Month: March 2023

The dissemination workshop of Epidemic Intelligence consortium project, jointly funded by Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office and Wellcome Trust, was organized in Kathmandu on 15^th March 2023, with the participation of government and non-government stakeholders from the ministry of health and population and project districts, consortium partners, civil society organizations and BNMT team members. In the program, project overview, achievements, challenges and recommendations of the project along with the findings of the COVID19 sequencing were shared among audiences by BNMT Executive Director Raghu Dhital, Principal Investigator Dr Maxine Caws, and research team members of partner organization Center for Molecular Dynamics-Nepal, Laboratory Manager and molecular genetics researcher, Rajindra Napit and Bioinformatics Specialist, Prajwol Manandhar.

The project conducted large scale pathogen sequencing in Nepal, successfully collecting and sequencing 1900 samples from three locations spanning Nepal: Bheri Hospital in Nepalgunj (Far West), Koshi Hospital, Biratnagar (Eastern Nepal), and Sukraraj Tropical Infectious Diseases Hospital in the capital city, Kathmandu (central region). Moreover, we followed up the participants at three and six months to understand the frequency and symptoms of long-term complications of COVID-19 illness (known as Long COVID) in the patients. The key findings of the project showed that Nepal had experienced three major waves of COVID-19. The first was caused by Beta variant, the second by Delta, the third by Delta and Omicron co-circulating. Tracking of COVID-19 variants showed successive waves caused by different variants, with multiple omicron sub-variants now circulating in Nepal. Similarly, the evaluation of cohort for long COVID showed diabetes and hypertension were strong risk factors.

The project significantly accelerated the genomics capacity for infectious diseases in Nepal, also supporting capacity development in laboratories trying to build sequencing skills base. It established a sequencing professionals network for Nepali scientists and delivered a bioinformatics training course for labs across Nepal with University of Melbourne.

The project was well appreciated by the stakeholders as a big achievement in molecular research and an innovative consortium model in COVID19 research that would inform future genomics study in Nepal addressing other infectious diseases including dengue, tuberculosis and antimicrobial resistance.

“Pathogen Genomics and Bioinformatics for Public Health Workshop 2023” was conducted from 16^th to 20^th January, 2023 in Kathmandu by Epidemic Inteliigence project partner Center for Molecular Dynamics Nepal (CMDN) on behalf of the project consortium, Birat Nepal Medical Trust (BNMT), Nepal Health Research Council (NHRC), and Oxford University Clinical Research Unit (OUCRU), funded by the Wellcome Trust and Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) UK. Bioinformatics experts from Doherty Institute, University of Melbourne, Australia, designed the course module and provided interactive and fruitful training to the participants who came from numerous research institutions and laboratories all over Nepal.

The main purpose of the workshop was to enhance the sequence analysis capacity of researchers working on sequencing and genomics projects as well as familiarize them with the bioinformatics tools and environment. The program was divided into two parts: theoretical and practical sessions focusing on the introduction of sequencing and bioinformatics, data visualization, bacterial and viral genomics, and their interpretation for the public health using various case studies. Constructive discussions on the results and presentations held place which allowed the participants to present their understandings. Beside the training, this event provided a great opportunity for the researchers to expand their professional network.

The three episodes of ” Covid Kurakani Panel Discussion Series: TV Talk show” were recorded in Nepalgunj, Biratnagar, and Kathmandu on 18^th July, 29^th July and 8^th August 2022 respectively. The panel discussion series were organized by BNMT Nepal, under ‘Covid Kurakani’ project which is a public engagement supplement to the Wellcome Trust funded COVID genomic surveillance project, Epidemic Intelligence (www.epiintelnepal.org ).

The COVID Kurakani panel discussion series is a series of three television talk programs, each of which was recorded live in the form of moderated panel discussions in the three districts. The panel discussion series comprised of dialogue among stakeholders of the Epidemic Intelligence project on the pathogen genomic sequencing and its application in the pandemics. Each recording lasted for approximately 2 hours. They are currently being edited to generate a clear, engaging 30 minutes programme to be broadcasted on Galaxy 4K TV’s ‘This Morning Live’.

This programs aimed to improve understanding of the need for and importance of, pathogen genomic sequencing in the response to emerging diseases and also help researchers, public health professionals and policy makers to understand the perspectives, concerns and perceived benefits of sequencing among public stakeholders to improve the design of future sequencing activities.

The three episodes were targeted to three distinct cohorts of participants, i.e. research participants of EI project, researchers and academics, and health workers. First episode of Covid Kurakani discussed on topics such as: basic concepts of COVID-19, the importance and use of pathogen sequencing in tracking diseases, sequencing procedures in the lab, and findings of the EI project. The distinguished panelists for the first episode were: Dr. Abhilasha Karkey, Dr. Bishnu Marasini, Ms. Kritika Dixit, Dr. Prakash Bahadur Thapa, Mr. Naresh Babu Shrestha and Mr. Rajindra Napit. The panel discussion was moderated by Dr. Sameer Mani Dixit.

In the second episode; application of Pathogen sequencing, use of genomic data in public health response, role of regulating bodies in promoting pathogen sequencing researches etc. were discussed. The eminent panelists for the second episode were: Dr. Den Acharya, Dr. Gehanath Baral, Dr. Sulochana Manandhar, Dr. Suresh Mehta, and Mr. Rajindra Napit. The panel discussion was moderated by Dr. Sameer Mani Dixit.

Finally, in the third episode, the discussion was moderated based on themes: prospects and challenges of pathogen sequencing, country’s strategies to strengthen pathogen sequencing, and plan for the use of pathogen sequencing in the country, etc. Dr. Buddha Basnet, Ms. Lilee Shreshta, Dr. Pradip Gyanwali, Dr. Sameer Mani Dixit, and Dr. Sangeeta Kaushal Mishra were the prominent personalities as panelists for the episode. The panel discussion was moderated by Dr. Abhilasha Karkey, Vice director, OUCRU Nepal. The total number of targeted participants in the three episodes was 99. The panel discussion was also attended by representatives of our partner organizations, Centre for Molecular Dynamics Nepal and Oxford University Clinical Research Unit, and BNMT Nepal staff.

The Review Meeting of the Epidemic Intelligence (EI) project was conducted on 19^th July 2022 and 30^th July 2022 in EI project districts: Banke and Morang respectively. The objectives of the meetings were:

• to share the current status and preliminary findings of the EI projects.
• to share an overview of all BNMT’s projects.

The programs were attended by different government and non-government stakeholders, representatives of our partner organizations, and other NGOs and the project team. In Banke district, the review was conducted in the presence of distinguished guests such as: Dr. Binod Kumar Giri, Director, Provincial Health Directorate (PHD), Lumbini Province; Dr. Badri Chapagain, Medical Superintendent, Bheri Hospital; Mr. Roshan Lal Chaudhary, Director, Province Public Health Laboratory (PPHL), Lumbini Province; Mrs. Sunita Paudel, Acting Health Officer, Health Office (HO), Banke; Dr. Bishnu Marasini, Senior Research Officer, Nepal Health Research Council (NHRC); Dr. Abhilasha Karkey, Director, Oxford University Clinical Research Unit (OUCRU); Dr. Sameer Mani Dixit, Biomedical Research Scientist, Center for Molecular Dynamics – Nepal (CMDN), etc. The total number of participants in Banke was 52. In Morang district, honourable guests such as Mr. Gyan Bahadur Basnet, Director, PHD, Province 1; Mr. Sagar Prasai, Senior Public Health Administrator (Sr. PHA); HO Sunsari, Dr. Suresh Mehta, Sr. PHA, HO Morang; Mr. Jaybendra Yadav, Director, PPHL; Mr. Shambhu Sah Senior Pharmacy Officer, Province Health Logistic Management Center (PHLMC); Dr. Suman Pant, Research Officer, NHRC; Dr. Sameer Mani Dixit, Biomedical Research Scientist, CMDN; Dr. Sulochana Manandhar, Molecular Microbiologist, OUCRU, etc were present in the meeting. The total number of participants in Morang was 42.