Shubho Noboborsho: Our Story Continues to a New Year
At CHRF, a new year begins with reflection, momentum, and a shared Rising Star
শুভ নববর্ষ !
Pohela Baishakh marks the beginning of a new year in Bengali culture, a time of renewal, reflection, and hope. Across Bangladesh, people welcome the year with loved ones, color, food, and fresh energy for what lies ahead.
At CHRF, this feels especially meaningful this year. As the new year begins, we are reflecting on both the past few months and the longer journey that brought us here. The first months of the English year 2026 brought special recognition for one of our own, renewed appreciation for those who laid the foundation before us, new collaborations, and new opportunities to invest in the next generation of scientists in Bangladesh.
In this issue, we share a story of continuity. A story that began long before this quarter and continues today with purpose. And as the Bengali New Year begins, we are proud to celebrate one moment within that larger journey. CHRF has a Rising Star.
Many of you know Dr. Senjuti Saha, and the work she has been part of over the years at CHRF, moving between the lab, the hospital, and the field, working closely with teams across the country, and constantly asking how data can translate into something meaningful for people. From long days in surveillance sites to late nights making sense of complex data, her work has always been rooted in one question: how can evidence lead to action.
That action has taken many forms. It has helped inform vaccine decisions, strengthen outbreak response, deepen our understanding of disease, and support clinicians and communities on the ground. Along the way, she has also worked closely with young scientists, helping build teams and creating space for others to learn, grow, and lead.
But this recognition is not the story of one person alone.
It reflects years of work across Bangladesh by scientists, clinicians, field workers, and communities who have come together to generate evidence and save lives. It is also a tribute to the extraordinary strength of Bangladesh’s Expanded Programme on Immunization, and to the many people who make public health progress possible. The 2025 typhoid conjugate vaccine campaign, which has already reached more than 40 million children, is an achievement for the whole country: for EPI, for health workers, for school teachers, for parents, for development partners, and for all those who worked tirelessly behind the scenes to make it happen. At CHRF, we are honored that our work has played a small part in generating the evidence that helped support this remarkable national achievement.
This recognition reminds us that when data is rooted in context and community, it can change the course of public health.
The Foundations We Carry Forward
Long before this moment, there were others. Researchers who chose to work in Bangladesh, to study disease where it mattered most, and to ensure that vaccines reached children here.
Among them were Professor Samir Saha, Professor Robert Black, and Professor Mathuram Santosham - scientists who worked together on pneumococcal and Hib vaccines, building the very foundation on which so much of today’s work stands.
This quarter, we found ourselves reflecting on that journey. A recent photograph, bringing together past and present, captures something difficult to put into words: continuity.
Science, when done right, is never a single story. It is a relay. Each generation carries something forward. Each team builds on the labour, courage, and belief of those who came before.
This Pohela Baishakh, we are reminded that our work is not beginning from nothing. We are part of a much larger story, and we are honoured to carry it forward.
When Science Travels: from MIT to Mirzapur
We were delighted to welcome collaborators from MIT, led by Professor Alex Shalek, to Bangladesh.
Together, we are working on advancing our single-cell genomics work on pneumococcal vaccine impact, combining cutting-edge analysis with deeply rooted field data. These collaborations bring knowledge, tools, and new ways of thinking. But just as importantly, they also bring people closer to the realities that shape science.
From Dhaka to Mirzapur, our collaborators saw how samples are collected, where surveillance happens, and how science meets the everyday lives of the communities we serve. They experienced the settings in which questions emerge, data is generated, and public health meaning is built.
Because the future of science lies not only in new technologies, but in how and where we choose to use them.
From Bangladesh to the World
This quarter, CHRF’s work traveled beyond borders once again. From Thailand to South Africa, our teams engaged in global platforms focused on advancing child health, building capacity and translating research into policy.
Fight Against Neonatal Infections: The BARN Initiative
Neonatal infections remain one of the most urgent health challenges in Bangladesh. And the Bangladesh Initiative for Advancing Research on Neonatal Infections (BARN), launched in 2025 to help address this challenge by investing in local scientists to ensure that the solution is developed in Bangladesh.
This quarter, we took the work forward through workshops, mentorship, collaborative research planning, and a dissemination webinar that brought together over 200 clinicians, microbiologists, epidemiologists, and data scientists to better understand neonatal sepsis and explore research-driven solutions.
At its core, the initiative reflects a simple commitment: that research should not remain within labs, but reach the babies and communities it is meant to serve.
BARN is a partnership between CHRF and the UK Hub of CAMO-Net, working to address the growing challenge of neonatal sepsis in Bangladesh, with support from the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) and Wellcome Trust.
From 1 to 1111: Building Scientists for Bangladesh Continues!
We continue to work with students and young researchers across the country, creating spaces where curiosity is encouraged, skills are built, and confidence is nurtured. In 2022, we began with one trainee, driven by the hope of building skills, creating opportunities, and opening doors through science. This quarter, we reached 1111 trainees (and counting)! That number means more than growth. It reflects a belief we return to again and again: curiosity is already there. What is needed is space, support, and possibility. We expanded our training efforts with three new workshops: Climate and Health Disease Modelling, in collaboration with George Mason University; Scientific Writing Essentials, supported by a BBRSC, UK grant collaborative grant between Quadrum Institute, George Mason University, and CHRF, and Introduction to Research Methods, with support from NIHR, UK. Together, these workshops were designed to strengthen the foundational skills needed by the next generation of researchers in Bangladesh.
The Scientific Writing Essentials course ended with a hybrid writing retreat across Thailand and Bangladesh, bringing together 15 participants, 5 faculty members, and 3 facilitators from three countries. It started and ended with the ambitious effort of getting nine papers across the finish line by December 2026 (or at least next Pohela Baishakh)!
We also came together for the BSB retreat, where members of the team stepped away from daily work to reflect, plan, and imagine what comes next. It was a space filled with energy, ideas, honesty, and hope. A space to think about what science in Bangladesh looks like today, and what we want it to become.
Looking Back, Moving Forward
The first quarter of 2026 brought a recognition that reflects years of work. It reminded us of those who came before us. It strengthened collaborations that will help shape what comes next. And it showed, once again, that there is a growing community across Bangladesh that believes deeply in science and its power to improve lives.
This is not one story.
It is many. It spans generations, countries, and communities. From vaccines introduced decades ago, to millions vaccinated today, from scientists building the foundation of our work to young aspiring scientists just beginning their journeys - this is what science looks like when it belongs to people.
As we step into the Bengali new year, we carry that story forward with gratitude, responsibility, and hope.
And our story continues in Bangladesh, with Bangladesh, for Bangladesh.
Onwards, with purpose and passion, CHRF Communications Team
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