ProfessorPrakash Ghimire

Prof Dr Prakash Ghimire is a Professor of Microbiology at Tribhuvan University, Nepal with 25 years of contribution to infectious disease control and research
• A Ph D in Microbiology from All India Institute of Medical Sciences (2001), with Masters in Microbiology from Tribhuvan University, Nepal (1995), and WHO fellowship/advanced course in Vaccinology, Biotechnology and Immunology, from WHO Immunology Training Centre in Lausanne Switzerland and Vaccinology center in Annecy France (2002).
• Chairperson for the National Ethical Review Board (Aug 2018-Aug 2021) under Nepal Health Research Council, under his leadership NHRC/ERB received FERCAP accreditation in 2019.
• Current President of Nepalese Society for Microbiology and American Society for Microbiology (ASM) Ambassador for Nepal 2012-2017.
• Prof Ghimire is Member of WHO-Public Health Emergency Preparedness & Response Ethics Network working Groups, based on contribution and expertise
o Ethics & COVID-19
o ACT accelerator and Ethics
o Vaccines Research & Development (COVID-19)
• Member of the WHO-Technical Advisory Group (TAG) on “Hand hygiene in health care and other infection prevention and control interventions research and guidance”
• Worked with WHO for more than 18 years in different capacities including 2 years 2007-2009, based at WHO-HQ Geneva, with responsibilities on Influenza pandemic preparedness and response.
• As a professor of Microbiology, contributed significantly in under/post-graduate course development, teaching, course evaluation, diagnostic and research activities in the South East Asia region for last 25 years. He successfully supervised > 10 Ph D Thesis & > 75 Masters Dissertation students/research in Influenza, HIV, Tuberculosis, Vector-borne diseases including Malaria & Dengue, Antimicrobial Resistance, and Vaccine preventable and infectious diseases.
• He and his team have published more than 125 original research articles in peer-reviewed international/national professional journals, contributing to knowledge development.
• He has developed multi-country & multi-institute collaborative projects in Malaria, Leishmania, Antimicrobial Resistance, Vaccine clinical trials, human microbiota with renowned institutes: University of California San Fransisco & Stanford University-USA, ITM-Belgium, Menzies School of Health Research Australia, Mahidol University and Oxford Mahidol Research Unit Thailand, International Vaccine Institute, Korea.
• He has been providing expert technical support to Govt. of Nepal’s Malaria & Vector Borne disease program through GFATM on disease diagnosis, training & control activities.
• In 2020, He led a team of experts supported through Nepal Health Research Council for capacity assessment of laboratories in molecular diagnosis of COVID-19 and provided recommendation to NHRC/MOHP in planning their sustainable use for other infectious disease diagnosis in future.
• Played significant role as expert in the establishment and functioning of National Influenza Centre, functioning since 2009 Influenza Pandemic, which is currently national reference laboratory for the diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 and expansion of lab capacity throughout the country.
• Played significant role as expert in the establishment and functioning of Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance system, strengthening Blood Transfusion services in Nepal.
• Played significant role as expert in the establishment, functioning and certification of the BSL-III lab in the country.
• As an assessor for ISO-15189, played significant role in the establishment of laboratory assurance and accreditation program in Nepal.
Dr Ghimire is a highly regarded bio-medical scientist, public health microbiologist and research ethicist in the country and region for his broad knowledge, expertise and experience from basics to latest tools and techniques in health system strengthening, known for expressing clear and scientific evidence based opinions at the time of need.