Clinical Molecular Diagnostic Center​

Research areas 

Molecular diagnosis, molecular epidemiology, infectious disease diagnosis, non-communicable disease diagnosis, diagnostic molecular pathology. Microbiome, MDRO

Research Projects

Mongolian Center for Environmental, Occupational Health, component U01 and U2R NIH, USA (Investigator, supervisor of Aim 3) since 2022 

This mentored research training program is prepare 25 Mongolian fellows for careers in environmental and occupational research with a goal of influencing Mongolian health policies. The center will have strengths in studying the interactions of air pollution and acute viral infections which are major problems in Mongolia. The training will advance multidisciplinary, environmental, and occupational health research collaborations between U.S. and Mongolian academic institutions. The goal of this Center is to develop independent, interdisciplinary, environmental and occupational health researchers. This U2R proposal outlines the training components of the Center. The twin U01 proposal outline the research components of the Center. Regarding U2R training, through a national search and a competitive process, we will screen and select five well-qualified Mongolian candidates for fellowship training each year. During the 15-months of formal training each Fellow will gain considerable training in conducting laboratory assays, the responsible conduct of research, research reproducibility, human and animal subjects research ethics, collecting field specimens. data analyses, delivering oral presentations, and in English language scientific writing. The collective expertise of the interdisciplinary Program Faculty committed to this Center will provide unique and valuable professional training for the Fellows and also greatly advance science at participating Mongolian institutions.

Use of serum aβ42 and p-tau biomarkers in the diagnosis of delirium following anesthesia, Ministry of Science and Education (advisor) since 2022 

Postdoctoral grant “Use of blood plasma aβ42 and p-tau biomarkers in the diagnosis of cognitive decline after anesthesia” issued by the Ministry of Education and Science order dated September 28, 2022, No. A/367. This project will determine levels of Aβ42 and Tau proteins in human blood plasma among healthy patients without cognitive decline before anesthesia and patients with cognitive decline after anesthesia and determine diagnostic sensitivity and specificity of serum Aβ42 and Tau biomarkers. 

HIV, syphilis integrated biological, behavioral surveillance in Mongolia, 2022 Global Fund (Principal Investigator) 2022-2023 

This project is funded by the Global Fund (100,000 USD) and conducted in collaboration with the NCCD. A total of 1286 participants tested for HIV, syphilis by serological methods, and for C.trachomatis, T.vaginalis, N.gonorrheae, M.genitalum, U.urealyticum, M.homimus, U.parvum  by PCR and the project report was successfully submitted. 

Population size estimation of Female Sex Workers and men who have sex with men in Mongolia, 2022 Global Fund (Investigator) 2022

The team has received funding from the Global Fund on HIV Prevention Program for most at-risk populations, including Female Sex Workers (FSWs), Men who have Sex with Men (MSM), and transgender women (TGW). These key populations are high-risk groups for HIV infection and transmission. Understanding the prevalence of these populations’ situations and social characteristics is essential to planning a project work plan for a prevention and care program for the infected population. Network size was estimated by using six different research methods.

The National AIDS Spending Assessment (NASA) 2022 Global Fund (Investigator) 2022 

Principal investigator L. Munkh-Erdene, MD, PhD, Professor. The team analyzed the funding for HIV and AIDS prevention and health care services by source, consumer, and service provider, expenditure of funds, production inputs, and beneficiary population. It calculated the expenditure of funds of the state, private sector, and donor organizations. Total budget – 23 million MNT.

Consumption of milk and dairy products and lactose intolerance MNUMS and APU dairy (Investigator) 2022

The Department of Nutrition of the School of Public Health, MNUMS, is collaborating to implement the project and the primary lactase deficiency associated with single nucleotide variants 13910 T>C and -22108 G>A)  in a regulatory region of the LCT gene, MCM6 gene determined among study participants. 

Study of the need for additional immunizations to determine the immune status against measles and rubella among women who are undergoing antenatal care WHO 2021/1133464-0 WPMNG2015959, 2021

However, immunization reduces measles outbreaks; periodic outbreaks have been reported in some areas over a while, depending on vaccine coverage and immunity against it. Therefore, according to the law on immunization, the serosurvey should be conducted every 4-5 years to monitor the immune status of measles and rubella among women of reproductive age to determine the need for additional immunization. The study determined the immune status against measles and rubella among women undergoing antenatal care from 13 study sites and 1,448 women who attended ANC for the first time during their pregnancy. Among pregnant women, 72.7 percent (n=1082) had a positive serology test for measles IgG. The overall prevalence of rubella IgG was 85.4% (n=1082).