Reza Rasti
Affiliated to Research
E-mail: reza.rasti@ki.se
Visiting address: Tomtebodavägen 18A, 17177 Stockholm
Postal address: K9 Global folkhälsa, K9 GPH Alfvén, 171 77 Stockholm
About me
- I am a paediatrician working with paediatric rheumatology at Astrid Lindgren
Children's Hospital/Karolinska University Hospital.
In February 2022 I defended my doctoral thesis, entitled "Point-of-care
diagnostics of childhood central nervous system infections, with a focus on
usability in low-resource settings", at the Department of Global Public
Health.
During my doctoral studies, I examined: clinician experiences and requests on
the use of point-of-care tests, in Uganda and Stockholm - participated in the
development of a new diagnostic assay printed on paper with capability of
cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) microbiology - and field-evaluated the clinical
utility of a polymerase chain reaction instrument that is available on the
market, in Ugandan children with suspected CNS infection.
2017: Awarded a fully funded personal 4 year scholarship by Stockholm County
Council (research residency) to combine residency in Paediatrics with PhD
studies.
2016: Awarded funding by Stockholm South General Hospital for my research
project and to attend a research school.
2005: Awarded a scholarship by the Olof Palme Memorial Fund, to attain
establishment of a student project in Nairobi, Kenya
2016 - 2022: Doctoral studies at Department of Global Public Health,
Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
2019 - 2019: Paediataric specialty training at Sachs Children and Youth
Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden
2004 - 2010: BSc and MSc in Medicine, University of Southern Denmark, Odense,
Denmark.
2000 - 2002: MSc in Computer Science & - Technology, Chalmers University of
Technology, Göteborg, Sweden.
Research
- My research embodies the use of point-of-care (POC) diagnostic tools in
health systems of low-income countries, as well as in Sweden.
Through an interdisciplinary and international team of collaborators in
Sweden and Uganda, we are researching on the current use of, need for and
requests on existing and future POC tools, amongst clinicians, primary with a
paediatric focus.
Our team includes paediatricians, anthropologists, microbiologists,
laboratory technicians, infectious disease specialists, nanobiotechnologists,
chemists and physicists, in both countries, all working towards identifying
characteristics of needed POC tests and concurrently developing and
clinically evaluating a novel method for rapid microbiology of bacterial
meningitis in low-income settings.
Our collaborators in Sweden are: Karolinska Institutet, Science for Life
Laboratory, Uppsala University and Uppsala University Hospital.
In Uganda we are partnered with Mbarara University of Science & - Technology,
Mbarara Regional Referral Hospital and Epicentre MSF, in Mbarara, southwest
Uganda.
Teaching
- Through my PhD project I have had the opportunity to lecture students of an
international master program in Global Child Health, at the Department of
Women's & - Children's Health, Uppsala University.
Presentations have also been conducted with colleagues in clinical care in
Sweden and Uganda.
Articles
- Article: ACTA PAEDIATRICA, INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PAEDIATRICS. 2022;111(2):354-362
- Article: BMJ OPEN. 2021;11(11):e054234
- Article: JMIR RESEARCH PROTOCOLS. 2020;9(11):e21430
- Article: JMIR RESEARCH PROTOCOLS. 2019;8(4):e12705
- Article: TALANTA. 2018;183:192-200
- Article: PLOS ONE. 2017;12(7):e0182005
All other publications
Employments
- Affiliated to Research, Department of Global Public Health, Karolinska Institutet, 2022-2025
Degrees and Education
- Degree Of Doctor Of Philosophy, Department of Global Public Health, Karolinska Institutet, 2022