Chiang Mai has active, ongoing NIH funded collaboration with UHM researchers. Over the past four years 2 exchange students from UHM have conducted research on Penicillium marneffei and MRI/MRS among drug abusers in Chiang Mai. The University of Minnesota has had extensive partnership with Chiang Mai University for the past 25 years with exchange programs in medicine, public health, nursing and veterinary medicine. Since 2012, the School of Public Health at UMN has conducted annual training through the Global Health Institutes at Chiang Mai University that has imparted knowledge and skills for U.S., Thai and other regional scholars in addressing emerging infectious diseases at the convergence of human, animal and environmental health. UMN and Chiang Mai University are also part of a World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) Veterinary Educational Twinning Project since 2013. Read more…

Chulalongkorn is Thailand’s first institution of higher learning, officially founded in March 1917. Located in Bangkok, Chulalongkorn University is composed of 41 faculties, departments, colleges, academic, research, and service institutes, and academic offices; there are 22,455 undergraduate students, 10,746 Master’s degree students and 2,394 PhD degree students. UMN research studies in Thailand include a study on the effects of anti-retroviral therapy on pulmonary function (Kunisaki, PI; NHLBI; multiple sites, including Chulalongkorn) and a study on the epidemiology of influenza (Osterholm, PI; NIAID; Chulalongkorn). UMN’s education work in Thailand include USAID-funded training grants to improve response to pandemic threats in zoonotic diseases, to build capacity in disease surveillance and detection, and to pilot a pioneering veterinary public health residency program based on the very successful VPH residency at UMN. UMN researchers also conduct NIH-funded studies of pulmonary and cardiovascular complications of HIV with Khon Kaen University and Chulalongkorn University. Read more…

University of Hawaii (UH) -Southeast Asia Research Collaboration with Hawaii (SEARCH): is a collaborative HIV clinical and translational research and training facility located in Bangkok established in 2003 as a partnership between the UH Hawaii Center for AIDS (HICFA), the Thai Red Cross AIDS Research Centre (TRCARC) and the Department of Retrovirology (RV), U.S. Department of Defense Armed Forces Research Institute of the Medical Sciences (AFRIMS), a leading tropical infectious disease laboratory in SE Asia with programs in Enteric Diseases, an Entomology department dedicated to the study of malaria and other vector-borne diseases, and programs in viral diseases including dengue fever, hepatitis, and HIV/AIDS. SEARCH serves as an HIV/AIDS training center for physicians and other ancillary personnel in SE Asia and has substantial expertise in HIV clinical research. The SEARCH010/RV254 protocol is a study of over 200 acute HIV infected cases in Bangkok in which cutting-edge neurological studies are conducted in the exploration of HIV cure strategies. Dr. Lishomwa Ndhlovu (UH) is the PI of an NIH R01 evaluating HIV innate immune response and CNS HIV reservoirs in this protocol in collaboration with Dr. Nittaya Phanuphak, Chief for the SEARCH/Thai Red Cross AIDS Research Center (TRCARC) and a U.S. trained pediatric immunologist and an accomplished HIV clinical investigator with substantial expertise in leading adult and pediatric HIV clinical trials and with Jintanat Ananworanich, MD, PhD the protocol chair and Deputy Director in the SEARCH/TRCARC. These partners have provided a solid foundation for HIV clinical/translational research and hosted several FIC and NIMHD funded research PDF, graduate and undergraduate students from UH over the last five years. Read more…

KKU was established in 1964 and has more than 2,110 staff in seventeen faculties, four academic support centers, two academic services centers, a hospital and many research institutes, centers of excellence and specialist centers. The Faculty of Dentistry at KKU is the only national Dental School located in Northeastern Thailand and has provided leadership in dental education, research and patient care in the region. The KKU Dental Hospital offers comprehensive and first-rate oral health care to more than 80,000 patients a year including adults, children and disadvantaged patients. Read more…

Mahidol has active on going NIH funded collaboration with UHM researchers. Over the past four years 13 exchange students from MU and UHM have conducted research on dengue, chronic kidney disease and melioidosis. UMN in partnership with the University of Ottawa also conducts the Asian Clinical Tropical Medicine course at Mahidol university for learners from Thailand and other countries from Southeast Asia. Read more…

PSU is a public university established in 1967 as the first university in southern Thailand, and consists of five campuses offering various programs of education consistent with the needs of their communities. PSU comprises 30 faculties, two hospitals, and more than 40 research centers of excellence, all committed to academic excellence, strong social responsibility, and active engagement in community services. The Epidemiology Unit is housed within the Faculty of Medicine at the Prince of Songkla University. Its mission is to conduct health research addressing critical issues related to health in Thailand and internationally. In 2012, the Epidemiology Unit was appointed as a WHO collaborating center for research and training due to its success in fostering and promoting international collaborations and being a leading research institute for epidemiologic research in southeast Asia. Dr. Hutcha Sriplung operates the Songkla Cancer Registry out of the Cancer Information Center within the PSU Faculty of Medicine.

The Unit’s research focuses on many key research areas in epidemiology, including but not limited to, national database utilization, non-communicable diseases, reproductive health, environmental and occupational health, and health systems and policy research. The Unit also provides academic services that include research consultation, program evaluation, cancer registry network support, short course training in epidemiology and biostatistics, and data management. The Unit is actively involved in developing R packages for epidemiology research and offers training programs throughout Thailand and internationally in China, Nepal, and Myanmar.

The Epidemiology Unit, as a WHO collaborating center, is a recognized entity for community-based research and has an established network for community inclusion in scientific studies. This network extends from the provincial level hospitals down to community and village health centers. The Unit has been working to build its research capacity in neighboring LMIC in Southeast Asia through the funding of an International Fogarty grant awarded to project co-PI Dr. Virasakdi Chongsuvivatwong. This program was designed to strengthen regional research investigating multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) by collaborating with the National Tuberculosis Program of Myanmar; Department of Medical research Upper and Lower Myanmar; Bureau of Tuberculosis of Thailand (BTB); and University of North Sumatra (USU), Andalas University of West Sumatra (UNAND), and Syiah Kuala University of Aceh (SKU), Indonesia. Read more…

Current Fogarty Trainees

ALBERT TO

Past Fogarty Trainees

• KRIANGKRAI CHAWANSUNTATI
• SAYAMON HONGJAISEE
• MICHELLE DUMOND
• ELIZABETH LAWS
• MEGAN PECK
• SHAMA VIRANI
• THIDARAT JUPIMAI
• VORAPOT SAPSIRISAVAT
• ARGON STEEL
• CHARLENE TOMAS
• ELEANORE CHUANG
• JAMES KELLEY
• SUMIDTRA PRATHEP
• NITIYA CHOMCHEY
• NITTAYA PHANUPHAK