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Event Description

Fasil will describe research on quantifying the impact of undernutrition on TB prevalence and treatment outcomes using advanced statistical methods.

Abstract

Tuberculosis (TB) is a leading infectious cause of death globally, with an estimated 10.6 million new cases and 1.6 million deaths annually. The emergence of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB), characterized by resistance to isoniazid and rifampicin, further complicated the global TB control programs. The progression from latent to active TB is influenced by various factors including undernutrition. While the individual-level association between TB and undernutrition has been documented, there has been a lack of studies exploring their geospatial co-distribution, particularly in high TB-burden countries like Ethiopia. There was also limited evidence on the impacts of undernutrition or failure to gain weight during follow-up on treatment outcomes among patients with TB and MDR-TB in Ethiopia. Furthermore, there was insufficient conclusive evidence to quantify the effects of nutritional intervention on improving adherence to TB treatment and treatment outcomes. This PhD thesis aimed to address these knowledge gaps by investigating the geospatial overlap of undernutrition and TB (objective 1), quantifying the effect of undernutrition and weight change on TB treatment outcomes (objectives 2, 3, and 4), and assessing the impact of nutritional intervention on TB treatment adherence, prognostic markers, and treatment outcomes (objectives 5 and 6). Various study designs and statistical analyses were used to address the thesis objectives.

The main findings of this thesis will be presented at this PhD Exit Seminar.

Speaker Biography

Fasil Wagnew is a final-year PhD student at the Australian National University (ANU). Before commencing his PhD, Fasil completed a BSc programme in Nursing from Debremarkos University and an MSc programme in Advanced Clinical Pediatrics and Child Health from University of Gondar. Fasil worked as a research assistant at the National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health (NCEPH) at ANU. He is also a team member within the Geospatial TB research team at the Telethon Kids Institute, Perth. Fasil has produced a significant number of publications in peer-reviewed journals. While his research focuses include infectious diseases and malnutrition, he has extensive skills in advanced statistical analysis including linked and longitudinal data analysis, big data analysis, meta-analysis, and geospatial analysis.