There are two components to my project in Bangladesh.

1) The major component is determining the prevalence of asbestosis and other lung diseases in migrant shipbreakers from northern Bangladesh.

2) The additional component is to train students and researchers at NIPSOM about bulk asbestos sampling and identification.

This summer has been all about preparing for both of these objectives, and with departure just over two weeks away, there is still much to do.
Asbestosis study in Bogra (in Northern Bangladesh)

• Feasibility trip for two weeks in April 2008
• Making contact with Bangladeshi partners and collaborators:
o Dr. Nurun Nahar, the Civil Surgeon of Bogra District. The Civil Surgeon is the local chief medical health officer.
o Dr. Akhtar, the head of the Department of Occupational and Environmental Health at NIPSOM, and a member of my thesis committee.
o Zakia Sultana Siddique, MBBS, a bilingual master’s of public health graduate who will accompany me to Bogra and assist me with subject enrolment, interviews and physical examinations.
• Questionnaire development
• Thesis committee meetings (Members: Dr. Hugh Davies, Dr. Paul Demers, Dr. Tim Takaro, Dr. Sk. Akhtar Ahmad)
• Application for approval from UBC Clinical Research Ethics Board

Bulk asbestos identification training

• Courses at the McCrone Research Institute in Chicago, Illinois
o Microscopical Identification of Asbestos (1608A)
o Asbestos Fiber Counting [NIOSH 582] (1616)
• Volunteered weekly at Golder Associates Ltd., at their Asbestos Environmental Health and Safety Laboratory in Surrey, BC
• Purchased a polarized light microscope along with refractive index dispersion oils to set up at NIPSOM in Bangladesh
• In the process of developing modules for bulk asbestos identification and fibre counting for NIPSOM in Bangladesh, as well as for the School of Environmental Health (SOEH) at UBC