Translational Research Capacity Building Initiative to Address Cardiovascular Diseases in Nepal

Project summary

Although there are proven measures for prevention and appropriate management of cardiovascular diseases, the implementation of known interventions in real-world settings are challenging especially in low-income countries such as Nepal.

Translational Research provides a means to apply the critical components of implementing proven interventions in these settings.

Dhulikhel Hospital Kathmandu University Hospital, Nepal, will lead work to create a multi-sectoral, multidisciplinary collaborative team to develop Translational research capacity Building initiatives to prevent and manage CVD in Nepal. By the end of the project, we will have developed a critical mass of human Resources in Nepal, collaborating with national and International partners, to conduct Translational Research in CVD.

We will have defined clearly identified prioritized needs and a well- defined Translational Research plan to address one or more major CVD Risk Factors and outcomes.

Project goals

1. To create a multi-sectorial, multidisciplinary collaborative team to build capacity for translational research in cardiovascular disease in Nepal.
2. To assess national-level infrastructure and capacity to implement evidence-based CVD prevention and management interventions.
3. To identify and prioritize health issues for cardiovascular disease in Nepal.
4. To prepare a comprehensive actionable translational research plan for the management of cardiovascular disease in Nepal.

Current status

We have successfully consolidated and materialized substantial international and national collaborations. We have created a multi-sectoral, multidisciplinary organizational framework composed of; advisory board members, steering committee members, research team members, fellows, international consultants, and the Nepal core team, who work in close coordination to achieve common goals of the project.

In less than 6 months, our fellows and research team have completed two online course trainings offered by the University of Washington and multiple onsite trainings and workshops on various core topics in relation to translational research. We have developed preliminary needs assessment tools and protocols for conducting a national needs assessment to scale the burden of cardiovascular diseases in Nepal and identified existing infrastructure and capacity of the country for prevention and management of CVD in Nepal.

Potential stakeholders have been identified for engagement, wherever necessary and task force have been formed for needs assessment. We have conducted workshop for all our stakeholders for needs assessment and conducted meetings with task force members.

We have initiated national needs assessment for cardiovascular diseases. We have disseminated our achievements through various workshops, mass media and successfully conducted the first international annual symposium.

Strategy

We will form a collaborative team representing national level key stakeholder organizations to lead this project. Our organizational framework will include a Steering Committee, Research Team, Project Management Team, and Advisory Committee to guide our work. We will consolidate existing partnerships with leading United States Universities and establish new partnerships with regional centers in India and China to train 18 people in translational research for CVD through a structured training program.

We will apply mixed methods (qualitative and quantitative) to assess the existing capacity, needs, opportunities and challenges among the governmental and non-governmental sectors to implement evidence-based interventions for the prevention and management of CVD. We will conduct secondary data analysis of CVD to identify the epidemiology of CVD in Nepal based on which we will identify evidence-based intervention strategies to address CVD in a cost-effective and equitable manner. We will also identify and take steps to address identified deficiencies and appropriate changes in infrastructure to conduct translational research for these strategies.

We will prepare an actionable translational research plan to incorporate into the national health care system for the prevention and management of CVD and its risk factors.

Dissemination

We will disseminate the processes as well as the findings of the project to a wider national and international audience through formal and informal means. We will post all the activities in the official website of our institute and collaborative partners where feasible. We will also use social media as applicable. Scientific information will be published in journal articles. We will publish our quarterly newsletter as well as conduct various workshops when necessary. Our fellows will disseminate information in their respective home organizations.

Our representative health journalist will also help us disseminate necessary information through her media publication articles. Our representative from the Ministry of Health and Population and the government of Nepal will contribute to disseminate required information at the national level to policymakers and related institutes. At the end of the project, we will have developed a critical mass of human resources in Nepal, collaborating with national and international partners to conduct translational research in CVD.

We will have clearly identified, prioritized needs and a well-defined implementation research plan to address one or more major CVD risk factors and outcomes. The team will thus form a ‘Center of Excellence for Translational Research in Cardiovascular Diseases’ in the long run, which will also serve as a model for other resource-constrained settings around the world.

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