Women in Science Mentoring Program (2020)
Post TB sequelae –Metabolic syndrome and the utility of plasma biomarkers in pulmonary and extrapulmonary tuberculosis patients from South India
PI: Priyadarshini Padaki, St. John's Medical College and Hospital, India
Project Dates: February 2022 - March 2024
Project Overview:
 | | From the left: Dr. Minu, Dr. Priyadarshini, Dr. Mamatha and team mentor Dr. Rashmi |
This project team will conduct a joint study on the occurrence of metabolic syndrome in patients with TB and identify biosignatures that will enable the diagnosis as well as the prognosis of both EPTB and Pulmonary TB (PTB) in South India.
This seed grant aims to support the study of the development of post TB metabolic syndrome and the role of plasma biomarkers in tuberculosis.
Main goals:
- Assess the incidence of metabolic syndrome over a 2-year period in people newly diagnosed patients with TB.
- Identify differences in plasma biomarkers in diagnosis of EPTB vs PTB and compare the biomarkers with those in healthy controls.
- Assess the role of plasma biomarkers as prognostic indicators in PTB and EPTB patients on treatment.
Mentorship plan: A research mentorship program will be conducted for undergraduate medical students at St. John’s national academy of Health Sciences. A total of 10 interested students will be selected and trained in research and proposal development. They will develop research proposals in pairs. Of these 3 proposals will be selected (two under each of the investigators Dr. Minu, Dr. Mamatha and Dr. Priyadarshini) for a scholarship program from the SEED grant. Project updates:
As part of the PEER USAID project, to continue the mentor – mentee programme by mentoring junior women in the institute and encourage them to do research, the team conducted a half-day workshop on 4th November 2022 for the undergraduate students with the focus on research and its ethical aspects.
Senior faculty from Department of Community Health and Institutional Ethics Review Board addressed the students giving insights on writing a project proposal and the ethical aspects of research.
A total of 18 students participated in the workshop. Following the workshop, the students were asked to submit brief concept notes on research related to tuberculosis to compete for a scholarship to do a small research project. A total of 12 students were selected to work on 6 different projects under the mentorship of Dr. Minu, Dr. Priyadarshini and Dr. Mamatha after obtaining ethical clearance.
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