Centre for Health, Population and Development (CHPD)

The Centre for Health, Population and Development
University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh

M. Omar Rahman, M.D., M.P.H., D.Sc.
Executive Director
Din Sumon Rahman, PhD
Associate Director

The Centre for Health, Population and Development (CHPD) at the University of Liberal Arts, Bangladesh (ULAB) is a newly created university wide research and training centre. Its primary objective is to generate and promote research, scholarly and training activities in the broad ambit of population, health and development, a crucial intersection which is insufficiently explored particularly in the context of the developing world. We hope to be a national, regional, and international centre of excellence. We plan on sponsoring the following activities: Collaborative Research Activities with National and International Research Centers and Universities on topical Health and Development issues; a regular seminar series which publicizes the work of prominent academics and policy makers, training workshops,  a journal club for junior scholars and students, a working paper series, peer reviewed publications, student internships for foreign students and the administering of short courses on research methodology, data analysis, leadership for women in development etc.

By August 2021 we hope to initiate a Masters in Public Health program (offered through ULAB but administered by CHPD) to train Public Health professionals will versed in the complex interactions between health and society. Other future activities include starting a peer-reviewed academic journal on health, population and development, and initiating a biennial independent analytic report on progress in health, population and development in Bangladesh.

Our center associates will come from a wide range of disciplines including demography, epidemiology, media studies, anthropology, sociology, economics, biostatistics, medicine, public health, geography and environmental science. They include national (both within and outside ULAB), regional and international scholars and policy makers. Our current areas of research and training will include:

1. Public Health challenges such as COVID 19 and their multi-faceted impact on Society at Large;
2. Mental Health in the Developing World;
3. Population and Development Linkages;
4. Aging in the developing world;
5. Migration and Urbanization;
6. Adolescent Reproductive Health;
7. Complex household surveys;
8. Gender Issues in Health and Development;
9. Population-Environment linkages;
10. Public Policy Planning in Health and Population.

 

We at present have ongoing scholarly and research collaborations regionally (with Sri Lanka, Nepal, Pakistan) and internationally with the UK (University of Liverpool), and the US (Brown University). Our current flagship international research project focuses on Maternal Depression in Urban Slums and is one of the first multi university research collaborations which provide opportunities for sponsoring PhD fellowships.