Brown University expresses interest in research, health education in Bangladesh

Brown University of the United States has expressed an interest in collaborative initiatives on health education and biomedical research in Bangladesh, said a press release.

Mukesh Jain, the Dean of the Alpert Medical School at Brown University, and other leaders expressed this interest in a meeting held on February 2nd, at the Brown University Club, in the presence of Kamal Abdul Naser Chowdhury, the Prime Minister's Advisor on Education and Cultural Affairs.

During the discussion, Kamal Chowdhury highlighted the special initiatives and programs of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's government in the fields of health education and biomedical research in Bangladesh.

This meeting, arranged in honour of Kamal Chowdhury, was attended by Dean Mukesh Jain along with other top leaders from Brown University, including Ruhul Abid, Co-Director of Cardiovascular Research Fellowship Program, Adam Levine, Director of the Global Health Initiative, Susan Cu-Uvin, Director CFAR Program, Sharon Rounds, Associate Dean and the Director of the Center for Translational Research, and Bharat Ramratnam, Chief Scientific Officer and the Vice Chair of Research.

In the meeting, Dean Mukesh Jain and the leaders from Brown University's medical school expressed their appreciation for the measures and achievements of the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s developmental initiatives in Bangladesh, particularly in the healthcare sector and in the successful management of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Dean Jain and Abid reminisced about the occasion when the Alpert Medical School of Brown University bestowed a special honour to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina last September in New York for her recognition by the United Nations for her the concept of Community Clinics, a successful healthcare delivery model in Bangladesh.

During a brief discussion at that time, in the light of their proposal, the Prime Minister expressed her interest in student-teacher-researcher exchange and collaborative biomedical research between Brown University and Bangladesh.

They also mentioned that Brown University faculty members have been working in several districts of Bangladesh in collaboration with the Bangladesh Directorate General of Health Services.

They have assisted in the introduction of modern digital methods see-and-treat for detecting cervical cancer, the exchange of medical data of hypertensive and diabetic patients from community clinics to Upazila and district hospitals through electronic health record systems, and in the research on the management of diarrheal diseases in children.

They also expressed interests in organizing Brown-Bangladesh joint seminars at Brown University and in Dhaka in the future.

Kamal Chowdhury thanked the authorities of Brown University for the proposed Brown-Bangladesh Medical Research and Education Initiative at the Alpert Medical School and expressed his belief that the medical research field in Bangladesh will benefit significantly through this collaboration.

He also expressed interest in receiving special assistance from the Alpert Medical School to improve the standards of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University and other medical colleges and enhance the quality of services and research activities in hospitals, academic and research institutions in Bangladesh.