Off again on our next field trip.

So over course of today and tomorrow the US-based research team start their journey back to Nepal to conduct the next data collection session. Given that this is our 5th trip to collect data you would think by now that all of the research team members would be used to the early morning start that is often the case when embarking on such a trip. It is apparent that this is not so, as was the case this morning when one member had to be woken up by the other team members banging on the door and bedroom window at 3:45am as the van for the trip to the airport idled in the driveway.  Despite a bad start to the journey, all research team members made it on the same flight and are now en route to Kathmandu, Nepal.

As you may have read in our previous post, we are transporting recycled reading glasses that were kindly donated by the Texas Lions Eyeglass Recycling Center. In addition to the reading glasses we will now also be measuring HbA1c (glycated hemoglobin) levels for all research participants. Measuring HbA1c is a means to determine blood sugar levels, an important determinant for diabetes diagnosis and more will be posted on this topic when we are out in Jiri, Nepal. With the addition of reading glasses and HbA1c test kits the supply inventory is a little more than normal but we managed to fit it all in! Talk to you next from Nepal!