“Universal Screening for Syphilis of Antenatal Clinic Attendees in Pakistan”. The principal investigator was Prof. Sten Vermund. Co-investigators were Sibylle Kristensen and Dr. Sharaf Ali Shah. Research trainee was Dr. Ghazala Usman. It was a cross sectional study to find out the prevalence of Syphilis among women visiting antenatal clinics in Karachi. Data was analyzed on SPSS 13.0. The sample size was of 800 pregnant women. It was concluded from the results that the prevalence of TPHA-confirmed syphilis was 875 per 100,000 women.

“To evaluate the burden of Tuberculosis (TB), HIV/AIDS, Syphilis, Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) and Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) among inmates of District Jail Malir, Karachi, Pakistan”. Principal investigator was Dr. Momin Qazi. Faculty Advisor was Prof. Sten Vermund and Principal Overseas Collaborator was Dr. Sharaf Ali Shah. It was a cross sectional study, data was collected using stratified simple random sampling technique. STATA 9.0 and R- Version 2.3.1 was used for statistical analysis.

“Hand held Exothermic Crystallization Treatment for Cutaneous Leishmaniasis (HECT-CL) in Peru and Pakistan”. The study will be carried out by Dr. Sharaf Ali Shah (Bridge Consultants Foundation, Karachi), Dr. Richard Witzig (Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, LA) and Dr. Alejandro Llanos-Cuentas (Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Lima, Peru). The purpose of this study is to test the ability of a new, safe, low-cost device HECT-CL (Hand-held Exothermic Crystallization Therapy for Cutaneous Leishmaniasis), to provide safe and effective thermotherapy (heat therapy) for Cutaneous Leishmaniasis and to provide evidence for the safety and efficacy of the novel HECT-CL device. This study will involve 50 patients in Quetta and 50 in Larkana. Data will be compared with the previous data using the Fisher’s exact and Chi-square test.

“Screening of TB Patients for HIV Infection in Concentrated HIV Epidemic Setting”. Principal investigator was Dr. Sharaf Ali Shah. Co investigators were Prof. Sten Vermund, Dr. Arshad Altaf, Dr. Ashraf Memon and Dr. Rafiq Khanani. Research trainee was Dr. Rab Nawaz Samo. This was a cross sectional study. The sample size was 709 patients but to reduce drop outs and refusals 729 subjects were enrolled. A take all approach was applied in collecting the data and all the patients diagnosed with TB and taking anti TB drugs were enrolled (i.e. sputum smear + ve, sputum smear -ve, extra pulmonary, MDR). Data entry was done on Epi data Version 3.1 and analysis was performed using SPSS version 13.0. Out of 729 study subjects 0.7% i.e.5 were reactive on initial HIV testing while 4 study subjects were confirmed HIV positive after ELISA. Therefore estimated HIV prevalence among TB patients in our study was 540 / 100,000. Significant association was found in confirmed HIV +ve study subjects and history of blood transfusion, history of genital ulcer, urethral/ vaginal discharge, sexual contact with other than wife/husband, history of drug use (narcotic), through receipt of injections drug with spouse sharing of needles/syringes, history of injecting drugs sharing of needles/syringes and history of imprisonment.

“HIV-1 Subtypes among drug users and others at Risk Groups in Pakistan”. Principal investigator was Dr. Sharaf Ali Shah. Co investigators were Dr. Arshad Altaf and Dr. Ashraf Memon. Research trainee was Dr. Saleem. The objectives of the study were to investigate HIV-1 subtypes prevalent among different most at risk populations in Pakistan and to determine incidence of HIV-1 (Recent infections) among IDUs. Sample size of 100 seropositive specimens was set from different high risk population including IDUs, migrant workers and transgender, male/ female sex workers and prisoners. Convenience sampling method was used and total known 100 HIV-1 +ve subjects were included. (HIV-1 Subtype C is found in India and A in Iran, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, and subtype A, B, C, D, F, G, and BC recombinants are found in China). In Pakistan Subtype A is found to be common.