Project 1: Community-based palliative care: Need assessment, capacity building, and piloting community-led interventions (2025- ongoing) 

Publications:
Unmet need for palliative care in a low-resource setting: Evidence from a rural community in Bangladesh” to Health & Social Care in the Community (2026) (under review)

 

 

Project 2: SUNRISE study: The International Study of Movement Behaviours in the Early Years (2019- ongoing): This is a collaborative multinational project involving 66 countries, in which BRF’s scientist is representing Bangladesh as a Chief Investigator 

Publications:   

1. Geocultural differences in preschooler sleep profiles and family practices: an analysis of pooled data from 37 countries. Sleep (2025)
2. Associations between sedentary behaviour and fine and gross motor skills in 3‐to 4‐year‐olds: a secondary data analysis from Sunrise International Study pilot studies.  Child: Care, Health and Development (2025)
3. Measurement properties of the SUNRISE Study Parent Questionnaire for assessing sleep and sleep-related family practices. Sleep Health (2025). 
4. Pooled analysis of physical activity, sedentary behavior, and sleep among children from 33 countries. JAMA Pediatrics (2024).
5. Urban Versus Rural Differences in Meeting 24‐h Movement Behaviour Guidelines Among 3–4‐Year‐Olds: An Analysis of SUNRISE Pilot Study Data From 10 Low‐and Middle‐Income Countries. Child: Care, Health and Development (2024)
6. Prevalence and Correlates of Adherence to the Global Total Physical Activity Guideline Based on Step Counting Among 3- to 4-Year-Olds: Evidence From SUNRISE Pilot Studies From 17 Countries. Journal of Physical Activity and Health (2024)
7. Validity of low-cost measures for global surveillance of physical activity in pre-school children: the SUNRISE validation study. Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport (2022)  
8. Levels and Correlates of Objectively Measured Sedentary Behavior in Young Children: SUNRISE Study Results from 19 Countries.Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise (2022). 
9. International study of 24-hour movement behaviors of early years (SUNRISE): A pilot study from Bangladesh. Pilot and Feasibility (2021)
10. Global effect of COVID-19 pandemic on physical activity, sedentary behaviour and sleep among 3- to 5-year-old children: a longitudinal study of 14 countries. BMC Public Health (2021)

Project 3: Thalassemia in Bangladesh: Awareness, perceptions, barriers,  and patient care system (2016- ongoing)

Publications  

1. Thalassemia in Bangladesh: Progress, Challenges, and a Strategic Blueprint for Prevention. Orphanet Journal of Rare Diseases  (2025)
2. Struggles and resilience: Thalassemia patients navigating COVID-19 in Bangladesh. Journal of Rare Diseases  (2025)
3. Depression, anxiety, and stress among mothers of children with thalassemia in Bangladesh: a cross-sectional study. BMC Women’s Health (2025) 
4. Knowledge and attitudes of thalassaemia among high-risk indigenous university students in Bangladesh: A pilot study. Plos one (2023)
5. Knowledge, attitude, and practice towards blood donation among residential students and teachers of religious institutions in Bangladesh–A cross-sectional study. Heliyon (2022)
6. The parental perspective of thalassaemia in Bangladesh: lack of knowledge, regret, and barriers. Orphanet Journal of Rare Diseases volume (2021) 
7. Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on rare diseases- A case study on thalassaemia patients in Bangladesh (2021)
8. Lack of knowledge and misperceptions about thalassaemia among college students in Bangladesh: a cross-sectional baseline study. Orphanet Journal of Rare Diseases (2020).
9. The forgotten people with thalassemia in the time of COVID-19: South Asian perspective. Orphanet Journal of Rare Diseases (2020)
10. Thalassemias in South Asia: clinical lessons learnt from Bangladesh Orphanet Journal of Rare Diseases (2017). 

Project 4: Emerging mosquito-borne diseases (dengue and chikungunya) tracking: Clinical profiling, fatality analysis, and transmission (2017-2026)

Publications: Dengue  

1. Twenty-two years of dengue outbreaks in Bangladesh: epidemiology, clinical spectrum, serotypes, and future disease risks. Tropical Medicine and Health (2023)
2. Demographic characteristics, clinical symptoms, biochemical markers and probability of occurrence of severe dengue: A multicenter hospital-based study in Bangladesh. PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases (2023)
3. COVID-19 onslaught is masking the 2021 dengue outbreak in Dhaka, Bangladesh. PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases (2022)
4. Clinical spectrum and predictors of severity of dengue among children in 2019 outbreak: a multicenter hospital-based study in Bangladesh. BMC Pediatrics (2021)
5. Bangladesh striving against double burden: Dengue outbreak surges amid COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Global Health Economics and Policy (2021)
6. Dengue in a crowded megacity: Lessons learnt from the current outbreak (2019) in Dhaka, Bangladesh. PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases (2020)

Chikungunya 

1. Manifestations of atypical symptoms of Chikungunya during the Dhaka outbreak (2017) in Bangladesh. American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (2019)
2. Chikungunya outbreak (2017) in Bangladesh: Clinical profile, economic impact and quality of life during the acute phase of the disease. PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases (2018)