Laboratory Techniques in Infectious Diseases (2 week OR 3 week Program)

Program Outline & Learning Objectives

The 2-week option covers principles and hands-on practices of laboratory techniques, including pathogen identification, patient visits, sample collection, biosafety, molecular techniques, antimicrobial testing, and data analysis. 

The 3-week option incorporates learning on environmental surveillance, phage detection from water samples, and an introduction to Next-Generation Sequencing at CHRF's advanced genomics facility.

• Understand the fundamental principles and concepts of laboratory techniques used to identify pathogens.
• Perform in-patient & out-patient visits to the largest paediatric hospital
• Learn about methods for aseptic sample collection of clinical specimens including blood and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF)
• Learn about biosecurity and biosafety protocols in the laboratory to ensure safe handling of infectious agents
• Learn methods for culturing and isolating pathogens from clinical samples
• Perform hands-on laboratory tests for bacterial identification using microbiological, molecular & biochemical methods
• Gain hands-on experience in molecular techniques, including nucleic acid extraction and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for the detection and characterisation of pathogens
• Understand the principles behind antimicrobial susceptibility testing to determine the effectiveness of antibiotics against pathogenic bacteria
• Develop skills in data analysis, interpretation, and reporting of laboratory results for diagnostics and patient service
• Learn about specimen storage & bio-banking

Additional learning objectives for the 3-week program:
• Learn about nationwide environmental surveillance for pathogenic bacteria and its implications for public health
• Learn methods for phage detection from water samples
• Learn about the basics of Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) in CHRF’s state-of-the-art genomics facility