IN THE YEAR 2021

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IN THE YEAR 2019

International Conference on “New Directions for Research on Ageing; Work, Care, Mobility”

Transdisciplinary Centre for Qualitative Methods (TCQM) & Public Health Evidence South Asia (PHESA),Prasanna School of Public Health (PSPH), Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE) in collaboration with Center for Innovative Ageing, Swansea University, U.K, International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS), Mumbai and Department of Human Geography and Planning, Utrecht University, The Netherlands. The conference was conducted on March 1st & 2nd 2019.

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IN THE YEAR 2018

South Asian Evidence Summit SES 2018

(Hosted by, Public Health Evidence South Asia (PHESA), Prasanna School of Public Health at Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE), Manipal)

Public Health Evidence South Asia (PHESA) MAHE, flagged off their four-day South Asian Evidence Summit (SES) – 2018, with a pre-conference workshop on the 31st January and 1st February, 2018 paving the way to the two-day conference which was held on 2nd and 3rd February. The theme of the conference was ‘’Converging disciplines for Public Health’’ and comprised of oral and poster presentations, keynote addresses, and panel discussions on relevant topics.

22 oral presentations and 19 Poster presentations from a wide range of research topics and areas were presented at the conference. The summit had representation from various national and international organizations, such as DFID South Asia, World Health Organization, Indian Council of Medical Research, Campbell Collaboration, Prayas and Kailash Satyarthi Children’s Foundation. Over 100 delegates attended the pre-conference workshop and conference. SES is an annual event at PHESA, and the next conference will take place in 2020.

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IN THE YEAR 2017

• South Asian Evidence Summit, Manipal, 2017

  

  Public Health Evidence South Asia (PHESA), a South Asian satellite of the Cochrane Public Health Group, MAHE, flagged off their three-day South Asian Evidence Summit (SES) 2017, with a pre-conference workshop on the 5th of January, 2017. The inauguration ceremony was held on January 6, 2017. The theme of the summit was ‘Public health development issues in South Asia’, and comprised of methodology training, research presentations and interactions; addressing the role of evidence in policy-making and implementation. SES 2017 featured 35 oral presentations, 6 plenary talks, 10 poster presentations, and an expert panel discussion on ‘Evidence for Policy in South Asia: opportunities and challenges’ which encouraged intellectually stimulating discussions among many young researchers.

  Dr. H. Vinod Bhat, Vice Chancellor of Manipal Academy of Higher Education was the Chief Guest and the Guests of Honor were D. Santhosh T. Soans, President of Indian Academy of Pediatrics; Dr. Anju Sinha, Deputy Director General, Division of Reproductive and Child Health at the Indian Council of Medical Research; and Dr. Anirban Ganguly, Department for International Development, South Asia Research hub, U.K., Professor N. Sreekumaran Nair concluded his address by paying respects to Dr. Elizabeth Waters, a key player in the genesis of PHESA, who passed away in 2015.

• Prof. N Sreekumaran Nair, Invited talk on “Behavior change communication and its impact on maternal and child health” at Workshop on health literacy and health promotion organised by Manipal Health Literacy Unit, Department of Public Health, Manipal Academy of higher Education, Manipal held on 18th February 2017 at Manipal. Delegates of the workshop were junior health assistant male and female who are pursuing post graduate diploma in health education and health communication.
  

  Workshop on health literacy and health promotion

• Introduction to Systematic Reviews and Steps in conducting a systematic review was taken by Sreekumaran Nair at the international workshop organized by PHESA, Manipal Academy of higher Education on January 5^th 2017 at the South Asian Evidence Summit.
• Shraddha Parsekar Presented two research papers on the topic,
  1. “What interventions work in rehabilitation of disabilities caused due to stroke? An evidence summary of systematic reviews” and
  2. “What behaviour change communication (BCC) interventions work in improving uptake of antenatal care services in Low and Middle Income Countries? An evidence summary of systematic reviews” during the 61^stAnnual National Conference of Indian Public Health Association (IPHA) & First State Conference of IPHA Rajasthan Branch (IPHACON 2017) organised by Department of Community Medicine and Family Medicine, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Jodhpur in collaboration with IPHA Rajasthan Branch held on 24^th- 26^th February 2017 at AIIMS, Jodhpur.
  

  61st Annual National Conference of Indian Public Health Association (IPHA) & First State Conference of IPHA Rajasthan Branch (IPHACON 2017)

• Poster presentation by Ms. Sherize Merlin Sequeira on “Effective rehabilitation strategies for the disabilities caused due to breast cancer or its treatment: An evidence summary of systematic reviews” at Breast Cancer Evidence Update, organised by Centre for Community Oncology and School of Life Sciences, Manipal Academy of higher Education, Manipal in collaboration with Markey Cancer Centre, University of Kentucky, held on 23^rd February 2017 at Manipal Academy of higher Education, Manipal.
• Paper presentation on the title “Effective interventions for the disabilities caused due to breast cancer or its treatment: An overview of systematic reviews” by Shradha Parsekar at the international conference on Impact of Global Issues on Women and Children held by the Manipal college of Nursing Sciences, Manipal Academy of higher Education, Manipal on January 9^th -12^th , 2017.
• Shraddha Parsekar Presented a two research papers titled
  1. “Effective Rehabilitation Strategies for the disabilities caused due to breast cancer or its treatment: An overview of systematic reviews” and
  2. “Women with breast cancer in India: A concept of informal caregiver and caregiving” at International conference on Impact of Global issues on Women and Children organized by Manipal College of Nursing, Manipal on 9^th to 12^th January 2017.
• Bhumika T. V. Presented a paper on “Gender Responsive Policing” initiatives designed to enhance confidence, satisfaction in policing services and reduce risk of violence against women in low and middle income countries- preliminary findings from a systematic review at the International Conference on Impact of Global Issues on Women and Children organized by Manipal Academy of higher Education (MCON), Manipal, held on January 9-12, 2017.
• Shraddha Parsekar Presented a research paper titled, “Effective Rehabilitation Strategies for the disabilities caused due to NCDs (breast cancer & stroke) or its treatment: An evidence summary of systematic reviews” during the “South Asian Evidence Summit-SES 2017, Public Health and Development in South Asia” organized by Public Health Evidence South Asia (PHESA), Manipal Academy of higher Education, Manipal during 5-7^th January 2017.
• A Scientific paper presentation on “Costs of management of neonatal sepsis in South Asia: a systematic review” by Shruthi Murthy was presented at the International South Asian Evidence Summit, organized by PHESA, held at Manipal Academy of higher Education, Manipal from 5^th-7^th January 2017.
• A Scientific paper presentation on “Fortification of staple foods with vitamin A for preventing vitamin A deficiency” by Bhumika was presented at the International South Asian Evidence Summit, organized by PHESA, held at Manipal Academy of higher Education, Manipal from 5^th-7^th January 2017.
• A Scientific paper presentation on “Informal caregivers of women diagnosed with breast cancer in Indian context: A concept of caregiver and care-giving” by Shradha Parsekar was presented at the International South Asian Evidence Summit, organized by PHESA, held at Manipal Academy of higher Education, Manipal from 5^th-7^th January 2017.
• A Scientific paper presentation on “What interventions work in rehabilitation of motor disabilities post stroke? An evidence summary of systematic reviews” by Shraddha Parsekar was presented at the International South Asian Evidence Summit, organized by PHESA, held at Manipal Academy of higher Education, Manipal from 5^th-7^th January 2017.
• A Scientific paper presentation on “Deriving single pooled summary measure from varied study designs in systematic reviews of public health interventions: A Bayesian approach” by Melissa Glenda Lewis was presented at the International South Asian Evidence Summit, organized by PHESA, held at Manipal Academy of higher Education, Manipal from 5^th-7^th January 2017.
• A Scientific paper presentation on “An approach to adjust complexity in public health interventions” by Ravi Shankar was presented at the International South Asian Evidence Summit, organized by PHESA, held at Manipal Academy of higher Education, Manipal from 5^th-7^th January 2017.
• A Scientific paper presentation on “Comparison of Multiple Imputation with Ordinary Kriging for Missingness in Spatial Data” by Amitha Puranik was presented at the International South Asian Evidence Summit, organized by PHESA, held at Manipal Academy of higher Education, Manipal from 5^th-7^th January 2017.
• A Scientific paper presentation on “Determining factors and barriers to case management of neonatal pneumonia: a pan-India qualitative study of stakeholder perceptions” by Myron Godinho was presented at the International South Asian Evidence Summit, organized by PHESA, held at Manipal Academy of higher Education, Manipal from 5^th-7^th January 2017.
• A Scientific paper presentation on “Treatment options and Barriers to Case Management of Neonatal Pneumonia in India: A Systematic Review” by Theophilus L. was presented at the International South Asian Evidence Summit, organized by PHESA, held at Manipal Academy of higher Education, Manipal from 5^th-7^th January 2017.
• A Scientific paper presentation on “Risk factors for neonatal pneumonia in India: a systematic review and planned meta-analysis” by Shruthi Murthy was presented at the International South Asian Evidence Summit, organized by PHESA, held at Manipal Academy of higher Education, Manipal from 5^th-7^th January 2017.
• A poster Presentation on “Text-mining techniques for systematic reviews of neonatal health literature: a methods case-study” by Myron Godinho was presented at the International South Asian Evidence Summit, organized by PHESA, held at Manipal Academy of higher Education, Manipal from 5^th-7^th January 2017.
• A poster presentation on “Mapping neonatal mortality in India: a closer look” by Mr. Theophilus Lakiang was presented at the International South Asian Evidence Summit, organized by PHESA, held at Manipal Academy of higher Education, Manipal from 5^th-7^th January 2017.
• Introduction to GRADE was taken by Melissa Glenda Lewis at the international workshop organized by PHESA, Manipal Academy of higher Education on January 5^th 2017 at the South Asian Evidence Summit.
• Group activity on Data extraction was conducted by Shradha Parsekar at the international workshop organized by PHESA, Manipal Academy of higher Education on January 5^th 2017 at the South Asian Evidence Summit.
• Working with Systematic review funding Organizations topic was taken by Bhumika T. V. at the international workshop organized by PHESA, Manipal Academy of higher Education on January 5^th 2017 at the South Asian Evidence Summit.

IN THE YEAR 2016

The establishment of the Trans-disciplinary Centre for Qualitative Methods (TCQM) under the leadership of PHESA at Manipal Academy of higher Education at Manipal Academy of higher Education was approved on the 29th of April, 2016 under the leadership of PHESA and It was coordinated by Prof. N Sreekumaran Nair and Dr. Ajay Bailey

The main aim of the centre is to educate, facilitate and promote trans-disciplinary qualitative research for a comprehensive understanding of the issues pertaining to public health

• The main objectives of the TCQM are:
  1. To promote inter-disciplinary research in public health
  2. To provide impetus to researchers from across disciplines to share expertise and collaborate.
  3. To create awareness about qualitative research in public health in South Asia.
  4. To build capacities of young scholars in teaching and conducting qualitative research.
  5. To establish a regional hub in qualitative research in South Asia through a trans-disciplinary approach that involves researchers, practitioners and civil society organizations.
• The student exchange programme was conducted in 2016 that throws light on quantitative & qualitative research methods, paves the way for understanding the foundational concepts of public health research, and highlights the role of systematic reviews in building high-quality evidence to inform health policy. PHESA had 4 exchange students (9th April to 5th May, 2016) from the University of Groningen, The Netherlands
• Evidence Dissemination Workshop on Behavior change communication (BCC) with Stakeholders held on 4-5^th July 2016 at Pune, Attended by BCC project team (Prof. N Sreekumaran Nair, Dr. Shradha Parsekar, Ms. Hanna Nelson, Ms. Valeria Bevilacqua, Ms. Ratheebhai V from PHESA; Dr. Shrinivas Darak, Dr. Trupti Darak and Dr. Ritu Parchure from Prayas; Prof. Subhadra Menon from Kailash Satyarthi Foundation; and Dr. Unnikrishnan B, Associate Dean, KMC Manglore)
• Poster presentation titled “Rehabilitation strategies for the disabilities caused due to breast cancer or its treatment: An overview of Systematic Review” in “Conference of Statisticians and Programmers In Clinical Research (ConSPIC2016)” organised by Indian Association for Statistics in Clinical Trials (IASCT) at Hyderabad, held from 22-24 September, 2016. By Shradha Parsekar
• Presented papers by Sreekumaran Nair, Dr. Shradha Parsekar and Ms. Melissa Glenda Lewis at the conference of statistics and programming in clinical research, held at Hyderabad in the month of September, 2016.

IN THE YEAR 2015

• PHESA organized Public Health Evidence South Asia Colloquium, from Feb 5^th – 7^th, 2015.
• The aim of this colloquium was to build a common platform to aid evidence building and policy framing of effective interventions which contributes to the enhancement of health of the population in LMICs. PHESA Colloquium 2015 was a successful event with 75 participants, 4 plenary talks, 38 oral presentations, 25 posters and 3 workshops”
• 23rd Cochrane Colloquium held from October 3^rd -7^th, 2015, Vienna.
• 43rd Annual National Conference of Indian Association of Preventive and Social Medicine (IAPSMCON), January 6-9, 2016, jointly organised by Department of Community Medicine, GMERS Medical College and Indian Institute of Public Health, Gandhinagar, Gujarat.
• Indian Biometric Society - Indian Region (IBS-IR) and Public Health Evidence South Asia (PHESA) Joint Conference, January 11-12, Manipal Academy of higher Education, Manipal.
• Pre- conference “Introduction to Systematic Review and Meta-analysis” January 6, 2015
• An invited talk by N. Sreekumaran Nair on “Epidemiology Meta-analysis and Systematic Reviews in communication disorders during the All India Speech and Hearing Association Conference held on January 3, 2015, Manipal Academy of higher Education, Manipal.
• A talk by N. Sreekumaran Nair on “Evidence based practice in low and middle income countries: challenges and opportunities” during International Nursing Conference, January 24, 2015, Manipal Academy of higher Education, Manipal.
• Ravishankar participated as a resource person in the workshop entitled “Systematic Re­views in Research” held during 4th and 5th May, 2015 at KLEU Institute of Nursing Sciences, Belgaum.

IN THE YEAR 2014

• Training programme held on systematic reviews and meta-analysis, University of Groningen, The Netherlands: Oct 25-31, 2014
• 22^nd Cochrane colloquium, Evidence Informed Public Health opportunities and challenges, Hyderabad International Convention center, Hyderabad, India, September 21- 25, 2014
• “International conference on Reducing burden of preventable infections: opportunities and challenges for the 21^st century” 15^th & 16^th October, 2014, Hotel Pride, Ahmedabad, IIPH Gandhinagar
• Poster on “Measuring and Adjusting Complexity in Public Health Intervention Systematic Reviews”presented by N. Sreekumaran Nair during IBS (International Biometric society) conference, Italy, July 6-11, 2014.
• Presentation on “Bayesian methods in public health systematic reviews” by N. Sreekumaran Nair, during Methods symposium, 22nd Cochrane Colloquium, September 21-25, 2014, Hyderabad.
• Posters on “A tool to measure complexity in public health intervention” , “Complexity in public health interventions stakeholders’ perspective: a qualitative analysis”, “Interventions for the control of childhood obesity in the South Asian region: a systematic review” and “Magnitude of childhood obesity in India: A systematic review of available evidence” were presented by Ravishankar, Ms. Melissa Lewis, Dr. Judith Norohna and Dr. N. Sreekumaran Nair respectively at22nd Cochrane Colloquium 21-25 September 2014, Hyderabad.
• N. Sreekumaran Nair delivered a brief talk on Systematic reviews during Preventive Cardiologists meet at Agra, September 26, 2014.
• Poster presentation on “Food fortification and its impact on Nutritional Status: An Overview of Reviews” by Bhumika T. V. at International workshop on micronutrients and child health, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi.
• Papers “Measuring and adjusting complexity in systematic Reviews of Public Health Interventions ”and “Applications of Bayesian Meta-analysis in Public Health Systematic Reviews” presented by Ravishankar and Ms. Melissa Lewis at 32nd annual National Conference of Indian Society for Medical Statistics, Organized by Department of Statistics, University of Jammu, Jammu, from November 1-3, 2014.
• Research paper entitled “Development of a methodology to measure and adjust for complexities of Population, Intervention, Context and Outcome of Public Health Intervention Studies” presented by Dr. Ravishankar during “International Conference on Stochastic Modeling and Workshop on Meta-analysis” held in St. Thomas College, Pala, Kottayam, Kerala from January 3-5, 2014.
• N. Sreekumaran Nair participated as a faculty in the 12th MDRF-UAB-FIU International Seminar on “Prevention and Control of Non-Communicable Diseases” held from January 31 to February 2, 2014 at Madras Diabetes Research Foundation (MDRF), Chennai.
• Paper entitled “Systematic Reviews in Public Health Evidence Building” presented by N. Sreekumaran Nair in the National Seminar on Emerging Issues in Population and Public Health in India at the Department of Demography, University of Kerala, from March 6-8, 2014.
• Brief talk by N. Sreekumaran Nair on Systematic Reviews at Indian Institute of Public Health, Hyderabad.
• Brief talk by N. Sreekumaran Nair on Systematic Review at Research forum, Manipal Academy of higher Education.
• Training session on Systematic Reviews by Melissa Glenda Lewis at the Summer school organized by Students’ Research forum, Manipal Academy of higher Education from July 23-29, 2014.
• Training session on Meta-analysis by Ravishankar at the Summer School organized by Students’ Research forum, Manipal Academy of higher Education from July 23-29, 2014.

IN THE YEAR 2013

• Mentorship programme was conducted on 15^th Jan 2013, Manipal Academy of higher Education, Manipal, the participant were given an overview of the relevance of evidence in healthcare that included 6 medical students. Also the similar programme was conducted in KMC Mangalore on Jan, 2013 that included 6 UG medical students.
• Healthcare researcher’s mentorship programme for systematic reviews and Evidence Based Public Health was conducted and nearly 25 researchers from various domains of healthcare of Manipal Academy of higher Education from both Mangalore & Manipal attended this programme that was held on 11^th march 2013, and the next meeting was held on 4^th april, 2013.
• Mentorship programme at center for chronic disease control (CCDC), Delhi
• Systematic review mentoring programme was held at Madras Diabetic Research Foundation (MDRF), Chennai
• Mentorship programme at Population Services International (PSI), Delhi
• Sreekumaran Nair attended the Cochrane methods training event conducted at Oxford, UK from March 18^th – 22^nd, 2013
• Research paper on “Development of a tool to measure the Complexities in Population, Intervention, Context and Outcome of Public Health Interventions” presented by Ravishankar at “31st Annual Conference of Indian Society for Medical Statistics (ISMSCON)” held on October 24-26, 2013 in Christian Medical College, Vellore.
• Poster on “What is complexity? - Different stakeholders’ perspective: A qualitative study” presented by Ravishankar at “International Conference on Inequity in maternal and child health: situations and solutions” held at IIPH Gandhinagar from 30th November to 1st December 2013.

IN THE YEAR 2012

International Symposium on Evidence Based Public Health Interventions in Low and Middle Income Countries was held on November 7-8, 2012. It was organized by Manipal Academy of higher Education in collaboration with the Cochrane public health review group and over 147 delegates attended it also an exploratory meeting was held for Cochrane Public Health Group satellite that discussed on the matter.

The aim of the symposium was to provide an overview of challenges involved in the evaluation of public health interventions, so as to provide a strong evidence base. This symposium lead to conception of PHESA at Manipal Academy of higher Education, Manipal