student Welfare and Proctorial Affairs

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Tanzina Rahman has a background in computer science and engineering, with an M.Sc in Enterprise System and Data Warehousing. She has extensive experience working in the field of computer science in both technical as well as academic settings.

 

Ms. Tanzina provides support to the registrar’s office in the supervision and management of all administrative and operational functions of the university. Her contributions towards the development of the university’s data management systems continue to play a vital role for the smooth internal operations of the university. Her interests are strongly inclined towards research in the field of computing and data management in order to further develop the overall information and communications technology (ICT) sector. She also happens to be the coordinator for the Duke of Edinburgh International Awards, Bangladesh, at University of South Asia and is highly keen on associating herself with community development work.

Johurul Islam Jewel

BSS (Hons), MSS, MPH, PGDDP 

Deputy Registrar

 

Johurul Islam is the Deputy Registrar at the University of South Asia and is also working for CSF Global as a Senior Program Manager.  He is coordinating courses and instructing students of public health in the areas of community ophthalmology and disability.

 

He has extensive experience on program planning, designing, and implementation on health and disability issues in Bangladesh and other low and middle-income countries (LMICs). Johurul has a strong interest in international public health and generating evidence on health and disability.

Sabrina Wadud

LLB, LLM

Human Rights Officer

Sabrina Wadud is a Human Rights Officer who has completed her law graduation and LLM in ‘International Human Rights Law’ from the University of Essex, United Kingdom.

 

Previously she has worked as a legal adviser in the Manchester Citizens advice bureau and assisted in research work at the Amnesty International Secretariat in the United Kingdom. Sabrina Wadud’s present work involves the field of realization of ‘right to health’ and ‘right to education’. Her area of interest is researching gaps in the implementation of economic, social and cultural rights, and rights of persons with disabilities in the developing jurisdictions.

Dr. Md. Arifuzzaman Khan

MBBS, PhD 

Physician Scientist

 

Arifuzzaman Khan is a medical doctor and researcher, currently commencing his PhD in the Faculty of Medicine, The University of Queensland, Australia. He is experienced in infectious diseases epidemiology, vaccine trials and immunological studies of both vaccine response and natural infection.

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He is trained in medicine and infectious diseases in Bangladesh and has eight years of first hand experiences at icddr,b (a renowned international health research institute based in Dhaka, Bangladesh) in conducting several randomized control trials, large cohort study among more than 100,000 people in the urban slum areas and a few immunological and genetic studies. He is a professional member of Global Health Network, Epicore (the largest virtual community of health professionals using innovative surveillance methods to verify outbreaks of infectious diseases) and American Society of Microbiology (ASM). He is underway of fulfilling his dream to become an independent research leader in the areas of international public health importance such as preventable causes of diseases and disabilities.

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Dr. Abdur Razzaque Sarker

MSS (Economics), MS (Health Economics), PhD

Senior Research Fellow (Health Economics)

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Dr. Abdur Razzaque Sarker is a trained health economist researcher and have been working in health systems and economic analysis in both developed and developing nations. His research and academic skills have significantly focused on health system research including cost analysis (various perspectives including patients, households, health system and broader societal perspective) equity and efficiency, economic evaluation of public health programs including economic consequences of maternal and child health-related issues, economics of vaccine-preventable disease (e.g., cholera, rotavirus, pneumonia, malaria), economics of non-communicable diseases, health-burden analysis along with healthcare financing related issues.

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Dr. Abdur Razzaque Sarker obtained his PhD degree from University of Strathclyde, United Kingdom on Health Economics and Management Science. His dissertation was based on economics of disease in lower-middle-income country context. He did also "Master of Health Economics" and "Master of Economics". Earlier, he has worked as an Associate Scientist and Health Economist Researcher at International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b). He has published over 60 peer-reviewed articles in reputed international journals including Vaccine, International Journal of Health Planning and Management, PLOS One, BMJ Open, BMJ Global Health, BMC Infectious Disease, Global Health Research and Policy, Public Health, Global Pediatric Health, Journal of Occupational Health, Journal of Diabetes, Health Policy and Planning, Quality of life Research, Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics, Medicina etc.

Dr. Md. Mahbubur Rashid
MBBS, MPH

Research Fellow (Epidemiology)

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By education and training, Md. Mahbubur Rashid is a public health physician and epidemiologist, he started his career in public health research since 2008. In his entire career, he has been involved in different randomized control trials in Arsenicosis patients, Maternal and Child Health nutrition and surveillance of respiratory infections, Visceral Leishmaniasis and enteric infections.

 

He obtained MBBS from Sylhet MAG Osmani Medical College and Hospital and Master of Public Health from James P Grant School of public Health in Bangladesh. His is interested in Disease Surveillance, Antimicrobial Resistance, Neglected Tropical Diseases and Infectious Causes of Childhood Disability. Currently he is primarily focused on the epidemiology of antimicrobial resistance pattern, infectious diseases and childhood disability.

A.Y.M. Alamgir Kabir
BSS, M. Phil

Research Fellow (Biostatistician)

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Mr. Kabir is a biostatistician who has been engaged in public health research since 2007. His specialization is in advanced Bio-statistical analysis techniques and epidemiological research methods. As a Biostatistician, his primary interest is to introduce advanced statistical methods in biomedical research to address complex webs of association.

 

He is also interested in learning advanced epidemiological approaches and geo-spatial analysis. He obtained his masters in Statistics from the University of Rajshahi and his thesis was on robust estimate of canonical correlation analysis, which is an advanced multivariate statistical method. He also obtained his MPhil degree from the same department and university. In his MPhil research, he explored introduction of advanced statistical methods in public health research. In his 11 years of public health research career, he spent over 4 years with a maternal and child health and nutrition research project, named JiVitA, of John Hopkins University, USA and spent almost 6 years with vaccine trials in icddr,b.

Israt Jahan

BSc (Food & Nutrition), MS (Food & Nutrition), MPH, PhD

Program Manager

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Israt Jahan is a nutritionist who completed her BSc. Hons. and Masters on Food and Nutrition from College of Home Economics under University of Dhaka. She also has a Master Degree on Public Health from James P. Grant School of Public Health (BRAC University).

 

Her primary focus has always been childhood nutrition in developing countries and she is interested in understanding the key factors affecting their nutritional status to design effective nutrition intervention strategies in a low-resource setting. 

Mahmudul Hassan Al Imam

BSc (Hons) in PT, MPH, PhD

Senior Research Physiotherapist

 

Mahmudul Hassan Al Imam is a physiotherapy graduate with a post-graduation degree in public health. He is currently working as a Research Physiotherapist.

 

Before taking on this role, he has worked as Clinical Physiotherapist, Project Manager and Research, Monitoring & Evaluation Officer at Centre for the Rehabilitation of the Paralysed (CRP). He is particularly interested in the epidemiology of preventable disabling conditions and validating tools for measuring disability outcomes in Bangla language.

Dr. Manik Chandra Das

MBBS, PhD Candidate (CQUniversity)

Research Physician

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Manik Chandra Das is a medical graduate with a robust field experience in both clinical and public health sectors. He started his public health career as a physician at the MNCH project, a collaboration between the Government of Bangladesh (GoB) and UNICEF, based at Doarabazar, Chatok, Sylhet, an undeveloped rural area of Bangladesh.

 

The focus of the program was on maternal and neonatal health. He has been involved in vaccine studies of icddr,b which included oral polio vaccine (OPV) research. The major tasks he was engaged in were management and supervision of recruitment of study participants, obtaining consent, collection of biological samples, etc. Subsequently after successful completion the study, he was involved in the single dose efficacy trial of the oral cholera vaccine (OCV). After this he worked as chief trainer in Primary Health Care Providers Training program at Eminence in rural areas of Barisal Division.  Soon after, he was recruited by Ministry of Health of the Government of Maldives to serve as a Medical Officer for health services. Since returning from Maldives he has joined CSF Global, Bangladesh to further advance his public health career.

Dr. Fahim Ashher
MBBS, MPH

Clinical Research Fellow

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Fahim Ashher is a physician working in public health research since 2015. His primary role encompasses both clinical and research activities, such as patient diagnosis and management, participant enrolment, taking part in research idea generation, protocol and manuscript writing and modification, and overall supervision at field.

 

His chief interest lies with combating infectious diseases, especially among the maternal and child population, through innovative research works focusing on both primary prevention and limitation of untoward outcomes such as mortality and disabilities. Having completed his MBBS from Dhaka Medical College under Dhaka University, Dr. Ashher has enrolled himself in the Masters in Public Health programme majoring in Epidemiology at North South University. Despite being in his early days in public health research career, Dr. Ashher has already worked for 1 year at Maternal and Child Health Division in icddr,b where he was responsible for conduction of evaluation of National Nutritional Service delivery through IMCI and ANC programmes, establishing and maintaining liaison with local government and health institutions, formulating district-wise regular reports, and also for carrying out verbal autopsy in another research on effects of introducing iron tablets in early pregnancy.  He has been closely involved with oral cholera vaccine trials and typhoid disease surveillance.

Rosalie Power

BAppSc (Leisure & Health), MPH, PhD

Research Fellow

 

Rosalie Power is a PhD candidate at the University of Sydney, Children’s Hospital Westmead.  Rosalie is a public health specialist with interest in the quality of life of children and adolescents with cerebral palsy within Australia and in low and middle-income countries. 

 

Rosalie has specific interest and specialty in the sexual well-being of children and adolescents with disability including in areas of friendships and intimate relationships, puberty, socio-sexual wellbeing, and sexual health. Rosalie has twice been selected to represent Australia through Australian Volunteers for International Development and has worked in Australia, Bangladesh and South Africa directly supporting children and adolescents with disability and alongside people with disability in capacity building roles to advance understanding and attainment of human rights. 

Dr Sabina Karim

MBBS, FCPS, MD
Post-Doctoral Fellow

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Sabina Karim is a Paediatrician and Paediatric Haemato Oncologist. She is especially interested in parasitic infections in highly vulnerable children including those withmalignancies and disabilities.

 

She has previously worked on Cryptosporidium Infection for her MD thesis. She has completed her fellowship in Paediatrics from Bangladesh College of Physicians & Surgeons. Subsequently completed MD in Paediatric Haematology & Oncology from Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU). Her current research interests include infectious disease, cancer epidemiology, neuro-oncology.

Jane Bristi Baroi

Assistant Director, Student Counseling

Career and Facilitation Centre of AD, SW and Proctorial Affairs

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Jane Bristi Baroi is an active member of the University of South Asia. She has completed her Secondary and Higher Secondary education from the Holy Cross Girls’ High School and College and is currently pursuing a bachelor degree in Business Administration.

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She is the supervisor of the E-learning department at the University of South Asia where hundreds of academic course materials and videos are uploaded each year. She supervises this department with excellent leadership qualities. She also exercises her creativity through designing and producing graphical designs and other outputs required by the university, ranging from newsletters to newspaper advertisement, brochures, event banners, and other items. Jane Bristi Baroi’s leadership is also contributing towards the success of the admission office, where students from foreign countries are now arriving to the outstanding institution to complete higher education.     

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Genevieve Perrins

Research Officer

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Genevieve Perrins is commencing her Masters by Research leading to Ph.D. through The University of Sydney.

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Her research is focused on the health literacy of primary caregivers of children with cerebral palsy in low- and middle-income countries. Genevieve has a special interest in the social aspects of public health, particularly in health literacy and social capital. Her primary affiliation is with the Central Queensland Public Health Unit where she works as a Project Officer for Communicable Disease Control.

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