Other Student Experiences Abroad
Exploring Genetics of Deafness in Bangladesh Farhan Huq, MD, is a recent UMMS graduate who completed a 12-month research fellowship on the genetics of deafness in Bangladesh. Under the mentorship of Dr. Glenn Green, Associate Professor of Pediatric Otolaryngology at UMMS, Dr. Huq was supported by a fellowship through the Department of OtolaryngologyHead and Neck Surgery to venture into relatively unchartered research territory in the country of his ancestors. Deaf children from a school for the hearing-impaired are shown in an Dr. Huq, who is Bangladeshi by heritage, interpretive dance performance had always wanted to create a collaboration between the University of Michigan and Bangladesh. He approached Dr. Green about the prospect of exploring such a collaboration, and together they decided that Mr. Huq should craft a study looking at the genetics of deafness in Bangladesh.
Through his previous medical contacts in Bangladesh, Dr. Huq was able to facilitate collaborations between the UMMS Otolaryngology department and the largest preschool for deaf children in Bangladesh, the Integrated Preschool for Hearing Impaired Children (IPSHIC). Working primarily with IPSHIC and other schools for hearing-impaired children in Dhaka (one of the most population-dense cities in the world with 115,209 people per square mile), he and several Bangladeshi otolaryngologists conducted a collaborative, multi-institutional study examining DNA from consanguineous families with deafness, seeking to identify and characterize gene mutations that are typically linked with deafness. Joining him on the study during Summer 2014 were two other UMMS students, participating in the project as part of a Global REACH faculty-led student experience (see Page 39).
“Although Bangladesh is one of the
poorest countries in the world, it has some of the best public health outcomes. However, that is not good enough… people are still suffering and we can always do better. I sincerely hope I can serve the country and my people in the future as an otolaryngologist.” – M4 Farhan Huq
globalreach.med.umich.edu
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