MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
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Dr. De Alwis[/caption]
Dr De Alwis, Ruklanthi (Rukie)
Deputy Director, Centre for Outbreak Preparedness
Assistant Professor
Emerging Infectious Diseases Programme
Duke-NUS Medical School
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: The COVID19 pandemic highlighted both the need for strengthened infectious disease surveillance and the critical importance of pathogen genomics in surveillance. However, prior to the pandemic, the technology used for pathogen genomics (i.e. next generation sequencing) was not widely used for public health and mostly available in high-resource countries. The Asia Pathogen Genomics Initiative (Asia PGI) was set up after the pandemic to enhance regional health security through the strengthening of pathogen genomic surveillance in in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) across Asia.
This study, conducted through the Asia PGI, aimed to assess the baseline capacities and gaps in pathogen genomic surveillance in lower-resourced countries in the region.
Dr. De Alwis[/caption]
Dr De Alwis, Ruklanthi (Rukie)
Deputy Director, Centre for Outbreak Preparedness
Assistant Professor
Emerging Infectious Diseases Programme
Duke-NUS Medical School
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: The COVID19 pandemic highlighted both the need for strengthened infectious disease surveillance and the critical importance of pathogen genomics in surveillance. However, prior to the pandemic, the technology used for pathogen genomics (i.e. next generation sequencing) was not widely used for public health and mostly available in high-resource countries. The Asia Pathogen Genomics Initiative (Asia PGI) was set up after the pandemic to enhance regional health security through the strengthening of pathogen genomic surveillance in in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) across Asia.
This study, conducted through the Asia PGI, aimed to assess the baseline capacities and gaps in pathogen genomic surveillance in lower-resourced countries in the region.
Morgan Walker[/caption]
Morgan Walker
Ph.D. Candidate, UNC-Chapel Hill Chemistry
Redinbo Laboratory
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Where is triclosan commonly found?
Response: Triclosan is a commonly found antibacterial compound present in hand soaps, toothpastes, athletic clothes, and children’s toys. A previous study by the Zhang group (corresponding author on this publication) found that antimicrobial compounds including triclosan increased inflammation (similar to that of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)) and tumor formation in the colon. These effects were observed only in mice with an intact gut microbiome, not in germ-free mice which lack a gut microbiome, suggesting that the gut microbiome is somehow responsible for the toxicity of triclosan to the gut. Our study investigates how gut bacteria promote triclosan toxicity in the gut 
Dr. Yun Liu[/caption]
Yun Liu, PhD
Google Health
Palo Alto, California
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Would you describe the system? Does it use dermatoscopic images?
Response: Dermatologic conditions are extremely common and a leading cause of morbidity worldwide. Due to limited access to dermatologists, patients often first seek help from non-specialists. However, non-specialists have been reported to have lower diagnostic accuracies compared to dermatologists, which may impact the quality of care.
In this study, we built upon prior work published in