20 AUG 2019
World Mosquito Day 2019
On the 20 August of 1897, Sir Ronald Ross discovered that female mosquitoes transmit malaria between humans. Since then, we've followed its devastating effect. In fact, it’s said to have killed half the people that ever lived - 54 billion people. Despite huge progress in the fight against our deadliest enemy, global efforts have now stalled and, for the first time, we're seeing malaria rising in the highest-burden countries. We can't let this happen. Together, we can be the generation that ends malaria for good.
More information about mosquitoes and malaria? Visit this link.
28 MAY 2020
NEON abstract accepted to the UK Implementation Science Research Conference
We are pleased to announce that our NEON team at UCL, London Borough of Newham, London Borough of Tower Hamlets (Dr. Logan Manikam, Shereen Al Laham, Dr. Michelle Heys, Dr. Clare Llewellyn, Dr. Neha Batura, Prof. Andrew Hayward, Yasmin Bou Karim, Jenny Gilmour, Kelley Webb-Martin, Carol Irish, Chanel Edwards, and Prof. Monica Lakhanpaul) have submitted an abstract entitled, “Implementation science in marginalised poorly resourced communities: a case study using the Nurture Early for Optimal Nutrition (NEON) Intervention to improve infant feeding, care and dental hygiene practices in South Asian infants aged <2 years in East London” that has been accepted for oral presentation at the 3rd UK Implementation Science Research Conference. The conference will be held online on 16th-17th July 2020, and the abstract will be published as a special collection within the Implementation Science journal.
4 FEB 2020
CHIP Workshop refining Conceptual Map
A key group discussion was held during the CHIP Consortium Workshop in Jakarta to refine the conceptual map by linking aspects of One Health with our experts from; UCL Child Health, CEGE UCL, Columbia University, Indohun, Save the Children India, HK University, JNU India, and other CHIP partners.
20 JAN 2020
Childhood Infection and Pollution (CHIP) Consortium Workshop held in Jakarta, Indonesia
The CHIP Consortium Workshop will take place in Jakarta, Indonesia, on the 4th-7th February 2020. This workshop is jointly organised by Aceso Global Health Consultants and Indonesia One Health Network (INDOHUN) and will be open to all members of the CHIP Consortium to discuss the research thus-far, future plans, and feedback.
10 JAN 2020
Rapid Response: Delivering Cost-Effective Healthcare Through Reverse Innovation
Dr. Logan Manikam and the rest of the NEON study team have responded to Skopec et al's article, "Delivering Cost-Effective Healthcare through Reverse Innovation". This presents how the UK healthcare system could benefit from adopting cost-effective innovations from low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), highlighting our NEON study as an innovation that is currently being co-developed and evaluated in the UK by our team.
6 JAN 2020
NIHR Fellowship
Dr. Logan Manikam, our Director, has been awarded a prestigious NIHR Fellowship, a total of £805,844, to undertake the NEON trial in the London Boroughs of Tower Hamlets and Newham. He'll be supported by Shereen Al Laham and the rest of the Aceso GHC team.
7 DEC 2019
CHIP researchers travel to Chile
Next week our CHIP researchers will travel to Antofagasta, Chile to conduct the Feasibility Stage 1 study.
6 FEB 2020
Professor Pam Factor-Livak presents on day 3 of the CHIP Workshop
Prof. Pam Factor-Litvak, from Columbia University, presented on grants received for the Child Development CHIP projects in Jaipur and Jakarta on Day 3 of our Childhood Infections and Pollution (CHIP) Consortium Workshop.
24 NOV 2019
Yusuf Hamied Award
Prof. Pam Factor-Litvak, Co-Investigator of CHIP and Vice Dean of Research at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, has been awarded the Yusuf Hamied Fellowship Award of $15,000 towards future research and fellowship activities in India.
17 JUN 2019
Who Works at Aceso Series
Monday is our "Who works at Aceso?" day! This series will continue every Monday, so stay tuned! This Monday - 17th of June - we are going to introduce our India Co-Director, Dr. Kaushik Sarkar for you. Kaushik holds an MBBS from the Medical College of Kolkata and is a Gold Medalist in Community Medicine from the All India Institute of Hygiene and Public Health. He is an expert in knowledge of policy translation, policy research, and systematic reviews. His research interests include national and sub-national disease control, exploratory data analysis, and infectious disease modeling. One of the greatest publication, Dr. Kaushik Sarkar has worked on is about Postpartum depression in India. If you would like to know more about it, please access this link.
Dr. Sarkar describes himself as, "a specialist in Community Medicine and an avid researcher, with experience of working with MoH and international organisations for malaria elimination. I have worked in a variety of positions related to strategic planning, grant seeking, research, monitoring, advocacy, and also as a clinician. I am Interested in the leading country or regional initiatives in the field of infectious diseases, especially vector-borne diseases." If you have any questions, please use our website to contact him directly!
18 JUN 2020
CHIP member, Dr Rajmohan Panda, joins Webinar on "A Virus Without Borders: COVID-19 and its lessons for Science, Society, State, and Solidarity in a Global World"
Dr. Rajmohan Panda, our CHIP team member, will be one of the panelists answering key questions at a webinar on, "A Virus Without Borders: COVID-19 and its Lessons for Science, Society, State, and Solidarity in a Global World". Key discussions will focus on how COVID-19 response policies are informed by the public health, legal, and healthcare fields, and how in turn, this pandemic is newly impacting these arenas.
11 JULY 2018
Aceso Systematic Review wins Best of Unicef Research 2018
"Quality Improvement Initiatives for Hospitalized Small and Sick Newborns in Low- and Middle-income Countries: A Systematic Review" was featured in Best of UNICEF Research 2018.
28 JUL 2020
A new publication: "Reducing Childhood Obesity: Evaluation of an Early Years Nutrition programme in a deprived London Borough"
Childhood obesity is a growing global health concern, with far-reaching implications on health in childhood and in later life. Early intervention strategies are key to reducing childhood obesity. The recent study by Priyanka Patil, Emma C. Alexander, Meghan Cupp MPH, Prof. Monica Lakhanpaul, Meradin Peachey, Alexander Light, and Dr. Logan Manikam aims to evaluate the implementation of an Early Years Nutrition programme in the London Borough of Newham’s children’s centres.
2 AUG 2019
UCL Grand Challenges Summer 2019 Reception
14 research projects have been funded by the Grand Challenges, UCL’s programme to support innovative cross-disciplinary endeavours. £56,000 has been distributed through the annual Small Grants scheme, to researchers in a wide range of academic disciplines who are set to carry out a range of research projects on subjects as varied as infections in under 5s, Brexit, inclusion in planning, and meditation in schools.
The idea of the scheme is to foster grassroots research by pairs of researchers, representing two different faculties at UCL. We believe that this cross-disciplinary approach makes the innovative thinkers at UCL even greater than the sum of their parts. CHIP was one of the projects whom received the grant and we were invited to give a speech on how it has been used to make an impact.
On 30th of July, Mr. Spencer Rutherford gave a presentation about how UCL Grand Challenges grant has been used in CHIP in the reception he was invited. He explained how the research focuses on One Health approach combining with community engagement to find more about the infections in urban slums and how there are risk factors in the environment and behaviours. Well done for giving us an amazing speech, Spencer!
For more information please visit this link.
2 AUG 2019
Notes from the CHIP Consortium Workshop in Jaipur
Between the 6th - 9th of May 2019, a joint UCL-SCI workshop was held in Jaipur to gather members of the Childhood Infections and Pollution (CHIP) Consortium. Multiple scientific and epidemiological disciplines were represented in this meeting with stakeholders attending from both the Global North and South; different cultures, organisations, perspectives, and ways of working were leveraged to inspire how new improvements could be made to the CHIP research programme.
Speakers included CHIP co-directors, Dr. Logan Manikam and Prof. Monica Lakhanpaul as well as a range of world-leading lecturers from CHIP partner universities and leaders at the NGO: Save the Children India.
This workshop was organised around the following topics:
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Setting the Context: Infections and Slums in India
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Visualising Research Goals and Engaging Local Communities
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Predecessors to the CHIP: Project PANChSHEEEL
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Slums and Infections: General Overview
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Slums and Infections: Indonesia and Chile specific examples
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Slum Visit: Site Visits and Transect Walks
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Extreme Citizen Science and its applications
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Review of CHIP Protocol
By breaking sector silos pooling research expertise, the CHIP project will work to collectively undertake rigorous studies and co-develop complex interventions. This event facilitated the share of best practice across all disciplines represented and briefed participants on some of the novel infection determinants that the CHIP studies had identified up until this point. Through this cross-disciplinary approach, the CHIP project aims to address these infection determinants through its efficient and cost-effective set of interventions.
Key Workshop Outcomes:
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Provided an opportunity for CHIP consortia members to network with local implementation partners
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Took stock of findings from existing feasibility work and further revise CHIP methodology
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Engaged with slum dwellers via slum visits
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Established scale and scope of projects and publications in subsequent work in India, Chile, and Indonesia
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Agreed the timings of subsequent CHIP workshops
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Identified follow-on grant opportunities
We have uploaded the presentation slides and Meeting of Minutes (MoM) from this workshop.
13 SEP 2019
Minutes of Meeting: UCL-ACESO Consortium Jaipur Workshop
The final minutes of meeting document for the UCL-SCI consortium workshop is here!
22 JUL 2019
JULY! Cord Blood Awareness Month!
Every year, CBR® looks forward to July because it also marks Cord Blood Awareness Month: a celebration to spread the word about the awesome powers of newborn stem cells found in a baby’s umbilical cord blood.
For more information please visit this link.
22 JUL 2019
A Systematic Review of Household and Family Alcohol Misuse and Childhood Developmental Outcomes in Low- and Middle-income Countries
Another great news about the new publication from Dr. Logan Manikam, our director of ACESO GLOBAL. Published in BMJ Journals: Diseases in Childhood.
22 JUL 2019
PANChSHEEEL Conference
We are very thrilled to announce that the PANChSHEEEL conference was successfully held yesterday. Professor Chambers has explained about "Wash and Nutrition in India: Blind Spots and Frontiers for Research" and the heated discussions between the panels and the guests in the conference were very inspiring. Thank you Prof. Monica Lakhanpaul for organising this event, and congratulations on the milestones achieved by her team!
22 JAN 2019
New partnership with HKU will support health, poverty, and water security Research
The Childhood Infection and Pollution (CHIP) project recently received funding of £20,000, shared between Dr. Logan Manikam from UCL and Professor Joseph Malik from Hong Kong University.
7 MAY 2019
CHIP Workshop Opens
Chief investigator of the CHIP project Dr. Logan Manikam opens the inaugural CHIP workshop.
7 MAY 2019
CHIP Talk
“Housing is not a product; it is a process and a journey” - Dr. Priti Parikh speaking about financially sustainable housing interventions on Day 2 of the CHIP inauguration workshop. Instagram link.
9 MAY 2019
CHIP Talk on Proper Animal Sampling
Dr. Prejit Nambiar speaking about proper animal sampling techniques and methodologies. Instagram Link.
18 JUN 2019
PANChSHEEL Conference discusses Synergy between Sanitation and SDG goals
We are very lucky to have Dr. Priti Parikh on our CHIP team. PANChSHEEEL conference and her speech was very impressive. Dr. Priti Parikh highlights the synergies between sanitation and many other SDGs goals. Investing in WASH returns to people's overall well-being at many different levels.
10 MAY 2019
CHIP Workshop Finishes
CHIP work in Jaipur finishes: After 4 days of co-design, networking and north-south partnership building in Jaipur, the CHIP workshop has officially come to end! A successful first step on the road to improving child health.
21 JUN 2019
Exploring Perceptions of Consanguineous Unions with women from an East London community
We are thrilled to announce that Dr. Logan Manikam, Prof. Monica Lakhanpaul, and Meghan Cupp MPH just published an article in the Journal of Community Genetics. Congratulations!
21 NOV 2019
Logan presents poster at Academy of Medical Science
AGHC Director Dr. Logan Manikam at the Academy of Medical Sciences David Turnberg Alumni Conference presenting his poster on public health and protection impacts of the Syrian Civil War in Nicosia, Cyprus.
2 AUG 2019
Speech conducted by Spencer Rutherford
The successful speech was given by Spencer Rutherford on the 31st of July. Spencer was invited to present the outcome of the grant given by UCL Grand Challenges.
12 SEP 2019
Creating CHIP Social Map
The initial stage of creating a social map. This would have not been possible without our local Community Champions and community members. Thank you, thank you!
14 OCT 2019
CHIP Social Map Drawn
Have a look at the picture where a beautiful social map is drawn on the floor with every community member. Special thanks to INDOHUN for their amazing contribution in linking the slum community with us.
11 NOV 2019
Second Stage 1 CHIP Study conducted in Indonesia
Our Aceso researchers Hemant Chaturvedi and Yasmin Bou Karim are currently in Jakarta, Indonesia to conduct the second stage 1 feasibility study after its success in Jaipur, India. Special thanks to INDOHUN for their amazing contribution in linking the slum community with us.
20 NOV 2019
Logan attends AMS Turnberg Alumni Conference
AGHC Director Dr. Logan Manikam currently attending the AMS Turnberg Alumni Conference in Nicosia, Cyprus.
30 NOV 2019
Chile Trip
Our Childhood Infection and Pollution (CHIP) researchers will travel to Antofagasta, Chile on 1st - 8th December 2019, to conduct the Feasibility Stage 1 Research. The visit will include a meeting of the communities, social mapping, interviews, and other aspects introduced in the Feasibility Stage 1 study.
18 DEC 2019
CHIP Study in Chile underway
CHIP research currently under works by our Aceso team in Antofagasta, Chile
4 FEB 2020
CHIP Webinar
A full-day webinar was hosted on the 4th February 2020 live from the CHIP Consortium Workshop in Jakarta, Indonesia, to discuss our research progress and upcoming plans.
4 FEB 2020
Introductory presentation on Indohun held during CHIP Workshop
Prof. Wiku Adisasmito gave a presentation on Introduction to INDOHUN and its programmes during Day 1 of CHIP 2020 Workshop in Jakarta.
9 APR 2020
E-poster on "Community mapping and engagement to co-create a One Health conceptual diagram of under-5 infections in urban slums for the Children Infection and Pollution (CHIP) Consortium" accepted for viewing at ESPID 2020
We are pleased to announce that an abstract on behalf of the CHIP Consortium has been accepted for E-poster viewing at the 38th Annual Meeting of the European Society for Paediatric Infectious Diseases (ESPID 2020), which will be held in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, 26-29 October 2020. Dr. Logan Manikam will be presenting on "Community mapping and engagement to co-create a One Health conceptual diagram of under-5 infections in urban slums for the Childhood Infection and Pollution (CHIP) Consortium".
13 FEB 2020
CHIP program presented on at the University of Indonesia
Today at the University of Indonesia, leading CHIP team members presented on the importance of CHIP research and the program's progress to date. Thank you to Indohun, and everyone who attended our presentation.
17 MAR 2020
A new publication: "Community-Based Family and Carer-Support Programmes for Children with Disabilities"
Dr. Logan Manikam, Shereen Al Laham, Dr. Michelle Heys, and Prof. Monica Lakhanpaul have recently published a review in Paediatrics and Child Health Journal.
This article provides an overview of community-based group interventions that are effective at improving quality of life for both children with disabilities and caregivers, and discusses the potential for group-based programmes for caregivers in the UK, using cerebral palsy as an exemplar of the disabilities.
18 MAR 2020
A new publication: "Respiratory Tract Infection‑related Healthcare Utilisation in Children with Down’s Syndrome"
Dr. Logan Manikam, Prof. Monica Lakhanpaul, Prof. Andrew Hayward, Prof. Anne G. M. Schilder, Prof. Peter Littlejohns, and Emma C. Alexander's newest paper has just been published in the Infection Journal - Springer. This article provides information on respiratory tract infection (RTI) related to healthcare utilisation in children with and without Down’s syndrome in primary and secondary care in the UK.
20 APR 2020
A new publication: "Economic Impact of Ebola Virus Disease outbreak on an extractive firm: a case study"
Dr. Logan Manikam, Yebeen Ysabelle Boo, and the rest of the Aceso Health consultants team are pleased to announce that they have recently published an article. The study estimated the economic costs of preventive measures of the Ebola Virus Diseases epidemic to an extractive firm in West Africa.
7 JUN 2020
A new Pre-Print Article: "COVID-19 and Informal Settlements - Implications for Water, Sanitation and Health in India and Indonesia"
A new pre-print article by our CHIP team (Dr. Priti Parikh, Yasmin Bou Karim, Jacob Paulose, Prof. Pam Factor-Litvak, Dr. Emily Nix, Dr. Dewi Nur Aisyah, Hemant Chaturvedi, Dr. Logan Manikam, and Prof. Monica Lakhanpaul) on "COVID-19 and Informal Settlements - Implications for Water, Sanitation and Health in India and Indonesia" is now available. This article identifies the impact of COVID-19 on existing water and sanitation practices and the potential pathways for transmission of COVID-19 in informal settlements in India and Indonesia.
27 MAY 2020
A new publication: "Efficacy of maternal B12 supplementation in vegetarian women for improving infant neurodevelopment: protocol for the MATCOBIND multicentre, double-blind, randomised controlled trial"
Vitamin B12 deficiency is widely prevalent across many low- and middle-income countries, especially where the diet is low in animal sources. While many observational studies show associations between B12 deficiency in pregnancy and infant cognitive function (including memory, language, and motor skills), evidence from clinical trials is sparse and inconclusive. To address this, Prof. Monica Lakhanpaul, co-director of CHIP and UCL PVP South Asia, has recently published her protocol for the MATCOBIND multicentre, double-blind, randomised controlled trial in the BMJ Open, with the aim of interrogating the efficacy of maternal B12 supplementation in vegetarian women for improving infant neurodevelopment.
4 JUN 2020
Aceso Health Consultants Director, Dr. Logan Manikam, becomes Interim Public Health consultant for Medway Council and Kent County Council
Our Director, Dr. Logan Manikam has recently taken up an additional role on behalf of Aceso Global Health Consultants and Panoramic Associates as an Interim Public Health Consultant for Medway Council and Kent County Council leading on their Department of Health and Social Care - DHSC mandated COVID-19 Local Outbreak Plan. He's supported by our new employee Valentina Vos.
26 JUN 2020
A new NEON publication: "Nurture Early for Optimal Nutrition (NEON) programme: Qualitative Study of Drivers of Infant Feeding and Care Practices in a British-Bangladeshi population”
The latest NEON paper titled “Nurture Early for Optimal Nutrition (NEON) programme: Qualitative Study of Drivers of Infant Feeding and Care Practices in a British-Bangladeshi population”, by Prof. Monica Lakhanpaul and the rest of the NEON team at UCL: Dr. Lorna Benton, Oliver Lloyd-Houldey, Dr. Logan Manikam, Diana Margot Rosenthal, Shereen Al Laham, and Dr. Michelle Heys has just been published in the BMJ Open. This article explores the optimal infant feeding and care practices and their drivers within the British-Bangladeshi population, to inform development of a tailored, co-adapted participatory community intervention.
1 JUL 2020
Kent and Medway Local Outbreak (COVID-19) Control Plan published
On behalf of the Kent Resilience Forum (population size 1.9 million), Dr. Logan Manikam, Valentina Vos, Yebeen Ysabelle Boo, Omar Risk, and Yasmin Bou Karim have recently published a multi-stakeholder plan detailing Covid-19 outbreak prevention, identification, and response for Kent and Medway.
14 JUL 2020
Chapter on "The Social Determinants of Child Health" published in the new Springer Nature textbook on Environmental Child Health
Leading members of the Childhood Infections and Pollution (CHIP) Consortium: Dr. Logan Manikam (CHIP Co-director), Prof. Monica Lakhanpaul (CHIP Co-Director), Dr. Omar Risk, Dr. Hein Min Tun, Dr. Logan Manikam, Prof. Monica Lakhanpaul, have just co-authored a chapter on the "Social Determinants of Child Health" in Prof Yankai Xia’s forthcoming Springer Nature textbook on Environmental Child Health.
14 JUL 2020
Senior consultant at Aceso Global Health Consultants becomes Clinical Research Associate for Public Health England
Senior consultant, Shereen Al Laham has recently taken up an additional role on behalf of Aceso Global Health Consultants as Clinical Research Associate for Public Health England to support the COVID-19 Surveillance in children attending pre-school, primary, and secondary schools in London Borough of Newham.
27 JUL 2020
Professor Lakhanpaul speaks at the International Webinar (2020) on Down Sydrome research
CHIP Co-Director, Prof. Monica Lakhanpaul, will be presenting at the Trisomy 21 Research Society's International Webinar (2020) on the 30-31st of July on the topic of "Down Syndrome Research: Approach and Updates".
30 JUL 2020
A new publication: "Application of Inherent Risk of Contagion (IRC) framework and modelling to aid local Covid-19 response and mitigation".
COVID-19 is a major global public health problem threatening many countries and territories. Mathematical modeling is a public health measure that could be crucial for mitigating the risk and impact of the pandemic. In their recent article Helmi Zakariah, Fadzilah bt Kamaluddin, Choo-Yee Ting, Hui-Jia Yee, Shereen Al Laham, and Dr. Logan Manikam set out how machine learning-powered inherent risk of contagion (IRC) analytical frameworks can, through the geo-referencing of COVID-19 cases in a particular region, provide support to operational platforms from which response and mitigation activities can be planned and executed. Not only can this framework measure IRC, but it will provide geo-referenced data to protect the health system, aid contact tracing, and prioritise the vulnerable.
20 JUL 2020
Senior Consultant, Shereen Al Laham, presents on the NEON programme at 3rd Implementation Science conference
Shereen Al Laham, a Senior Consultant here at Aceso Global Health Consultants, co-chaired and presented about the NEON study at the 3rd Implementation Science Conference.
15 JUN 2020
A new publication: "Operationalising a One Health Approach to reduce the Infection and Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) Burden in under-5 Year old Urban Slum Dwellers: The Childhood Infections And Pollution (CHIP) Consortium"
A new article has been published by Dr. Logan Manikam, Yasmin Bou Karim, Yebeen Ysabelle Boo, Shereen Al Laham, Ria Marwaha, Dr. Priti Parikh, and Prof. Monica Lakhanpaul, on behalf of the CHIP Consortium, on "Operationalising a One Health approach to reduce the infection and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) burden in under-5-year-old urban slum dwellers: The Childhood Infections and Pollution (CHIP) Consortium" in the One Health journal.
The paper presents a conceptual map of the potential One Health factors associated with infections and AMR.
CHIP Consortium: Prof. Pam Factor-Litvak, Dr. Dewi Nur Aisyah, Prof. Wiku Adisasmito, Prof. Muki Haklay, Dr. Emily Nix, Dr. Hector Altamirano-Medina, Dr. Neha Batura, Dr. Alexandra Albert, Dr. Clare Llewellyn, Dr. Rajesh Khanna, Sanjay Sharma, Satya Pattaniak, Dr. Prejit Nambiar, Dr. Sanweer Khatoon, Dr. Kaushik Sarkar MD, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, Hemant Chaturvedi, Jacob Paulose, Dr. Rajmohan Panda, Dr. Pradeep Kumar Srivastava, Radhika Sharma, Prof. Rajib Dasgupta, Prof. Erika Ota, Obaidur Rahman, Prof. Joseph Malik, Prof. Keiji Fukuda, Dr. Hein Min Tun, Dr. Mahendra Perera, Dr. Nancy Leung, Dr. Rintaro Mori, and Chyntia Mayadewi.
CHIP Consortium partners: UCL, The University of Hong Kong, Save the Children India
17 JUN 2020
CHIP member, Dr Pradeep Srivastava, hosts online panel discussion on the "Global Mosquito Problem"
Dr. Pradeep Kumar Srivastava, a member of our CHIP team, will host an online panel discussion, along with other experts in vector biology and community engagement, to discuss the extent of the mosquito problem globally and in India and new strategies that could be used as solutions. The discussion will be moderated by Prof. Suresh Subramani, Global Director of TIGS.
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