Read about CMP Graduate Student, Tim Locksmith’s recent research trip to Nepal:
Our lab (O’Connor) runs a project called TB SHIELD, which studies how tuberculosis (TB) spreads by sampling the air in shared indoor spaces. Since January 2026, air samplers have been running at the first TB SHIELD sites in Nepal, collecting evidence of transmission at three TB care hostels. In the first months of sampling, nearly half of the air samples we collected tested positive for Mycobacterium tuberculosis. On the strength of those early results, this past July I had the opportunity to travel to Nepal and work alongside the teams running it in-country. I went for three reasons: to see the sites myself, to meet the team in person, and to get the air samples turned into readable genetic sequences. A positive sample tells you TB is present; a sequence tells you which strain, and that is what turns detection into an account of who is infecting whom.
I started at the Center for Molecular Dynamics Nepal (CMDN), where I spent a week working through the pipeline that takes an air sample to sequencing data. By the following week it was running end to end, and we were looking at the first sequences of their kind from Nepali air. With that settled, I spent the rest of the month traveling with colleagues from Birat Nepal Medical Trust (BNMT) to the three hostels where the sampling happens day to day: GENETUP in Kathmandu, TB-Nepal in Nepalgunj, and NATA-Morang in Biratnagar. We also stopped at Bheri and Koshi hospitals to meet administrators and doctors, and look at rooms that we plan to sample for the next phase of the project. Standing in those wards and seeing the flow of patients told me more about how these spaces actually work than any amount of planning from a distance had.
The month gave me a clearer picture of the project than I had before I went. The sequencing works, the sites are running, and I now have a deeper connection with the people doing that work. I hope the project brings me back to Nepal soon. The full report from my trip is here: https://online.fliphtml5.com/hihjv/TB-SHIELD-July-2026-visit-report/#p=1. Lastly, while none of the project sites were directly affected by the recent flooding, the damage has hit the country and its people hard. If you would like to donate to the relief effort, our partners at BNMT are collecting contributions here: https://bnmtnepal.org.np/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Nepal-floods-fundraising.pdf.
For students working on projects with collaborators at other institutions or in other countries, on-site experiences can be especially valuable. Visiting a collaborator’s location provides students with a deeper understanding of the project. These experiences can offer perspectives that are difficult to gain remotely, helping students better appreciate the challenges faced by collaborators and strengthening their connection to the project and its broader impact.