Our Team
The RNDA was developed by national and eminent international multi disciplinary professionals over several years.
Naila Zaman Khan
MBBS, FCPS, PhD (London)
Dr. Khan is a Professor of Child Neurology and Development. She was the founder head of the Department of Pediatric Neuroscience, Dhaka Shishu (Children’s) Hospital, Bangladesh Institute of Child Health, till 2018. She is the founder chairperson of the Shishu Bikash Network (SBN); General Secretary of the Bangladesh Protibondhi Foundation (BPF); Secretary General of the Bangladesh Society for Child Neurology, Development and Disability (BSCNDD); Chairperson of the Bangladesh Society of Pediatric Neuro Electro- Physiologists (BSPNEP); and National Delegate of the Asia Oceania Child Neurology Association (ACCNA). From 2008-2018 she was the National Co-ordinator, Ministry of Health, for the establishment of multidisciplinary Child Development Centers in government tertiary and secondary hospitals. She is actively involved in clinical research and has over 100 publications in peer reviewed journals, books, and monographs. She has assisted in the replication of services, research and surveys through tools, scales and procedures developed in Bangladesh to countries across the world such as Ethiopia, South Africa, Vietnam, India, Bhutan, Zambia, Haiti and Guatemala. Professor Khan is currently the Director, Clinical Neurosciences Center, Bangladesh Protibondhi Foundation.
Humaira Muslima
MBBS, DCM
Dr. Muslima is a Senior Child Health Physician who has worked in the Department of PediatricNeuroscience, Dhaka Shishu (Children’s) Hospital for over two decades. She has been trained in clinical aspects of child developmental assessment at the Neurosciences Unit, Institute of Child Health, London, UK, under the tutelage of Dr. Patricia Sonksen and others. She is an experienced researcher in the development of screening and assessment tools for children with functional limitations. She has played a central role in the development of the Rapid Neurodevelopmental Assessment (RNDA) tool. She is also first and second author in research publications in peer-reviewed journals, both national and international; and co-author of the translated Bangla version of “Show Me What My Friends Can See” (bangla title is “Amar Bondhura Jaa Dekhte Pay Aamake Taa Dekhte Dao”), a manual for parents of newborns, infants and children with visual impairment. As a Senior Trainer she has been responsible for training multidisciplinary professionals across Bangladesh and others countries including Bhutan and Vietnam. Dr. Muslima is presently a Senior Research Consultant at the Clinical Neurosciences Center, Bangladesh Protibondhi Foundation.
Helen McConachie
PhD
Emerita Professor of Child Clinical Psychology, Institute of Health and Society, Newcastle University, UK
Helen McConachie worked for 38 years as a clinical psychologist in multidisciplinary child health and mental health teams, including the Neurodisability Service at Great Ormond Street Hospital, London, and the Regional Complex Neurodevelopmental Disorders Service for North East England. Her research has mainly focused on the development and evaluation of parent-mediated interventions and measurement of outcomes for children on the autism spectrum and their families. She is also part of a Newcastle-based team conducting UK longitudinal cohort studies of adults on the autism spectrum, and in 2018 completed a study on the appropriate measurement of quality of life of autistic people. She has had an ongoing working relationship with the multidisciplinary Child Development Teams in Bangladesh since 1993.
Gary L Darmstadt
MD, MS
Dr. Gary Darmstadt is Associate Dean for Maternal and Child Health, and Professor of Neonatal and Developmental Medicine in the Department of Pediatrics at the Stanford University School of Medicine. Previously Dr. Darmstadt was Senior Fellow in the Global Development Program at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), where he led a cross-foundation initiative on Women, Girls and Gender, introducing initiatives to address gender inequalities and to empower women and girls, leading to improved gender equality as well as improved health and development outcomes. Prior to this role, he served as Director of Family H ealth, leading strategy development and implementation across nutrition, family planning and maternal, newborn and child health.
Gary was formerly Associate Professor and Founding Director of the International Center for Advancing Neonatal Health in the Department of International Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. He has trained in Pediatrics at Johns Hopkins University, in Dermatology at Stanford University, and in Pediatric Infectious Disease as a fellow at the University of Washington, Seattle, where he was Assistant Professor in the Departments of Pediatrics and Medicine. Dr. Darmstadt left the University of Washington to serve as Senior Research Advisor for the Saving Newborn Lives program of Save the Children-US, where he led the development and implementation of the global research strategy for newborn health and survival, before joining Johns Hopkins.
Asma Begum Shilpi
MSc (Child Development and Social Relationship)
Asma Begum Shilpi was working as a Senior Instructor (Development Therapy) at Maltidisciplinary Training Center of the Child development centre (CDC) in Dhaka Shishu (Children’s) Hospital. She was directly involved in the conceptualization, planning and implementation of training programs which include children with motor, cognitive, language, behavioral and sensory (vision and hearing) difficulties. An important part of her work is in research and development. She is also co author in research publications in peer-reviewed journals, both national and international. She has been conducting training programs on the application of the Rapid Neurodevelopmental Assessment (RNDA) to varied types of professionals and para professionals across Bangladesh; as well as for international trainees. She has got diploma on Educational Leadership Program from Parkins International School for the Blind, Boston, USA on multiple disabilities with vision impairment. She uses these skills to train therapists in distant health care services across Bangladesh to help identify children early and work towards a better quality of life for them and their families. Presently she is working as Development Therapy Specialist at the Child Development Centre square Hospital Limited.
Nasrin Sultana
MSc (Child Development and Social Relationship)
Nasrin Sultana is a Developmental Therapist who has worked with children with Neurodevelopmental Disorders and Disabilities in the Department of Pediatric Neuroscience, Dhaka Shishu (Children’s) Hospital from 2011. From 2014 till 2018 she was the Training Coordinator for the program “Establishment of Child Development Centers within Secondary and Tertiary Hospitals”, Directorate General of Health Services, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of Bangladesh. She has been conducting training programs on the application of the Rapid Neurodevelopmental Assessment (RNDA) to varied types of professionals and para professionals across Bangladesh; as well as for international trainees. Nasrin is presently a Project Coordinator and Senior Trainer in Developmental Therapy at the Clinical Neurosciences Center, Bangladesh Protibondhi Foundation.
by BrandBuzz
