Building Epidemiologic Research Capacity in India

Pictured above: David Musch, Ph.D., M.P.H., Divya Manohar, M.D., Karthik Srinivasan, M.D., Joshua Ehrlich, M.D., M.P.H.

An ongoing collaboration between Kellogg and India’s Aravind Eye Care System (the world’s largest) took a big step forward in 2022.

Aravind and Michigan were awarded a D43 International Research Training Grant from the NIH Fogarty International Center. Led by Program Director/Principal Investigator David Musch, Ph.D., M.P.H., and Co-investigator Joshua Ehrlich, M.D., M.P.H., it is the latest joint effort between Kellogg and Aravind.

As part of the grant, Kellogg welcomed the first two Aravind visiting scholars in July. Cornea specialist Divya Manohar, M.D., and retina specialist Karthik Srinivasan, M.D., will spend a year immersed in clinical and epidemiological research fundamentals, from study design and ethics to statistical analysis.

“Aravind is home to exceptional clinicians,” says Dr. Ehrlich. “This program provides an opportunity for the highly productive clinicians to take the time to further develop their skills to collect and analyze the clinical and population data needed to understand the many factors impacting the vision of Indians across the life-course.”

A total of ten visiting scholars will be part of the program at Michigan and Kellogg over the grant’s five-year duration. At the same time, Kellogg will connect with colleagues at Aravind through online workshops and journal clubs to enhance shared learning, especially about basic clinical and epidemiological research.

“The curriculum taps resources from within Kellogg and across the University,” explains Dr. Musch. “Divya and Karthik are taking courses at the School of Public Health and participating in educational opportunities offered by the Michigan Institute for Clinical and Health Research, while also working with their mentors on projects relevant to their clinical specialties.”

“We plan to transition all training activities to Aravind by the end of the grant period, adds Dr. Musch, “so another program deliverable is ‘training the trainers.’ Our goal is to have colleagues at Aravind who have the leadership, mentoring and teaching skills to prepare India’s next generation of epidemiological eye researchers and to share their expertise and insights with us as well.”