The University of Ruhuna in Galle, Sri Lanka has opened its doors to a new infectious diseases reference lab, the latest milestone resulting from a growing collaboration with the Duke Global Health Institute and Duke-NUS.
The lab, which supplements the existing clinical lab at the University of Ruhuna, came out of a recognized need to build upon the university’s research and laboratory capacity. As development occurs in the region, the area is seeing more frequent outbreaks of dengue and other debilitating emerging infections.
“The backbone of DGHI’s partnership with the University of Ruhuna is a focus on capacity-building,” said Chris Woods, infectious diseases researcher and lead collaborator on this project from DGHI. “Our goal was to collectively leverage our resources, both capital and intellectual, that focus on the leading health problem in that region -- dengue. The new lab takes us a step further toward addressing that and other needs.”
The fully-equipped laboratory includes modern lab equipment and diagnostic tools to study the origin and transmission of emerging infections, including the ELISA test and thermocycler. Securing lab space, obtaining the equipment, and training of lab techs took time, but all three partners together made it happen.
“It has truly been a collaborative effort to get this lab up and running,” said Woods. “The space was provided by the University of Ruhuna. DGHI donated the lab equipment and both DGHI and Duke-NUS, through Duane Gubler, are providing diagnostic expertise and training. Galle’s private sector has also been supportive of our efforts.”
Spearheaded by DGHI faculty Woods and Truls Ostbye with DGHI adjunct faculty member Pilane Liyanage Ariyananda from Ruhuna, the collaboration was a response to the devastating 2004 tsunami. Since then, the partnership is home to a growing research portfolio addressing not only dengue, but other emerging infectious such as leptospirosis, chikungunya and rickettsia disease. Other research areas involving other DGHI faculty Joanna Maselko and Catherine Lynch include occupational health, road traffic accidents, aging, cognitive functioning and depression.
In addition to research, Sri Lankans have hosted Duke students, from undergraduates to master’s students, medical residents and physician’s assistants, for various short-term fieldwork projects and clinical rotations. This past summer, a Master of Science in Global Health student and Global Health Fellow from Duke assisted with training of Ruhuna research lab techs.
