Welcome!

Hi friends and family,

Thanks for stopping by my attempt to share my experiences in Dhaka this summer (...cue lame blog title)! I'll start updating at length upon my arrival, but for now, maybe I can acquaint you with what I'm doing over there.

First things, first: I'm entering my second year of the MPH epidemiology program at the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory. This summer, I'm going to ICDDR,B in Dhaka, Bangladesh to work on a study of the possible protective effect of PCV7 pneumococcal conjugate vaccine against hearing loss in Bengali children. We're comparing children who received the vaccine in a 2004-2005 study to children who never received PCV7, to see if the prevalence and severity of hearing loss among vaccinated children is lower than among unvaccinated children. Hearing loss is a substantial public health problem in developing countries, and childhood-onset hearing loss is a particular problem in terms of impaired cognitive development and quality of life. I'll spare you the more technical details and exact description of who, what, where... but feel free to ask. :)

So many of my Rollins classmates are abroad this summer that it seems almost commonplace to talk at school about leaving for Dhaka! But... it's anything but commonplace to me. I used to think I was a pretty good writer, but I can't seem to ever find words to adequately express just how excited I am!! At 26, this will be my first experience in a developing country, and one of the most incredible opportunities I have ever had. After a first - and most incredible year - in public health school learning epidemiology, I have the opportunity to use it to make a real impact. I joke about people entering public health because we love to save babies, but this is, like, serious!! -- this study has the potential of being the first of its kind to support the use of PCV7 vaccine for reducing hearing loss and benefiting quality of life among children in southeast Asia.

Excitement aside for a second, it's been interesting getting to this point of knowing that the study (probably) will happen. :) Everyone loves bullet points, and this post is getting long, so here's the gist:

- Originally, I was assigned to a different study team at ICDDR,B as a summer intern, to work on ongoing childhood respiratory disease studies
- When specifics of that project weren't developing fast enough for me to receive Global Field Experience funding from Rollins, my advisor suggested an alternative -- a new study of PCV7 vaccine and hearing loss, following up on the 2004-2005 study, working with investigators from the original study. My reaction? Um, YES!
- Then... lots of prep work - writing a protocol (the study already has funding), getting IRB approval from Emory for me to work on the study (there's already a study team in place at ICDDR,B), now working on data collection and analysis plans...
- And now, I'm waiting for clearance from the IRB at ICDDR,B to know that we can officially go forward with the study, final details from the intern program to get my Bengali visa, and some settling of final dates of the project so I can book plane tickets! (I can't count the number of times I've heard "aren't you gone... yet?", but honestly, the flux around this project has been a great experience in how global health studies happen. Uncertainty... changing plans... it's what I expected, and more than fine by me.)
- So, departure date is currently estimated at: (dum dum dum...) July 5! (Or, you know, sometime around then.) Dang, that's soon. I better take my typhoid vaccine.

Those were long bullet points (sorry!), and there's lots more I could talk about, but... I'll leave my existential musings to another day. For now, just a huge THANK YOU to my parents, siblings, friends, and advisors who've supported me in getting here!

And PS - I'm looking for suggestions on shoes for monsoon season and best vegetarian Bengali food! :)