Principal Investigator: Mr. Elangovan A. / Scientist - G
Funding Agency: Biennial
Period:Yearly
Trainings in procedures to be followed at sentinel sites and HIV testing centres were given to the staff involved in HIV sentinel surveillance activities. Monitoring and evaluation visits were also made to various sites. Data entry, verification and matching have been done for all the states allotted to NIE. Reports being prepared for 2019 round of surveillance.
Principal Investigator: Mr. Elangovan A. / Scientist - G
Funding Agency: NACO
Period:Biennial
The surveillance is mainly focused on High Risk Groups especially on FSW, MSM, IDU and Migrants. Since India is classified as concentrated nature of epidemic, control strategies on HRGs will bring down the HIV prevalence.
Principal Investigator: Mr. Elangovan A. / Scientist - G
Funding Agency: NACO
Period: 2019-2020
This surveillance being done at three states (Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha) among FSW, MSM, IDU and TGs.
Principal Investigator: Mr. Elangovan A. / Scientist - G
Funding Agency: CCDC
Period: 2018-2019
The main objectives are a) to assess the respiratory health status of the adult population residing in a defined geographical area around all the thermal power plant and ash ponds at Ennore b) to measure the PM 2.5 level at various points around the thermal power plants c) to estimate the levels of selected heavy metals in fly ash, air, water and soil within the study area.
Principal Investigator: Mr. Elangovan A. / Scientist - G
Funding Agency: WHO
Period: 2019
To develop a user friendly online CAPI based data collection tool during SFD phase and ACASI based tools for main survey of BSS-Lite
Principal Investigator: Dr. Tarun Bhatnagar / Scientist - E
Funding Agency: Indian Council of Medical Research
Period: 2019-22
Recently, outbreak of Zika virus infection have been reported from Jaipur city in India. It is proposed to conduct cohort studies to understand the epidemiology of Zika virus infection in the country. The primary objective is to estimate the risk of microcephaly among women infected with Zika virus compared to women not infected with Zika virus. The prospective cohort study will recruit pregnant women at risk of Zika virus infection during pregnancy at Jaipur. They will be followed-up from the time of enrolment until childbirth or termination of pregnancy with one follow-up visit per trimester. Newborns of these mothers will be followed-up for two years of their life, with nine follow-up visits (1, 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, 21, 24 months). The project is in collaboration with ICMR-National Institute of Virology, Pune and SMS Medical College, Jaipur..
Principal Investigator: Dr. Tarun Bhatnagar / Scientist - E
Funding Agency: Global Challenges Research Fund, The University of Nottingham, United Kingdom
Period: Jan-July 2021
DISCOVER-WET aims to improve understanding of population exposure to communicable viral diseases including COVID-19 in rural and urban catchment areas in Nagpur (Central India), an area which has seen exponential growth in SARS-CoV-2 infections. Using established methodologies, we will specifically identify and track the transmission of coronavirus and other viruses through the detection of viral genetic components in wastewater samples. These will be collected longitudinally from urban, slum and rural village areas and analysed in country. Real-time information on potential outbreak hotspots for SARS-CoV-2 and other pathogens will be shared with public health authorities to instigate appropriate public health measures. We will also undertake sequencing of a proportion of these samples to gain a deeper understanding of their genomic make-up. Our metagenome data will guide additional genomic-based quantitative assays on the same wastewater samples, targeting specific enteric and other viruses that have been identified to be highly prevalent in the metagenome data and thus may be of clinical importance. We will associate our wastewater-based genomic findings with incident in-and outpatient cases of COVID-19 and other respiratory and enteric viral infections with the assistance of local health authorities. In this way, we can assess the utility of WBE for predicting outbreaks of SARS-CoV-2 and other important viral communicable diseases, which will enhance preparedness for the next unforeseen infectious disease outbreak and also inform the design of preventative strategies, such as vaccine development.
Principal Investigator: Dr. Tarun Bhatnagar / Scientist - E
Funding Agency: Indian Council of Medical Research; Department of Biotechnology, Government of India; Internatioanl AIDS Vaccine Initiative
Period: 2017-2022
CoHRPICA is a critical initiative of the Government of India (DBT & ICMR in partnership with NACO) to establish a clinical research consortium with multi-disciplinary expertise across India towards catalyzing population-based studies for design, development and implementation of products and solutions for HIV-disease management. The key objectives of the program include the following: • Establish well-characterized cohorts of HIV-uninfected individuals at high-risk (including Exposed-seronegative) and HIV-infected individuals (including Early HIV-infection, HIV-infected adults – with and without comorbidities, and HIV-infected children); • Establish a state-of-the-art biorepository of biological specimens collected from the above cohorts and other prospective and retrospective studies in India; • Develop a national HIV/AIDS database (with clinical-laboratory-socio-demographic-and research data) to enable a singular digital platform for epidemiological analyses, generation of new research questions and conduct of advanced immuno-biological analyses. • Promote Scientific Research towards enabling context-specific evidences for various epidemiological, socio-behavioral, clinical and basic science questions related to HIV risks, transmission, pathogenesis, disease progression and resistance (including immunological, virological and genetic characteristics) through separate release of RFA’s by Government of India. The program is being implemented at 5 Centers of Excellence in India (with 9 sites across geographies in India for establishment of cohorts). Such multi-institutional cohort program will enable development of products that are effective, appropriate, affordable, and acceptable.
Principal Investigator: Dr. Tarun Bhatnagar / Scientist - E
Funding Agency: ICMR-NIE (Intramural)
Period: 2016-till date
ICMR-NIE has developed a demographic surveillance site in suburban area of Tamil Nadu - Ayapakkam area of Chennai corporation. The site will serve as a platform for health surveys that provide demographic, socio-economic and health data that would enable longitudinal, trans-disciplinary research on household determinants and impacts of socioeconomic inequalities, services access/utilization, and health reform initiatives in order to set evidence-informed health priorities and policies.
Principal Investigator: Dr. Manickam P. / Scientist - E
Funding Agency: ICMR/DPHPM
Period: 2014 onwards
Mass gatherings involve major public health preparedness, alertness to plan and effectively manage the natural and manmade threats including terrorism attacks. Operational/implementation research such as establishment and assessment of effectiveness of enhanced surveillance during mass gatherings is an identified research priority. We propose to conduct an operational research with the objectives to (1) document effectiveness of syndromic surveillance system for a limited number of conditions that could be facilitated by the mass gathering and/ or of outbreak potential (2) update the guidelines for mass gatherings. The research is conducted in few of the notified festivals in Tamil Nadu and selected festivals across the Country.
Publication – Citation Vancouver :• Vishal D, A H, Ponnaiah M, et al. Tablet-based participatory syndromic surveillance at Simhashta festival in India. Online J Public Health Inform. 2018 May; 10(1):e182. doi: 10.5210/ojphi.v10i1.8973.
• Vishal D, Ponnaiah M et al. Syndromic surveillance in religious festival involving circumambulation in India. Online J Public Health Inform. 2018 May; 10(1):e180. doi: 10.5210/ojphi.v10i1.8972.
• Manickam P, Viduthalai V, Ravishankar T. Public health preparedness and syndromic surveillance system during mass gathering for Godavari Pushkarams Festival, Yanam, Puducherry, 2015. National Conference on ‘Innovative Approaches in Public Health’, 18- 20 Nov 2015, Armed Forces Medical College (AFMC), Pune [Awarded Best Poster Presentation]
Principal Investigator: Dr. Manickam P. / Scientist - E
Funding Agency: NHM Tamil Nadu
Period: 2017 onwards
A health system-based locally relevant research project is proposed to be led by Tamil Nadu public health officers and supported by a team of investigators (consisting of ICMR-NIE alumni; health systems, faculty members of medical colleges) and mentors (ICMR-NIE and subject experts).
Principal Investigator: Dr. Manickam P. / Scientist - E
Funding Agency: ICMR
Period: 2017-20
2017: We reviewed published outbreak investigations from India to gather evidence on the use of step-by-step systematic methods during their work. [Mentor]
2018: We investigated two outbreaks of eye diseases following exposure to unshielded mercury vapor and metal halide lights. This prompted us to review published literature on consequences of exposure to artificial sources of ultraviolet radiation on human eye diseases. [Mentor]
2020:Adverse drug events (ADE) in AYUSH interventions for cervical and lumbar spondylosis: A systematic review [PI]
2020:Association of adiposity and asthma, COPD: Tales of two diseases: A systematic review and meta analysis (Co-Investigator)
Publication – Citation VancouverKurup KK, John D, Manickam P, George T. Use of systematic epidemiological methods in outbreak investigations from India, 2008–2016: A systematic review. Clinical Epidemiology and Global Health. 2019 Mar 6.
Rubeshkumar PC, Manickam P, Anandhi D, Denny J. The association between exposure to artificial sources of ultraviolet radiation and ocular diseases in humans: A systematic review protocol [JBI Evidence Synthesis] [Accepted]
Principal Investigator: Dr.Manickam P./ Scientist - E
Funding Agency: WHO-TDR
Period: 2001-2015
Uniform MDT We evaluated six-month multidrug therapy (MDT) currently recommended for multibacillary (MB) patients as uniform MDT (U-MDT) in a single-arm open trial under programme conditions. Primary objective was to determine efficacy to prevent five-year cumulative five per cent relapse. Secondary objectives were to assess acceptability, safety and compliance. We recruited 2091 PB and 1298 MB patients from six settings in India and two sites in China. We observed low relapse, minimal ADR and other adverse clinical events. Clofazimine-related pigmentation was acceptable. Evidence supports introduction of U-MDT in national leprosy programmes.
Single dose for PB We conducted randomized double-blind trial for single-dose of Rifampicin, Ofloxacin and Minocycline (ROM) compared to WHO-PB-MDT among paucibacillary (PB) leprosy patients with 2-5 skin lesions. We enrolled 1526 patients from five centres (ROM=762; WHO-PB-MDT=764) and followed them for 36 months posttreatment during 1998-2003. Single dose ROM, though less effective than the standard WHO-PB-MDT regimen conceptually offers an alternative treatment regimen for PB leprosy patients with 2-5 lesions only when careful follow-up for relapse is possible.
Principal Investigator: Dr.Manickam P./ Scientist - E
Funding Agency: ICMR
Period: 2018-19
We established road traffic injuries (RTI) surveillance in two hospitals (private and public sector) in Chennai city with the objectives to characterize nature, types, distribution & pattern of RTIs, describe clinical management and outcomes of treatment of hospitalized RTIs and describe factors associated with fatal RTIs. We did surveys to describe RTIs at the community level in a sub-urban locality.
Publication – Citation Vancouver : Babu B, John K, Manickam P, Kishore J, Singh R, Mangal D, Joshi A, Bairwa M, Sharma Y. Development and Implementation of Integrated Road Traffic Injuries Surveillance – India (IRIS-India): A Protocol. AJEM [Internet]. 15Dec.2019 [cited 19Dec.2019];. Available from: http://ajem.tums.ac.ir/index.php/ajem/article/view/292
Principal Investigator: Dr.Manickam P./ Scientist - E
Funding Agency: ICMR
Period: 2019-20
Outbreaks of NiV infection has been reported from West Bengal in 2001 and 2007. Since cultural practices in India, West Bengal and Bangladesh are similar and since most of the outbreaks in Bangladesh have been quite close to the Indian border, we anticipate that a substantial proportion of the population in rural communities in West Bengal are at NiV risk. However, no systematic survey of these risk factors has been conducted in West Bengal. We propose to better characterize risk in West Bengal, as a first step in working towards reducing NiV infection through a cross-sectional study in West Bengal.
Principal Investigator: Dr.Manickam P./ Scientist - E
Funding Agency: ICMR
Period: 2019 onwards
Prescribing skills is one of the important competencies expected of Indian Medical Graduate, Medical Council of India has outlined prescribing skills as “must know” in the 2018 curriculum, but this is not yet implemented. ICMR National Centre for Clinical Pharmacology and its network of rational use of medicine centres (ICMR-NIE is one of them) in 15 Medical College and 11 ICMR institutions around the country are designing an online course on prescribing skills for interns.
Principal Investigator: Dr.Prabhdeep Kaur/ Scientist - E
Funding Agency: ICMR/WHO
Period: 2017-2022
In India, it is estimated that at least one in four adults have hypertension but only about 10% of them have their blood pressure under control. To achieve and support the GOI goal of 25% relative reduction in raised blood pressure the India Hypertension Control Initiative was launched in November 2017. The India Hypertension Control Initiative (IHCI), is a multi-partner, five-year initiative by the the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), State Governments and WHO Country Office for India. Resolve to Save Lives (an Initiative of Vital Strategies) is an international technical partner. In the first year, IHCI covered 25 districts across five states- Punjab, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana and Maharashtra. The project is being scaled to cover total of 100 districts across all states.
Principal Investigator: Dr. Prabhdeep Kaur/Scientist - E
Funding Agency: CDC - Atlanta
Period: 2016-2020
Event-based surveillance complements indicator-based surveillance in terms of early detection and response. One of the Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA) initiative projects in India aims to develop a model surveillance system in Tiruvallur, India. We are designing and implementing a community event-based surveillance system (CEBS) in Thiruvallur district that could be integrated into IDSP for scale up.
Principal Investigator: Dr.Prabhdeep Kaur/Scientist - E
Funding Agency: ICMR- Extramural
Period: 2018-19
Punjab was the first state in India to introduce HPV vaccine in Bhatinda and Mansa districts. We estimated the acceptance of 2nd dose of HPV vaccine and side effects (if any) among adolescent girls, vaccinated with 1st dose of HPV vaccine and among parents of non-vaccinated adolescent girls in the study districts in a health facility based program in the two program districts (Bhatinda and Mansa) in Punjab. We also estimated the level of awareness regarding HPV vaccine and concerns among girls who received either one or two doses
Principal Investigator: Dr.Prabhdeep Kaur/Scientist - E
Funding Agency: NIE- Intramural
Period: 2014 onwards
We are conducting a household Cohort study in the Ayapakkam panchayat area. Study participants include all the households and their members in the Ayapakkam panchayat area. The objectives are to document and describe the births, deaths, migration and other vital events in the study population and to document and describe the socio-economic profile, morbidity profile and health seeking behaviour of the study population. We will be initiating a survey for non-communicable diseases and risk factors in 2020.
Principal Investigator:Dr.Prabhdeep Kaur/Scientist - E
Funding Agency: ICMR- Extramural
Period: 2018 - 2021
Chronic Kidney Disease of unknown etiology is an emerging public health challenge. We are conducting a longitudinal cohort study in Prakasam district, Andhra Pradesh to determine the risk factors associated with decline of eGFR in a rural cohort in Prakasam district, Andhra Pradesh, India and to describe the trends in the eGFR distribution over 3 years in a rural cohort in Prakasam district, Andhra Pradesh, India.
Principal Investigator:Dr. C.P. Girish Kumar – Scientist - E
Funding Agency: CMC/ BMGF
Period: 2017-2020
Rotavirus is a major cause of severe, dehydrating acute gastroenteritis (AGE) among children under-five years of age in India. An indigenous Rotavirus Vaccine ROTAVAC, based on a neonatal rotavirus strain (116E), recently completed a successful Phase III clinical trial in which 3 vaccine doses given at 6, 10, 14 weeks of age were 56% effective against severe rotavirus AGE. ROTAVAC has been licensed in India and in 2014, the Government of India recommended inclusion of rotavirus vaccine into the Universal Immunization Programme (UIP) of India. Rollout of ROTAVAC, in a phased manner, began in 2016. As rotavirus vaccines are introduced into the UIP in India, monitoring their public health impact is a high priority. The effectiveness and impact evaluations will focus on the early adopter regions of ROTAVAC and will be built on the existing infrastructure of the National Rotavirus Surveillance Network (NRSN). The major objectives of this project are (i) to identify cases of rotavirus associated AGE among children less than five years of age hospitalized for AGE (ii) to determine the circulating rotavirus genotypes pre- and post-introduction of ROTAVAC using sentinel hospital surveillance sites and (iii) to assess the hospital burden of intussusception among children below two years of age. The study will be coordinated by the Indian Council of Medical Research, Christian Medical College (CMC) Vellore, ICMR-National Institute of Epidemiology, and Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, USA. In Chennai, the AGE and intussusception surveillance at Institute of Child Health and Hospital for Children (ICH) is being coordinated by ICMR-NIE.
Principal Investigator:Dr. C.P. Girish Kumar – Scientist - E
Funding Agency: KIMS
Period: 2019-2021
Principal Investigator:Dr. C.P. Girish Kumar – Scientist - E
Funding Agency: CDC
Period: 2019-2020
Antimicrobial resistance has been reported in both community-acquired and healthcare- associated infections worldwide. Persons colonized with antimicrobial-resistant organisms (AROs) are at risk of antimicrobial-resistant infections (ARIs). The spread of pathogens that harbor resistance to antibiotics poses a grave concern to public health in India. Originally described as concerns for hospitalized patients, AROs such as extended-spectrum cephalosporin-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (ESCrE), carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) and colistin-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (ColRE) have now spread to communities. To better understand the extent and transmission of AROs in the Indian context, it is necessary to perform a population-based survey to detect ARO colonization and assess associations with exposures. We will survey hospitalized patients and communities for colonization and infection with three AROs of public health importance: CRE, ESCrE, and ColRE. This information will aid local health agencies to assess magnitude of AR in the populations the serve, to prioritize population-level interventions, and to identify whether longitudinal control efforts are successful.
Principal Investigator:Dr. B. Ganesh – Scientist - D
Funding Agency: Department of Science and Technology, Government of India [DST-JSPS]
Period: 2018-2020
This research proposal was submitted for the bilateral Joint Research Project under the India-Japan Cooperative Science Programme (IJCSP) between the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Ministry of Science & Technology. Government of India, New Delhi and the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) to promote bilateral scientific collaboration between Indian and Japanese scientists. The project was approved in principle for joint funding from DST-JSPS. HMSC has approved this project and awaiting for release of fund from the Department of Science & Technology (DST), Government of India. Recently, Prof. Dr. Nobumichi Kobayashi, Professor & Head, Department of Hygiene, Sapporo Medical University School of Medicine, Sapporo, Hokkaido Prefecture, Japan (the Japanese counterpart as part of this bilateral project) has visited our institute (ICMR-National Institute of Epidemiology, Chennai) on 20th March 2019 (one day only).
Publication – Citation Vancouver : Manuscript: (1). Genetic diversity of CMY beta-lactamase genes in clinical isolates of Escherichia coli in Myanmar: identification of three novel types and updated phylogenetic classification of blaCMY. San N1, Aung MS2, Urushibara N2, San T3, Maw WW1, Lwin MM1, Mar TT1, Myint YY1, Thu PP1, Hlaing MS1, Ganesh B4, Kobayashi N2 1 Department of Microbiology, University of Medicine 2, Yangon, Myanmar 2 Sapporo Medical University School of Medicine, Sapporo, Japan 3 Yangon Children’s Hospital, Ministry of Health and Sports, Yangon, Myanmar 4 ICMR-National Institute of Epidemiology, Chennai, India Submitted to “Microbial Drug Resistance” journal and currently under review.
Principal Investigator:Dr. B. Ganesh – Scientist - D
Funding Agency: ICMR-Extramural research grants
Period: 2019-2021
A total of 60 leptospire [6.5%] strains were isolated by direct culture mostly among children with the age group of 2-14 years (75%) is currently being sub-cultured and maintained regularly. Awaiting for release of fund from ICMR Extramural research grants under the ICMR Research Methodology workshop for Young and Middle level Scientists/Researchers in Medical Colleges/Research Institutes (South Zone).
Principal Investigator:Dr. B. Ganesh – Scientist - D
Funding Agency: ICMR Extramural research Grants Under Medical Innovation Fund
Period: 2018-2020
This research proposal was submitted for ICMR Extramural grants through Division of Basic Medical Sciences under the Medical Innovation Fund (MIF) scheme and the project is in principle approved for funding. The research work will be initiated immediately once funds are received.
Principal Investigator:Dr. B. Ganesh – Scientist - D
Funding Agency: ICMR Extramural Grants – Tribal Health Research Forum
Period: 2018-2021
This research project is approved and awaiting fund release from ICMR Extramural grants. Expected outcomes: The present study has tremendous scope with respect to public health aspects as will indicate the actual burden necessary for appropriate control strategies by health administrators. Furthermore, the present study will further help in formulating a functional policy for haemoglobinopathies in Tami Nadu with pre-natal screening, carrier screening of pre-marital (adolescent, school children). It will further boost the awareness and education activities. In India, pre-natal diagnosis by genetic testing is available at chosen centres, which is cost intensive and not accessible to the rural masses. So, the study can help define the scope for TN govt. to consider a policy decision in providing such facilities to rural and tribal couples at free or affordable cost.
Principal Investigator:Dr. P. Ganeshkumar / Scientist - D
Funding Agency: CDC, Atlanta USA under Global Health Security Agenda grant
Period: 2016-2020
Principal Investigator:Dr. P. Ganeshkumar / Scientist - D
Funding Agency: National Health and Medical Research Council, Australia under Global Alliance of Chronic Diseases (GACD) Scale-up grant
Period: 2019 – 2024
Principal Investigator:Dr. Vineet Kumar Kamal / Scientist - C
Funding Agency: Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), New Delhi
Period: Sept 2018 – Sept 2021
Principal Investigator:Dr. Vineet Kumar Kamal / Scientist - C
Funding Agency: ICMR-National Institute of Epidemiology, Chennai
Period: Feb 2019 – Feb 2020
Principal Investigator:Jeromie wesley vivian Thangaraj / Scientist - B
Funding Agency: Indian Council of Medical Research and John Hopkins Universityi
Period: 2018-2020
Estimate age-specific population immunity to measles and rubella viruses within three age strata (children 9 months to less than 60 months and 5 to less than 15 years of age, and women 15 to 49 years of age) in India using serological Surveys.
