Projects – Institute for Research & Development

Colombo Twin and Singleton Study – 3 – Pilot Study 2

Sep 2023 Twin Research

Colombo Twin and Singleton Study – 3 Pilot Study – 2 is funded by the Medical Research Council, UK and is conducted by the Institute for Research and Development (IRD), in collaboration with King’s College London. Prof Fruhling Rijsdijk is the PI of the study and Prof Athula Sumathipala and Dr...

Colombo Twin and Singleton Study -3

Aug 2023 Twin Research

The Colombo Twin and Singleton Study 3 (COTASS-3) is funded by the Medical Research Council, UK under a Nutrition-based training grant, and is conducted by the Institute for Research and Development (IRD), in collaboration with King’s College London. The training plan aims to enhance skills and ca...

ENHANCE Sri Lanka

Apr 2023 Perinatal Depression

Perinatal depression is depression that occurs during or after pregnancy. It has negative impacts on the health of the mother and the child. Perinatal depression, though prevalent a neglected health issue in Sri Lanka. No psychosocial interventions have been introduced to the Maternal and Child Heal...

COVID-19 Lived Experience Study

Jun 2020 COVID-19

We invite you to take part in this study conducted by the Institute for Research and Development in Health and Social Care, with permission from the Ministry of Health and Indigenous Medical Services, Sri Lanka.

COVID-19 Impact on Youth & Young Adults

May 2020 COVID-19

The COVID-19 Pandemic resulted in a sudden and abrupt change to our academic and daily lives due to the lockdown, university closure, social distancing and self-isolation procedures in the UK. Since then, most of us had to deal with many challenges till we were being able to move to Sri Lanka.

COVID-19 Diary Study

May 2020 COVID-19

The COVID-19 Pandemic has resulted in a sudden and abrupt change to our daily lives and the routines of all children in the UK and most worldwide. Our families are confined to our homes as part of social distancing measures (e.g. working from home, schools and nurseries closure) and for most of us, ...

Colombo Twin and Singleton Study – Development Project (CoTaSS 3)

Jan 2020 Twin Research

Low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) globally have undergone rapid urbanisation, and changes in demography and health behaviours. Whilst life expectancy at birth for many LMICs has improved, disease burden from non-communicable diseases, and years lived with disability have risen.

In Vitro Expression of the CtsK Gene in Bacterial Expression System, Escherichia coli

Oct 2019 Genetics

Cathepsin K encoded by the CtsK gene is an enzyme responsible for bone remodeling through ossification in human. Therefore, it could be used as an effective treatment approach for a variety of orthopedic disorders including bone fractures. With the availability of recombinant Cathepsin K produced ...

A study on Date palm ( Phoenix dactylifera ) and Ceylon date palm ( Phoenix pusilla ) germplasm in Sri Lanka

Sep 2019 Genetics

Date palm is a popular fruit among Sri Lankans with less number of significance scientific studies. In Sri Lanka, both Date palm and Ceylon date palm are naturally raised in Northern and Eastern provinces. These two species have few morphological variances; therefore a molecular level study is neede...

Marker-assisted sex determination of Myristica fragrans cultivars using Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA Markers

Sep 2019 Genetics

Nutmeg plants (Myristica fragrans) can be characterized as dioecious (where male and female flowers are located on different trees). Out of two types of trees only female plants bear the economically valued nutmeg fruits. In a plantation, the ratio of male to female plants should be manipulated 1:10...

Expression of Estrogen Receptor α in gonads of in-ovo estrogen exposed male chickens (Gallus domesticus) with and without post hatching estrogen treatment.

Sep 2019 Genetics

Poultry industry is one of the fast growing livestock industries in the world. One of the key features of the layer industry is, it doesn’t require commercial male chicks for the table egg production. Chickens have bipotential gonads which means the sexual differentiation will be followed by the g...

CoTaSS 2 Follow-up study – IRD Bio-bank

Sep 2019 GeneticsTwin Research

The Colombo Twin and Singleton Follow-up Study (CoTaSS2), which is a ‘population based twin study of psychiatric disorders and metabolic syndrome in Sri Lanka’ was one of main projects completed during the year 2015-16.

Development of Inflammatory Biomarker Panel for Laboratory-Based Depression Diagnosis: A Sri Lankan Twin Study. (IMiD Project)

Sep 2019 Genetics

Currently depression is diagnosed through questionnaire base protocols by a healthcare professional. However, due to overlapping clinical characteristics of different psychoneurological disorders often misdiagnoses are common, there is a rising demand for a biological test for depression specific di...

South Asian Early Development & Research Capacity Building Project

Mar 2019 Twin Research

The Medical Research Council of the United Kingdom (MRC-UK) launched ‘Confidence in Global Mental Health Research: Institutional “pump-priming” awards to develop new opportunities in Global Mental Health Research’ in July 2017 .

Illness Perceptions & Explanatory Modelsin People with Type 2 Diabetes & Co-morbid Depression

Nov 2017

This ongoing study aims to explore, capture and understand models of personal illness belief and cognition among diabetics, while also assessing the presence or absence of depressive cognitions.

Adolescent Mental Health & Substance Use in Vavuniya District

Nov 2017 Mental Health

This ongoing study aims to determine the prevalence of common mental disorders, suicidal ideation, and substance use (alcohol, tobacco, and illicit drugs) among adolescents in Vavuniya district, which is a post conflict setting in Sri Lanka.

Knowledge & Attitudes towards Genomic Medicine & Research

Oct 2017 Genetics

This ongoing cross sectional qualitative study aims to explore the understanding, knowledge and attitudes towards genomic research and medicine among research participants in district of Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Dementia 10/66 Study

Mar 2015

The 10/66 Dementia Research Group is a collective of researchers carrying out population-based research into dementia, non-communicable diseases and ageing in low- and middle-income.

The Sleep Sub-study

Feb 2015 Twin Research

The Sleep sub-study was conducted within the Colombo Twin and Singleton Follow-up Study and determined the contribution of sleep and activity to the prevalence of metabolic syndrome and depression in Sri Lanka. It also aimed help to understand the potential for estimating the degree to which phenoty...

Common Mental Disorders and Resilience Among Internally Displaced in Sri Lanka: Follow-up study on Return migration.

Mar 2014 Common Mental Disorders

Longitudinal data are lacking on mental health trajectories following conflict resolution and return migration. COMRAID-R is a follow-up study of Muslims displaced by conflict from Northern Sri Lanka 20 years ago who are now beginning to return.

South Asian Hub for Advocacy, Research & Education on Mental Health

Mar 2012 Mental Health

SHARE was one of the 5 Collaborative Hubs for International Research on Mental Health funded by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) for a period of 5 years.

Impact of Spouse Migration on Left Behind Families

Mar 2012 Migration Research

The Ministry of Health and the International Organization of Migration took the initiative to develop an evidence based migration health policy for Sri Lanka. The IRD carried out a study on the impact of spouse migration on left behind families. The overall aim of this study was to determine the a...

Colombo Twin and Singleton Follow-up Study

Feb 2012 Twin Research

Strong evidence exists which suggests associations between cardiovascular disease, diabetes and depression. The Colombo Twin and Singleton Study follow-up Study (CoTaSS 2) seeks to explore this in the Sri Lankan population and estimate the extent of overlapping genetic and environmental influences.

WHO mhGAP based Pilot Study

Feb 2012 Migration Research

The mhGAP study was undertaken in Sri Lanka from 2012 – 2013, as part of Chesmal Siriwardhana’s SHARE fellowship.

Common Mental Disorders & Resilience Among Internally Displaced in Sri Lanka

Mar 2011 Common Mental DisordersMental HealthMigration Research

Evidence is lacking on the mental health issues of internally displaced persons, particularly where displacement is prolonged. The COMRAID study was carried out in year 2011 as a comprehensive evaluation of Muslims in North – Western Sri Lanka who had been displaced since 1990 due to conflict, to...

INDIGO Depression Study

Mar 2010 Common Mental Disorders

This depression study was based on the previously conducted global ASPEN (Anti Stigma Programme European Network-Schizophrenia) study carried out in 27 countries of which the results were published in the scientific journal The Lancet in January 2009.

Psychosocial Consequences & Coping Strategies among Tsunami Survivors

Oct 2007 Tsunami

Natural disasters cause immense suffering among affected communities. Most occur in developing countries, which have fewer resources to respond to the resulting traumas and difficulties. As a consequence, most survivors have to rely on their own coping resources and draw from what support remains w...

National Mental Health Survey

Mar 2007 Mental Health

This study was Sri Lanka’s first ever island wide comprehensive mental health survey. It was carried out by the Institute for Research & Development in 2007, commissioned by the Directorate of Mental Health, and funded by the Sri Lanka Health Sector Development Project of the Ministry of Healthcar...

Informed Consent in Sri Lanka

Dec 2006 Bioethics

A research project, funded by the Wellcome Trust, on ethics titled ‘Informed consent in Sri Lanka; current practices, quality of the information leaflets, consent forms and participants understanding of the process’.

Colombo Twin and Singleton Study

Mar 2006 Twin Research

A population-based twin register was established in the Colombo district of Sri Lanka using infrastructure designed to periodically update the electoral register. We invited a subsample from this register to participate in the project on common mental disorders, using random ascertainment. A separat...

Suicidal Ideations Study

Apr 2004 Suicide

Suicidal ideation can often lead to suicide attempts and completed suicide. Studies have shown that Sri Lanka has one of the highest rates of suicide in the world but so far no studies have looked at prevalence of suicidal ideation in a general population in Sri Lanka.

Medically Unexplained Symptoms Study

Apr 2000 Medically Unexplained Symptoms

Research on the management and the outcome of treatment of medically unexplained symptoms is very limited. Development of simple but effective techniques for treatment and demonstration of their effectiveness when applied in primary health care are needed.