Research Areas

Icddr,b comprises of one of the largest multi-disciplinary cohorts of scientists in the developing world.
Icddr,b collaborates with dozens of international academic, research, and development partners to
develop and share global lifesaving solutions. It addresses some of the most critical health concerns
facing the world today, including neonatal survival, maternal and child health, chronic diseases, enteric
diseases and malnutrition with innovative, evidence-based and cost-effective public health solutions.
The organization offers an exceptional multi-disciplinary research environment in which scientists and
health professionals cooperate on research, treatment, training and policy development. The range of
expertise and disciplines under one roof is a major strength for the institution. In addition the
organizations new 10-centre research structure, which became fully operational in 2011, is designed to
facilitate maximum cooperation.
The organization has undertaken a new strategic plan which reinforces its legacy of focusing not just on
discovery, but also on strengthening the organizations ability to shape policy at the national, regional
and global level. It also emphasizes on advocating for the use of highly effective products and evidencebased discoveries. icddr,b reinforces these efforts through publishing and South-South collaboration,
training and capacity-building, and continues to build a cadre of public health experts and capacities for
low- and middle-income countries. In addition, strategic national, regional and global partnerships tap
into the complementary assets of other organizationsacademic, scientific, NGOs and private sector
to maximize the influence and reach of icddr,bs work.
The institution has a research agenda which is uniquely informed by its clinical services, and provides to
over 300,000 people each year, through its urban and rural hospitals and clinics, and field sites across
Bangladesh.

Child and Adolescent Health

Under the Child and Adolescent Health programme the organization has various groups involved in
different activities. The Childhood Nutrition group aims to generate evidence to support scaling up of
nutrition interventions during the 1000-day window of opportunity from before pregnancy to 24
months of age. The Childhood Immunization group collects data on vaccine safety, reactogenicity,
efficacy and effectiveness. Studies are conducted in the community as well as in hospital/clinic facilities,
generating information on vaccine effectiveness (and cost-effectiveness) as well as lab-based data on
immune responses. The Child Development group focuses on research, training, and development and
adaptation of tests for the Bangladeshi population. There are numerous biological and psychosocial
factors affecting childrens development, behaviour and temperament, including malnutrition, maternal
morbidity, psychosocial stimulation, nutritional supplementation and exposure to toxins. The
Adolescent Health group focuses on basic and programmatic research to meet the health and
development needs of adolescents. Different works have been carried out to identify adolescents
reproductive health needs, developed and tested strategies to improve reproductive health services for
adolescents, and provided assessments of youth-friendly health services. The Monitoring, Evaluation

and Health Informatics group aims is to ensure that technically sound data are used in health decisionmaking. The main focus is the countrys routine health information system, as well as the monitoring
and evaluation system of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. The organization also supports
monitoring and evaluation across all the Centres research projects. The Child Health Services group
works with the Government of Bangladesh and development partners to evaluate the effectiveness of
child health programmes, especially community-based public health interventions. The areas of interest
include improving delivery of maternal, neonatal and child health services at government facilities,
capacity building of health programme managers and operations research. Lastly, the Childhood Illness:
Epidemiology, Burden and Risk Factors group carries out research related to childhood illness and
provides training on the use and interpretation of data in public health and clinical practice.

Communicable Diseases
Under this group also various teams allocated to serve the various purpose of the group. The Water
Sanitation and Hygiene group develops and tests water, sanitation and hygiene interventions to prevent
diarrhoea and respiratory disease. The group also examines barriers to uptake of interventions,
including studies of handwashing, household point-of-use water treatment and methods to reduce fecal
contamination of the environment. The Tuberculosis and Leprosy groups research, on the other hand,
encompasses the burden of tuberculosis and leprosy, the development of rapid diagnostic methods, and
identification of cost-effective intervention strategies for disease prevention and control. The Zoonotic
Diseases group carries out epidemiological and sociological studies of diseases transmitted from wildlife
or domestic animals to people, including highly pathogenic avian influenza A/H5N1, Nipah virus,
Japanese encephalitis virus, Salmonella, hepatitis E virus, rotavirus and rabies. The team participates in
joint outbreak investigations, including recent investigations of anthrax in livestock and humans and
avian influenza in humans and poultry. Then there is the Respiratory Viruses group, which studies
influenza and other respiratory viruses, conducting surveillance for seasonal influenza and novel
influenza A subtypes, estimating the burden of severe illness from respiratory viruses, developing novel
surveillance and diagnostic methods, and evaluating the effectiveness of intervention programmes. The
Surveillance and Outbreak Investigation group conducts surveillance for and investigates outbreaks of
emerging infections or other priority diseases affecting humans, such as rotavirus, Chikungunya, cholera,
Japanese encephalitis virus, anthrax and Nipah virus. They also estimate the burden of disease for
vaccine-preventable and emerging infections to inform decision-making about prioritisation for
prevention. The Parasitology group studies the epidemiology of malaria and leishmaniasis, carries out
drug trials, develops and evaluates point-of-care diagnostics, and assists government agencies in control
of disease.
Control of Chronic Diseases
There are four teams under this programme that are operating to control the chronic diseases. The
Chronic Disease Epidemiology and Genetics group is assessing the prevalence and determinants of
chronic diseases such as COPD, hypertension, diabetes and pre-diabetes, obesity. The team is evaluating
different educational interventions to raise awareness for prevention and control of such chronic
diseases. It also studies risk factors, including biomarkers and genetic and epigenetic factors related to
acute myocardial infarction. Other studies are looking at early life experiences and health outcomes in
later life. They are exploring the effects of indoor air pollution on the health of women and young

children and also investigating the effect of locally produced improved cook-stove to improve household
air quality as well as reduce adverse health outcomes. The Chronic Diseases Systems and Society group
is assessing the consequences of COPD and hypertension on household functioning, the health-seeking
behaviour of households of different socio-demographic groups, and the responses of health service
providers to these conditions. The findings will be used to develop tools to control COPD and
hypertension in Bangladesh. The Chronic Diseases and Implementation group develops and tests new
implementation strategies for chronic diseases, extending national policy-making to facility and
community levels in urban and rural settings. Their work is expected to influence national decisionmaking, involvement of expert groups and national institutions, and implementation of selected
strategies. Lastly, the Economics of Chronic Diseases group focuses on identifying the economic burden
(poverty and cost of illness) of chronic diseases, equity in disease outcomes, and economic evaluations
of health interventions against NCDs. The organization also has an interest in healthcare financing
mechanisms.
Nutrition and Food Security
The Nutrition and Food Security group has extended its research teams in various dimensions. The
Maternal and Child Nutrition group develops and tests nutritional interventions, which typically
comprise innovative products and behaviour change communication materials and methods. The team
has a particular focus on the management of severe acute malnutrition, complementary feeding,
supplementary and therapeutic feeding, and nutritional anaemia. The NutritionInfection Interactions
group focuses on associations between enteric or other infections, malnutrition and cognitive
development. A better understanding of the complex interrelationship between infections and
malnutrition will inform the design of intervention strategies to reduce childhood morbidity and
mortality. The group has a particular focus on interactions between nutrition and tuberculosis, typhoid
and kala azar. The Food Security and Monitoring and Evaluation group conducts epidemiological and
sociological studies on food security. The group is heavily involved with the monitoring and evaluation of
nutritional programmes implemented by the Government of Bangladesh, UN agencies and NGOs. They
are also assessing the impact of climate change on food security in Bangladesh. The Diet and Drugs in
Diarrhoeal Disease Management group designs and evaluates interventions to prevent malnutrition
caused by enteric diseases, management of which depends largely on dietary therapy and medications.
This work includes clinical trials of drugs and diets. The Micronutrients group aims to estimate the
burden of micronutrient deficiency, and to design effective interventions and models for prevention of
such deficiencies. The team recently completed the largest nationwide micronutrient survey in
Bangladesh, and also studying a model for distribution of multiple micronutrient powder for children
under 2 through the existing health system. The Food Safety group focuses on microbiological, chemical
and other forms of contamination and adulteration of food in Bangladeshi children and adults. The
Nutrition and Metagenomics group is studying a range of factors that influence the ability of the gut to
absorb nutrients, including host genotype, gut microbiota and its gene content (microbiome), and
enteropathogen infections. As well as metagenomics to investigate the microbiome, the group is using
molecular and genomic tools to identify biomarkers to pinpoint children most at risk of malnutrition.
The Food Fortification and Biofortification group is engaged in a wide spectrum of studies ranging from
development of zinc-biofortified crops to implementation at field sites and scaling up of new
interventions. The Infant and Young Child Feeding group focuses on the first 1000 days of life, when
optimal feeding practices can reduce immediate morbidity and mortality and promote healthy growth

and development in adulthood. The group is currently involved in an integrated infant and young child
feeding programme in slum populations, and monitoring the implementation of a government-led
maternal and infant nutrition intervention in 16 sub-districts of Bangladesh. The Supplementary and
Therapeutic Feeding group develops diets and interventions for both emergency and non-emergency
situations to prevent mortality and morbidity due to malnutrition among at-risk groups.The
Implementation and Training Research group organizes training workshops on management of child
malnutrition, infant and young child feeding and other issues, in Bangladesh and multiple other
developing countries.
Reproductive Health
The Reproductive Health group deals with the various researches related to reproduction and there are
six groups under this research sector. The Family Planning, Menstrual Regulation and Post-abortion
Care group studies factors underlying unintended pregnancy and unsafe abortions, to inform the
development of services and policy, and with the ultimate aim of reducing unsafe abortion-related
mortality and morbidity. The Fetal and Neonatal Health Research group carries out epidemiological
research related to prematurity, stillbirth and early neonatal mortality. The ultimate aim is to generate
evidence to support enhanced quality of care during pregnancy, childbirth and immediately after birth.
The Maternal and Reproductive Nutrition group conducts fundamental, multidisciplinary and clinical
research to improve understanding of maternal and child nutrition, and to assess nutritional
interventions. The main aim is to inform clinical practice and the development of policy related to
maternal and child nutrition to improve public health. The Maternal Health group aims to improve
maternal and neonatal health service delivery and decrease maternal and neonatal morbidity and
mortality. The group carries out operational research on the delivery of services in Bangladesh, explore
barriers and facilitators affecting the service delivery, identify country-specific evidence-based services
to improve maternal and neonatal health, and address issues facing hard-to-reach areas.
The Health System and Reproductive Health group is exploring current practice and gaps in
reproductive health care, and ways to address such gaps. Through health policy and systems research,
the team aims to inform the development of policy and practice to improve reproductive health
outcomes. The Reproductive Infection and Cancer group conducts research to assess the burden and
epidemiology of cervical and breast cancer in Bangladesh. The team also aims to identify feasible
programmatic approaches to reduce the risk of reproductive infections and cancer.

Vaccine Sciences
The Vaccine Sciences group deals with the different research teams undertaking vaccine studies.
The Enteric Vaccines groups main aim is to understand immune responses against enteric infections in
Bangladesh in all age groups, including responses to natural bacterial and viral infections and after
vaccination. The group interests include factors resulting in poor efficacy and lowered immune
responses in children receiving oral vaccines, such as micronutrient deficiency, maternal factors and comorbidities. The Systems Vaccinology group studies factors influencing responses to vaccination and
infections in developing country settings, such as prenatal and postnatal nutritional status, exposure to
environmental toxins, past history of vaccination and infection, interactions between enteric vaccines,
nutrient supplementation and the gut microbiome. The team is also exploring prenatal immunisation

and possible methods to predict vaccine immunogenicity. The Emerging Vaccines group studies
emerging vaccines and their potential for use in Bangladesh. As well as current work on rotavirus and
polio vaccine, possible future targets include hepatitis, dengue, Japanese encephalitis, tuberculosis,
leishmaniasis and malaria. The Vaccine Surveillance group conducts surveillance, in urban and rural
communities as well as clinical facilities, to obtain data on vaccine safety, reactogenicity and efficacy.
Such surveillance may reveal changes in circulating strains following vaccination, generates laboratory
data on immune responses, provides evidence of herd immunity, and informs local decision-making on
vaccine implementation. The Respiratory Vaccines group studies vaccines for respiratory diseases,
particularly childhood pneumonia. The team has a particular focus on investigational vaccine trials
against pneumonia-related pathogens, and on licensed vaccines that have not been systematically
evaluated for pneumonia. The Economics of Vaccines group aims to generate evidence to ensure
vaccines are available to all people, especially the poor and vulnerable, in an effective way and at an
affordable price. The team applies theories of economic science to develop empirical models of supply
and demand for vaccinations. Their research covers topics such as health and economic burden of
vaccine-preventable diseases, socioeconomic status and demand for vaccines, and efficient vaccine
delivery processes.